Edinburgh Castle, Sally Port And Guard House

Kirkdale Archaeology were asked to excavate three small test pits, and clean up the previously excavated Sallyport Guardhouse, all located within the area of the Western Defences (NT 250 735, Fig. 1), as preparation for opening up this part of the castle to the public.

The primary aim of the exercise, the examination the base of the stairs to look for further steps, was successful. Both of the flights of steps examined which were parallel to the parapet wall did produce evidence for a robbed-out stair, while the base of the flight of three steps out of the sentry box did not. Additionally the loose infill deposits ((104), (202) and (302)) could be seen in Test Pits 1 and 2 to predate the steps (represented by (102) and (301)), while in Test Pit 2, (202) had built up against the steps (203). If these contexts can indeed be equated, then this makes the steps out of the sentry box earlier than the steps of the parapet walkway; possibly they have been replaced at some point, as presumably stairs have existed ever since the construction of the wall. The date of this infilling is uncertain, the rather mixed finds assemblage only supporting the idea that this must postdate the walls’ construction in the 1730's. Although the level of the steps out of the sentry box, which are presumably contemporary with the walls’ construction, relates to the modern ground level, they may have connected to a walkway carried on the wallhead, without the great build-up of soil on the inside of the wall. It should be noted that terracing upslope (to the E) of the defences is not shown on the 1877 OS map, so the landscaping of this area may have taken place quite late in the castle's history. The implication of this great depth of infill is that there is the possibility of the survival of early deposits sealed beneath this.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

D Murray 1999

Kirkdale Archaeology