History of Leith, Edinburgh

PILRIG PARK is the last place you might expect to find the remains of a 16th-century English fort.

But a team of archaeologists knew exactly what they were looking for when they carried out a recent series of digs there. for more click here

An excavation was undertaken in advance of development at 40-43 Water Street, Leith, which was documented as Rotten Row in the 14th century. The earliest remains encountered were the bases of turf banks used to define properties in the 13th century. for more click here

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have been left baffled by how the remains of six bodies came to be buried in the grounds of a historic Leith building more than 400 years ago.

Eighteen months after the remains were unearthed in what is now the grounds of St Mary’s Star of the Sea Church, in Constitution Street, the researchers have admitted to being puzzled by the mystery of how they came to be there. for more click here

An enormous area (three thousand five hundred square metres) of the historic core of Leith is being excavated by Headland Archaeology on behalf of Barratt East Scotland. The excavations at Giles Street, where 20th century warehouse buildings have recently been demolished to make way for redevelopment, covers at least two city blocks. The excavations link two of Leith’s early streets, Giles Street and St Andrew’s Street, which date to the 16th century or earlier, but which have both almost entirely disappeared in the course of slum clearance and redevelopment over the late 19th and 20th centuries. Next to the site, The Vaults, a 17th century building constructed over extensive late 16th century vaulted cellars, is one of the few old buildings surviving in the area. for more click here

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demolished c1822. The coat of arms belong to Mary, Queen of Scots which can now be seen within the West Porch of South Leith Church

The above records are amongst the earliest records of the Leith Tolbooth and how Bernard Street got its name. Both Bernard Lindsay and his wife were buried at South Leith unfortunately the postions of the burials are now unknown

(c) South Leith Records

Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon on April 25th 1599. Since his death as Lord Protector in 1658 his life, ambitions, motives and actions have been the subject of scholarly investigation and intense, often vitriolic, debate. Whatever position is taken on Cromwell, “Chief of Men” or “Brave Bad Man”, his importance as a key figure in one of the most troubled periods of British history is unassailable. for more click here