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Holyroodhouse Palace
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A seal matrix, used to stamp wax seals |
1634 Double Tournois coin |
Jeton: a 16th century counting piece |
Targets:
Digging the mysterious small mound in the gardens.
Seeking out the original cloisters of the Abbey, the missing wing which housed Catherine of Braganza's apartments
Finding Mary Queen of Scots tennis court (where reputedly she played with her lover)
Investigating the location of the missing tower of James IV
Digging the mysterious small mound in the gardens.
Seeking out the original cloisters of the Abbey, the missing wing which housed Catherine of Braganza's apartments
Finding Mary Queen of Scots tennis court (where reputedly she played with her lover)
Investigating the location of the missing tower of James IV
Key Finds:
Seal Matrix, Monastery foundations, James IV's tower annexe foundations.
Seal Matrix, Monastery foundations, James IV's tower annexe foundations.
Overview:
After Mick's excitement at digging up various artefacts on the mysterious mound, including the seal matrix, the team focused on searching for foundations of the Holyrood Abbey built by King James IV who died in 1513 at the hands of the English. Further evidence of English military action was discovered by vivid red scorched earth uncovered in the Abbey trench. Henry XIII sent an army to Edinburgh when hunting for the infant Mary Queen of Scots – heir to the Scottish throne. Not finding the baby monarch, his army took revenge by burning the Abbey to the ground.
Mary Queen of Scots who inherited Holyrood from her father, James V, built a royal tennis court but despite clear indications from early maps, Victorian tenement buildings seemed to have obliterated any earlier remains.
Better news was found in the trenches on the other side of the palace where the remains of steps in James IV's tower were clearly visible. Together with the foundations of the Abbey, the team were able to create graphic reconstructions of how Holyroodhouse would have looked some 500 years ago.
After Mick's excitement at digging up various artefacts on the mysterious mound, including the seal matrix, the team focused on searching for foundations of the Holyrood Abbey built by King James IV who died in 1513 at the hands of the English. Further evidence of English military action was discovered by vivid red scorched earth uncovered in the Abbey trench. Henry XIII sent an army to Edinburgh when hunting for the infant Mary Queen of Scots – heir to the Scottish throne. Not finding the baby monarch, his army took revenge by burning the Abbey to the ground.
Mary Queen of Scots who inherited Holyrood from her father, James V, built a royal tennis court but despite clear indications from early maps, Victorian tenement buildings seemed to have obliterated any earlier remains.
Better news was found in the trenches on the other side of the palace where the remains of steps in James IV's tower were clearly visible. Together with the foundations of the Abbey, the team were able to create graphic reconstructions of how Holyroodhouse would have looked some 500 years ago.
Gordon Ewart, director of Kirkdale Archaeology remains in charge of the excavations at Holyrood Palace for the Big Royal Dig. Here he explains more about the dig:
"I worked up the research design, provided the team and suggested several specialists - I calculated where everything ought to be – hidden palace remains, James IV Tower, ornate gardens, demolished Abbey cloister etc. I have worked frequently on and around the Palace over the last 10 years or so and consequently had a good knowledge of the likely archaeology of the various bits of the site. Also in order to maximise the effectiveness of the necessarily rather small trenches, my team and I rectified various old maps in advance. I also had to decide where precisely to excavate and how much to open, guided partly by our preparation/ knowledge of the site, and in the light of the geophysical surveys when they became available. I wrote the recent report on the findings of the dig and am expected to write a full publication of the results. I have been working in Scotland for over 30 years and have excavated and surveyed at Holyrood on numerous occasions since 1995. Scottish Palaces Castles, Abbeys and historic gardens are all specialities of mine (several publications and more excavations than I care to remember...), hence my involvement with the Holyrood part of the BIg Dig."
1. How did it feel having a camera crew following your every move at Holyrood? Did you ever find them getting in the way of your work?
The crew are very experienced and know how to be relatively unobtrusive believe it or not, and thanks to Mel providing a daily schedule we were all fairly prepared for those TV moments, plus as most of the chat etc. is done by the regular presenters, we were able just to keep going and generally forget about the cameras
2. In terms of all the digs you've been on, how highly did this rank in terms of finds and importance?
This was always going to be somewhat unusual and my hope was that the need for interesting / exciting TV for the production crew and on our side, the rapid discovery of all (or most) of the targets I had set for ourselves, could coincide over the few days on site. Thankfully the weather was perfect and we were all able to push on - it would have been a lot more difficult had it rained. If, as I think we did, succeed in bringing the TV side and the archaeological side together in a good balance as a proper team effort, then the project was a notable success - the new evidence was valuable and the story revealed, was pretty good TV.
