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Edinburgh, Newcraighall Road, New Craighall

Mine Shaft (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Axehead (Post Medieval), Buckle(S) (Post Medieval), Coin (Post Medieval), Musket Ball (Post Medieval)

Site Name Edinburgh, Newcraighall Road, New Craighall

Classification Mine Shaft (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Axehead (Post Medieval), Buckle(S) (Post Medieval), Coin (Post Medieval), Musket Ball (Post Medieval)

Alternative Name(s) Newcraighall

Canmore ID 53896

Site Number NT37SW 59

NGR NT 32048 72060

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/53896

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Edinburgh, City Of
  • Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
  • Former Region Lothian
  • Former District City Of Edinburgh
  • Former County Midlothian

Archaeology Notes

NT37SW 59 NT 32048 72060

NT 320 720. Ring-ditch, New Craighall: visible on an aerial photograph.

Activities

Watching Brief (13 May 2011 - 7 July 2011)

NT 32048 72060 Evaluation by GUARD Archaeology identified a mine feature at the exact spot where a ring-ditch cropmark had previously been recorded and to the south-east of where a mineshaft was documented. A borehole investigation by IKM Consulting Ltd revealed a small 3 m depression in the rockhead at this spot but no voids were present to show a working adit or shaft.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: The EDI Group Ltd

GUARD Archaeology Ltd 2011

Watching Brief (13 May 2011 - 7 August 2011)

This project involved a metal-detecting survey, 52 evaluation trenches and a watching brief which included the monitoring of 13 trenches and 13 test pits. The metal-detecting survey was carried to recover any metal material that may be related to the Scottish retreat from the nearby Battlefield site of Pinkie (1547). The metal-detecting survey recovered 417 finds, 9 of which were of archaeological significance, although none could be unequivocally attributed to the Battle of Pinkie. These included a late 17th-early 18th century coin, belt buckle fragments and a musket ball, the majority of the material recovered was related to more recent mining and agricultural activity. The evaluation revealed 42 features, of which 24 were related to mining activity and 18 features produced no datable evidence. A putative ring ditch cropmark was demonstrated to be a mining shaft. The watching brief areas revealed a further 7 features associated with mining activity.

GUARD Archaeolog Ltd. 2011 (W. Bailie, A. Hunter-Blair) OASIS ID: guardarc1-105530

Watching Brief (3 June 2013 - 5 June 2013)

NT 32048 72060 A watching brief was carried out, 3–5 June 2013, during the excavation of 25 pits on a proposed development site. The trial pits contained up to 3m of make-up material and there were no finds or features of archaeological significance.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: David R Murray and Associates

Warren Bailie, GUARD Archaeology Ltd, 2013

(Source: DES)

Excavation (29 May 2014 - 25 July 2014)

NT 31933 72068 A programme of archaeological work was undertaken, 29 May – 25 July 2014, on a 8ha site in advance of a residential development. The majority of the features recorded across the site related to mining activity. The majority of the features took the form of small steep sided, sub-rounded pits, with a number of larger mining shafts, arranged in three

discrete linear alignments across the site. The presence of coal in the silty fill of a large culvert, recorded towards the E end of the development area, suggests the culvert may also have been associated with the coal mining industry. The quantity, date and spatial distribution of the remaining features recorded suggest a predominance of 19th- to 20th-century activity across the development area.

While it was not possible to date many of the features, it is likely that they predominantly relate to post-medieval and early modern activity, though a small amount of medieval pottery may potentially reflect medieval coal mining or residual activity. Remnants of broad rig cultivation marks were visible across all parts of the site. No evidence to suggest prehistoric activity was found on the site, although the truncated remains of two curvilinear ditches and a linear ditch may be remnants of an earlier field system, possibly dating from the medieval period. A possible ha-ha or proto-ha-ha found traversing the site on a roughly E–W alignment may be part of a designed landscape associated with Brunstane House to the N.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Barratt East Scotland

Alan Hunter Blair – GUARD Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES)

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