EDINBURGH CASTLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15566, 25 March 1914, Page 12

EDINBURGH CASTLE.

INTERESTING DISCOVERY. Thk chief architect to His Majesty's Office of Works in (Scotland, Mr. W. T. Oldrieve, has discovered the remains of King David Tower at Edinburgh Castle. For a period of more than 200 years this structure must have been as familiar as the Half-Moon Battery, which has shut it out from view for nearly 350 years. The finding of the tower has led to the discovery of the well which in early times gave the Castle its water supply. The well is sunk a. distance of 110 ft.

At a recent meeting of the Antiquarian Society, held in their rooms in Queen Street, Edinburgh, Mr. Oldreive gave an : account of his discovery. He said that the commanding position of the Castle of Edinburgh naturally suggested the extreme probability of there having been a fortified retreat there from very early times. A ■ Royal residence certainly existed in the time of Queen Margaret. The exact site of this building was not now known, but it was recorded that in 1314 Ranulph, Earl of Moray, in pursuance of Bruce's policy, demolished all the buildings of the Castle except the little Chapel of St. Margaret,' in order that no shelter should exist in case of reoccupation by the English. ' In 1367, when the English invaders Bad at last been permanently expelled, the build ing of King David's Tower was commenced, the work taking ten to twelve years to complete. Early in 1912 it was discovered that in a coal store connected with the soldiers' canteen there were evidences of stone work of a very early period. In particular it was noticed that the substantially constructed stone-vaulted recess in a wall 7ft 6in thick, with the narrow window slit or shot-hole, which though now below the level of the Half-Moon Battery, had obviously been above ground originally. It was suggested that this window might be traced from the outside by excavation from the level of the Half-Moon Battery. The work of excavation revealed the shot-hole or window at a depth of sft. Interest was soon quickened by the appearance of shattered masonry upon the outer face of the wall, evidently the result of bombardment by cannon, which supposition was confirmed by the finding of two solid iron cannon balls and fragments of burst shell in the debris directly under the damaged wall.

At a depth of 15ft it was reported that the extrados of stone vaulting had been found. An opening was at once authorised and formed, and the vault beneath was entered. Loose earth was found almost filling the vault, but. the clearing of this away to a depth of 32ft revealed the doorway and well worn steps of what appeared to be the lower entrance to the ground floor of the earliest part of the tower. This doorway, which was in a well-con-structed stone wall Bft 3in thick, had a pointed segmental head formed by two sloping linteis meeting at the apex, not by a truly constructed arch. This type of doorhead was usually associated with the early mediaeval building. On clearing away the rubbish from the two loopholes or windows on the south side of this vault acwas was obtained to the eastmost of the two lower valuted chambers of irregular form which occupy the space between the tower and the curved wall of the Hall-Moon Battery. Hie size of the stalactites from the vaulted roof and the stalgamites rising from the ground, some extending to 7ft 6iri long, indicated that these vaults had not been disturbed for a very long time.

After a considerable amount of excavation the north wall of the tower was dis-1 covered. In the external wall, formed by carefully tooled ashlar, was a tapered loophole It was >val in section and trumpetmouthed at tie interior face of wall. The axis of the lnophc!e was carefully aligned so as to point directly down the High .Street. The building of the Half-Moon Battery wall had covered up this ancient loophole, but it had . now been exposed permanently to vi"w. The work <f clearing nut soil and rubbish from the vaults was completed in October last, since which date a wood stairway had been constructed to give easy access to the tower from the ground floor level of the Palace, to t.he lower vaults, a depth of about 40ft. This discovery led to the finding of the ancient well, which Mr. Oldreive regards as one of the most interesting in Britain. The well lie/, about 16vds to the north of David's Tower.

Mr. Oidreive gave an inventory of the articles found during the excavations. Among those taken from the Tower were two small coins, an Edinburgh silver pennv from the London mint of Edward I. or 11. and a copper bodle or turner of the period of Charles 11. : four fragments of glass wine flagons, one having a crest of Earl's coronet above the letter L (probably Earl of Lennox), and ore the crest of a" ducal coronet, above a winged heart (probably Duke of Queensberrv) ; a large number of solid cannon balls, a few shells, and some bones of animals. Recovered front the well were cannon balls, solid and explosive, a few skulls and bones of small animals. an Ay Is ham (Norfolk) Town halfpenny, date 1795, and a silver coin, which is un-deciplKw-ajale.