3. What was the most exciting part of the dig for you? And the most surprising?
The best bit was the way that the trenches were all completed in good order and well in time - and that they all contained interesting archaeology - even the tennis court trench had something to say even if it wasn't related to tennis or the Stewarts. The remains of the Tower of James IV and the Chancellor's Lodging were as dramatic as we thought they would be and it was as if we brought the 17thC Rothiemay map to life.
4. What has been your most significant find in all your years of archaeology?
There have been many discoveries over the years - memorable moments include the discovery of the 13thC burials under the floor of the Kitchen at Stirling Castle, - one with an arrow still embedded in his side! other moments include the excavation of the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce at Melrose Abbey, the finding of the 12thC walrus ivory decorated comb at Jedburgh Abbey, the 13th century gatehouse and vitrified rampart at Dundonald Castle, harp tuning pegs from the Lord of the Isles fortress at Finlaggan on Islay, the gunners guages from Edinburgh Castle, the decorated tiles from Cadzow Castle and many more.
5. Will the public get the chance to view any of the finds from Holyrood, for example the seal matrix?
The disposal of the finds, once conserved and suitably analysed and reported on is really the concern of Historic Scotland and the Palace but I'm sure that every effort will be made to put the objects on display as soon as possible.
"I worked up the research design, provided the team and suggested several specialists - I calculated where everything ought to be – hidden palace remains, James IV Tower, ornate gardens, demolished Abbey cloister etc. I have worked frequently on and around the Palace over the last 10 years or so and consequently had a good knowledge of the likely archaeology of the various bits of the site. Also in order to maximise the effectiveness of the necessarily rather small trenches, my team and I rectified various old maps in advance. I also had to decide where precisely to excavate and how much to open, guided partly by our preparation/ knowledge of the site, and in the light of the geophysical surveys when they became available. I wrote the recent report on the findings of the dig and am expected to write a full publication of the results. I have been working in Scotland for over 30 years and have excavated and surveyed at Holyrood on numerous occasions since 1995. Scottish Palaces Castles, Abbeys and historic gardens are all specialities of mine (several publications and more excavations than I care to remember...), hence my involvement with the Holyrood part of the BIg Dig."
1. How did it feel having a camera crew following your every move at Holyrood? Did you ever find them getting in the way of your work?
The crew are very experienced and know how to be relatively unobtrusive believe it or not, and thanks to Mel providing a daily schedule we were all fairly prepared for those TV moments, plus as most of the chat etc. is done by the regular presenters, we were able just to keep going and generally forget about the cameras
2. In terms of all the digs you've been on, how highly did this rank in terms of finds and importance?
This was always going to be somewhat unusual and my hope was that the need for interesting / exciting TV for the production crew and on our side, the rapid discovery of all (or most) of the targets I had set for ourselves, could coincide over the few days on site. Thankfully the weather was perfect and we were all able to push on - it would have been a lot more difficult had it rained. If, as I think we did, succeed in bringing the TV side and the archaeological side together in a good balance as a proper team effort, then the project was a notable success - the new evidence was valuable and the story revealed, was pretty good TV.
3. What was the most exciting part of the dig for you? And the most surprising?
The best bit was the way that the trenches were all completed in good order and well in time - and that they all contained interesting archaeology - even the tennis court trench had something to say even if it wasn't related to tennis or the Stewarts. The remains of the Tower of James IV and the Chancellor's Lodging were as dramatic as we thought they would be and it was as if we brought the 17thC Rothiemay map to life.
4. What has been your most significant find in all your years of archaeology?
There have been many discoveries over the years - memorable moments include the discovery of the 13thC burials under the floor of the Kitchen at Stirling Castle, - one with an arrow still embedded in his side! other moments include the excavation of the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce at Melrose Abbey, the finding of the 12thC walrus ivory decorated comb at Jedburgh Abbey, the 13th century gatehouse and vitrified rampart at Dundonald Castle, harp tuning pegs from the Lord of the Isles fortress at Finlaggan on Islay, the gunners guages from Edinburgh Castle, the decorated tiles from Cadzow Castle and many more.
5. Will the public get the chance to view any of the finds from Holyrood, for example the seal matrix?
The disposal of the finds, once conserved and suitably analysed and reported on is really the concern of Historic Scotland and the Palace but I'm sure that every effort will be made to put the objects on display as soon as possible.
