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Gas pipe upgrade likely to uncover artefacts

A major project to upgrade Edinburgh's gas mains system, being carried out by May Gurney on behalf of Scotland Gas Networks (SGN), is cutting deep through the history of the Old Town.

The project to upgrade the gas mains on Johnston Terrace and Lawnmarket will take around 15 weeks to complete and involves replacing 1,050 metres of ageing iron mains with polyethylene ones.

Edinburgh archaeologist Gordon Ewart, who is accompanying the team of engineers, is confident that a range of artefacts – possibly from early medieval times – will be discovered.

Mr Ewart said: “There are four areas of interest. The first is Johnston Terrace, where the Flodden Wall ran up towards the Castle. The trench will cut across the line at the Flodden Wall (pictured). The wall itself sat on top of earlier defensive lines, which could go back as far as the 12th century.

“The last thing we will pick up will be the Weigh House. It sat in the middle of the High Street and was a big municipal building, where goods of various sorts were weighed to ensure there were standardised weights and measures. It was demolished in 1822.”

The work are being carried out by May Gurney in two phases. Phase one, from Johnston Terrace to Lawnmarket and Phase two, from Lawnmarket to George IV Bridge.