Every day, thousands of people commute to and from the city centre of Edinburgh, whether that’s up from Leith or from further out from the capital.
However, many of these commuters know very little about the grim but nonetheless interesting archaeological sites that they drive over or walk past almost every day.
There are many historic, grim secrets lying beneath our feet in Edinburgh, including skeletons in the heart of the Cowgate and coffins on the grounds of a Leith primary school.
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Calton Burial Ground
The first is the Old Calton Burial Ground. Originally built in the early 1700s, the burial ground is situated on the sloping side of Calton hill. While the burial ground is still there to this day and offers a fine collection of 18th and 19th century carvings, it was actually bisected in the 1800s.
The burial ground was split in 1819 to allow for the construction of Waterloo Place, splitting the burial site in two. The two sites are screened from the road with walls but the road still stands on the site of an historic graveyard.
Constitution Street
There is another discovery that is far more recent. While the tram extensions to Leith have been causing traffic chaos across the city, they have unintentionally uncovered the site of a mediaeval graveyard.
As the work continued on Constitution Street in Leith, Hundreds of human remains from a late mediaeval cemetery were uncovered. The cemetery was discovered in 2008 during the initial construction of this section of tramline, which was then cancelled later that year.
However, it came as a complete surprise to the archaeologists as there were previously no burials recorded under constitution street since its construction in 1790. More than 380 burials were recovered at the time with the earliest dating all the way back to the 14th century.
A few years ago when the council was finally given the go-ahead for the Newhaven tram extension, new excavations were made along Constitution Street. This time, another section of the cemetery was found with an additional 359 skeletons.
This brings the total to more than 750 burial sites now recovered from the cemetery, making it the largest skeletal assemblage in Edinburgh and one of the largest in Scotland.
Post excavation studies are now being carried out and archaeologists hope they will uncover fascinating and useful information about the people who were buried in this long forgotten site.
Cowgate Burial Ground
All the way back in 1992, an excavation in the Magdalen Chapel in the Cowgate found a 16th century burial ground in the heart of Edinburgh’s nightclub scene.
The Cowgate has long been the host of numerous bars and clubs in Edinburgh but back in the early 90s, excavations to strengthen the front of the historic Magdalen Chapel made a startling an unexpected discovery.
They found 17 complete skeletons dating in and around the site, dating back to 1537.
The findings came as a complete surprise to the team excavating the site but were nonetheless thrilled at how much potential they had to teach us about the people who lived in Edinburgh before the Reformation.
Coffins under St Mary’s Primary School
In 2016, the outlines of at least nine coffins dating as far back at the 17th century were discovered in the grounds of St Mary’s Primary School in Leith.
After investigative works for a new school classroom discovered one body, further archaeological digs discovered at least nine coffins on the site of the school.
Archaeologists for the City Council believe that the excavations unearthed a complex cemetery believed to date from the 15th to the 18th century and included the graves of both adults and children.
The Car Park Knight
Back in 2013, the grave of a mediaeval knight was found under a city car park in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
The car park was being demolished to allow for the University of Edinburgh to build their new Centre of Carbon Innovation when the excavation uncovered an elaborate sandstone slab adorned with carvings of a Calvary Cross and ornate sword.
The site also revealed the exact location of a monastery founded by King Alexander II of Scotland all the way back in 1230, which was destroyed during the Reformation in 1558.
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