Site type CASTLE
Canmore ID 52109
Site Number NT27SE 107.00
NGR NT 28807 70875
Council EDINBURGH, CITY OF
Parish EDINBURGH (EDINBURGH, CITY OF)
Former Region LOTHIAN
Former District CITY OF EDINBURGH
Former County MIDLOTHIAN

Canmore Mapping
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Archaeological Notes

NT27SE 107.00 28807 70875

NT27SE 107.01 288 702 garden
NT27SE 107.02 28849 70915 Dovecot

(NT 2882 7088) Craigmillar Castle (NR) (remains of)
Chapel (NR) Dovecot (NR)
OS 6"map, (1966).

Craigmillar Castle is fully described, planned and illustrated in the official guidebook and in RCAHMS 1929.
RCAHMS 1929, visited 10 May 1920; W D Simpson 1954.

(NT 2882 7088) Three exploratory trenches were excavated by Kirkdale Archaeology in advance of the installation of a new septic tank and waste pipe, immediately N of the castle enclosure wall. Evidence of modern landscaping was found within the limits of the excavation, ranging from 0.5-1.5m in depth. There was some evidence of a metalled surface having been introduced within fissures in the bedrock, indicative of an external ground surface, presently obscured by modern landscaping.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
G Ewart and A Dunn 1996

Trial trenching was carried out in advance of the construction of a new car park for Craigmillar Castle. Nine trenches were excavated, eight of which were archaeologically sterile. A small sandstone quarry was located, backfilled apparently in the 19th century.
Sponsors: City of Edinburgh Council, Millennium Forest for Scotland.
M A Collard 1996.

(NT 2881 7087) A watching brief was undertaken during the excavation of an electricity trench outside Craigmillar Castle. The castle sits on the crest of a ridge, with the ground beginning to fall away some 40m to the E. Bedrock, a red sandstone, appeared through the turf in places.
The short N-S stretch (3.8m long), dug by hand next to the NE tower of the castle, revealed below topsoil a light grey fine silt with much sandstone, mortar, charcoal, china, bottle glass, etc, throughout. This was present for the full c.250mm depth that this stretch was excavated to. The castle wall itself has footings that projected some 150mm out from the wall face, but here bedrock was only c 100mm below the modern ground surface, and the wall lay directly on this.
At the N end of this trench, where it turned E, it was excavated by machine. The westernmost c.14m stretch produced the same silty deposit below topsoil for a depth of 400mm, with the trench bottoming on different material. At one c.9m stretch, a bed of loose pale yellow sandstone rubble may represent a foundation raft for the tower.
The fine grey silt overlying the area is seen as probably representing 19th or 20th-century deposits, probably introduced deliberately as levelling material; the large stones present make an agricultural or garden soil unlikely. The sandstone deposit near the 16th-century NE tower of the castle may relate to this tower, but was not physically related to it in this trench.
A further watching brief was maintained in February 1998 during the excavation of a cable trench in the outer courtyard. All trenching took place over previously disturbed ground.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
D Stewart 1998

(NT 288 708) A series of nine test trenches was dug in November 2002 in the field to the N of the castle to investigate soil porosity ahead of new drainage for car parking. Nothing of archaeological significance was found.
Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.
Sponsor: HS
G Ewart 2003

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Architectural Notes

NT27SE 107.00 28807 70875

NMRS Print Room
W Schomberg Scott Photograph Collection, Acc no 1997/39
3 Views from South East

NMRS Print Room
Inglis Photograph Collection, Acc no 1994/90
'35. Craigmillar Castle. near Edinr. J.P.' - exterior view

Information from Architecture Catalogue slip:

REFERENCE: SRO
Mason work at Craigmillar Castle.
Measurement of mason work done by John Bain for Col. Gilmour. It includes windows, doors and lintels of the Castle and the door on the Castle Court.
Liberton Papers - Household Accounts, 1702 - 1823 (page 82)
1820
GD 122/iv/no.143

Alterations to the windows of Craigmillar [?].
Wright's account for ?24.8.0 from William Rankin to Sir Alexander Gilmour.
Craigmillar Correspondence: Discharges, 1725 - 1729 (page 43)
1729
GD 122/iv/no.127

REFERENCE
NATIONAL LIBRARY
"MS 3245" Sketches by Edward Duncan - 1 sketch dated 1869
Uncatalogued MSS of General Hunton, Vol.1 No.71 - 1 sketch dated 1781

Notes and Activities

20 March 2007

WATCHING BRIEF

Notes Prior to the proposed removal of existing gravel surfacing, small trial trenches were dug at Craigmillar Castle to assess the nature of deposits under the gravel in the inner courtyard and in the drawing room. There appeared to be make up deposits below the current level of the courtyard, perhaps suggesting an earlier, lower level.
Gordon Ewart, Kirkdale Archaeology, 2007.

Further details

Books and References

Amateur, An (1819) Scenery and antiquities of Mid-Lothian, drawn and etched by an amateur, Edinburgh
Page(s): 12 opposite page 12 Held at RCAHMS D.7.21.AMA.R

Baldwin, J (1997) Edinburgh, Lothians and the Borders, Exploring Scotland's Heritage series Edinburgh
Page(s): 120-122 No. 48 Held at RCAHMS A.1.4.HER

Baldwin, J R (1985) Exploring Scotland's heritage: Lothian and the Borders, Exploring Scotland's heritage series Edinburgh
Page(s): 80-1, No.40 Held at RCAHMS A.1.4.HER

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