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6.00pm 27th August 2006
Under the watchful eyes of a large crowd a trench has been opened up late this afternoon on the supposed site of Queen Mary's Real Tennis Court. Archaeologist John Godbert tells me all they've found so far is modern material; some marbles and glass from the early 1900s. They've got a lot of digging to do here tomorrow!
Back in the grounds things have been moving on rapidly. Over by the flowerbed trenches I ask archaeologist Gordon Ewart if he thinks the Big Royal Dig has gone well so far, and he tells me that they've succeeded in one of the main aims of the Big Royal Dig, to show how the abbey evolved into a palace.
Gordon explains that the dig out on the lawn has shown that the refectory was converted into a hall by James IV. 'He took over part of the cloister. That's where it started'. About the same time he began a series of extensions to the existing buildings at Holyrood. 'One of the buildings he laid out was a fortified tower. We've got the East wall of that tower here', he says gesturing to the flowerbed trench.
The trench next to us has been excavated further to show a floor and a possible stair tower. Gordon says 'the stairtower looks like an add-on. The south range is an adjunct to the tower. By 1540 there was a range of buildings and a biggish courtyard with a rather funky well in the middle – we know this because it was shown on Rothiemay.'
'These things are part of a noble layout. They are definitely not monastic. This is the business of government'.
In one of the lawn trenches I come across Francis and Tom Addyman discussing whether the drain, which has now had one of its large slab covers lifted, is a sewer or a water channel. 'There is sediment in there', says Tom, 'but it's too well made to be a sewer'. 'Shall we go for water channel?' says Francis. 'I'm going for a coffee,' Tom replies.
3.15pm 27th August 2006
Walking around the site you bump into some interesting people. On the way back from lunch I meet a couple of thoroughly nice chaps; Tony Willett and Dominic Patteson of Willett & Patteson's Amazing Camera Obscura.
Tony and Dominic tour around the country from their base in Brighton with their camera obscura, 'the flat pack Ikea version' as Tony calls it, visiting festivals and community arts events. Today they are here to demonstrate it to the public, and to help test the theory that some of the beautiful historic maps of Edinburgh were drawn with the help of a similar device.
Perhaps the most well known of these maps was produced in 1647 by James Gordon of Rothiemay, and shows the Palace of Holyroodhouse clearly. Even the James IV Tower currently being excavated by Time Team can be seen.
Pushing a thick curtain aside and entering the darkened interior of the camera obscura, I can see a low round table onto which is projected a circular image of the Palace grounds outside. Turning a bar above my head allows me to rotate the lens and pan across the site. Moving a wooden disc up and down lets me focus on near or far away people, buildings, or trenches. The image has an almost filmic quality, and a sharpness which is stunning.
Back at the office I chat to James Hutcheson, Creative Director at Berlinn Books. He's working on drawings of how the Abbey Refectory may once have looked, based on what's being unearthed in the trenches out on the lawn. James tells me artists such as Vermeer and David Hockney both used the camera obscura in their work, and he'll be filmed sketching in Willett & Patteson's later on this afternoon.
I'm looking forward to seeing the results on tonight's programme.
