Edinburgh, 7, 8 Grosvenor Crescent

NT27SW 16 2401 7345.

(NT 2401 7345) Hoard of Bronze Age Swords found (NAT)

OS 1:1250 map, 1968.

A Late Bronze Age hoard, dating from c. 550 BC, was found in 1869, during excavations for the foundations of 7-8 Grosvenor Crescent. The hoard was dispersed, part to A Paterson, who exhibited his share to the Society in 1879, and part to A Waddell, who donated his material to the NMAS in 1879. In 1898, the NMAS purchased several items from the Paterson Collection; two swords passed into private hands, however, and were finally bought by the NMAS in 1920. In 1926, J Cree bought a sword and a socketed ace from the family of one of the workmen; the sword was known to have been lost, but no mention of the axe was made at the time of discovery. The NMAS purchased the sword from the Cree Collection in 1939. The whereabouts of the axe is not now known.

The items in the NMAS comprise six swords, a sunflower head pin, a bronze ring 3" in diameter, and a semi-tubular bronze mounting, 1 1/4" in diameter. (Acc Nos: DQ 192 - DW 204, DQ 236 and DQ 237.) Another sword is in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.

J Anderson 1879; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1899; 1920; 1939; J E Cree 1927;

J M Coles 1962.

Sited to NT 2401 7345 from description above.

Visited by OS (J L D) 28 December 1953.

(Socketed axe of Melrose type). About 1869 a hoard of bronze swords and other implements was found at Grosvenor Crescent when digging the foundations of a house. The hoard was dispersed but came in various instalments eventually to the NMAS. J Cree, in 1926, purchased, from the son of one of the workmen employed in 1869, a sword and a socketed axe which are said to have come from the Grosvenor find; the sword came to the NMAS in 1939 but no mention is made of the axe. In Cree's (1927) paper on the Grosvenor hoard, the present axe is illustrated as part of the hoard, although he states that 'as far as can be ascertained no axe is recorded as having been found in the hoard'. The axe came to the NMAS in 1958 'by the late C. M. Cree, Los Angles', the locality being stated as unknown. It seems likely that the axe is part of the hoard, as it appears that the workman took both objects from the original find.

Socketed axe, brown, trimmed, broken at mouth. Length 72mm, mouth 28 x 31mm, cutting edge 45mm, weight 95gms. NMAS DE 127. Associated finds: originally about 14 or 15 swords of which seven are known (six in the NMAS, one in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow); all are of the Ewart Park type, except one which has a cast bronze grip and pommel on a clay core. Also a semitubular mounting with two loops on the concave back, a ring with double convex section, and a swan's neck sunflower pin (head only).

P K Schmidt and C B Burgess 1981.

474. (Ewart Park type - Northern step 1). Complete sword with a narrow waisted blade. Length 60.15cm, terminal width 4.15cm, shoulder width 4.95cm, maximum blade width 3.85cm. Dark brown patina, blade surface full of small flaws; rivets 3:4 (+2 bl), none in situ. NMAS DQ 236.

488. (Ewart Park type - Northern step 2). Complete sword, broken on one shoulder. Length 61.85cm, terminal width 3.75cm, shoulder width 4.45cm, maximum blade width 4.15cm. Badly corroded along on edge, reasonable on the other. Dark green/brown patina with much bronze disease, especally on corroded edge. Well cast; rivets 3:4, one in situ. NMAS DQ 237.

513. (Ewart Park type - Northern step 3). Sword with point of blade missing. Length 50.9cm, terminal width 4.25cm, shoulder width 5.00cm, maximum blade width 4.5cm. Well cast with a dark green patina, however there are patches of bronze disease and the edge is battered. Rivets 2 (+2 bl): 2 (+4 bl). NMAS DQ 199.

530. (Ewart Park type - Northern unclassified). Sword with hilt and point of blade missing. Length 48.5cm, shoulder width 5.3cm, maximum blade width 4.8cm. Thin and shiny dark brown patina with some flaws on the surface; rivets ?:4. NMAS DQ 306.

547. (Ewart Park type - Northern unclassified). Sword with hilt and most of hilt missing. Length 56cm, shoulder width 5.75cm, maximum blade width 5cm. Well cast, with a rich but and thin dark brown patina and patches of bronze disease at top of blade. Rivets ?:4, two in situ, both broken. NMAS DQ 200.

607A. (Ewart Park type - Cherwell variant). Complete sword. Length 51.2cm, shoulder width 4.3cm, maximum blade width 4cm. Dark brown patina, corroded in patches. Some damge to pommel. NMAS DQ 201.

C B Burgess and I Colquhoun 1988.