Old School House, Ormiston

The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston June 2009

Carried out on behalf of Mr K. Herd

Buildings Archaeologist and Heritage Consultant TRAPRAIN HOUSE LUGGATE BURN WHITTINGEHAME EAST LOTHIAN EH41 4QA

T : 01620 861643

Table of Contents

E : [email protected]

1.0

SUMMARY

2

2.0

INTRODUCTION

2

3.0

OBJECTIVES

3

4.0

METHODOLOGY

3

5.0

RESULTS

5

5.1 5.2 5.3

6.0

Fieldwork The Trenches and Elevations Artefacts

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Location plan. Figure 2: Location of trenches. Figure 3: Section of western trench and elevation of southern wall Figure 4: Adair, Roy and 1st Edition OS map Appendix 1: Context List Appendix 2: Photo List Appendix 3: Artefact List References

DES

5 5 5

6

The Old Schoolhouse, Ormiston

North Sea

Inverness Aberdeen

Edinburgh Glasgow

1 km

100 km

ORMISTON

Area of investigation

Area of investigation 0

50

250m

Reproducion of Ordnance Survey map details with the permission of the Controller of HMSO Crown Copyright OS Licence AL 52480A0001

Figure No. 1: Site Location Map

The Old Schoolhouse, Ormiston 0

5

25m

Main Street

Cross Loan

Old Schoolhouse

Areas of investigation

wall stump and brick wall interface.

Shed

section

Garages

wall elevation

Quions showing wall return

internal building features

Figure No. 2: Site Plan

The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston – June 2009

1.0

SUMMARY

1.1

An archaeological evaluation was required due to the potential for 18th century, medieval or earlier remains being uncovered at The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston. The site is located in the rear garden plot of the aforementioned structure at the east end of the historic town of Ormiston. The work consisted of trenching along the lines of the proposed building foundations to investigate the potential for sub-surface archaeological deposits. These works were commissioned by Mr Ken Herd. The work was undertaken on the 1st June 2009, and was restricted to the areas affected by the proposed development.

1.2

The work will enable the East Lothian Archaeological Officer to decide on the need for further work, or to advise the removal of this particular condition.

2.0

INTRODUCTION

2.1

Site location The site is located to the south of the Main Street, Ormiston and to the west of Cross Loan in the garden of the Old Schoolhouse at NT 41548 69295 (Fig. 1).

2.2

Site History The word Ormiston is derived from the family 'Orme' having possession of the land during the twelve and thirteenth centuries, hence the name of Ormiston or 'Ormistoun' as it was formerly called. ‘Toun’ meaning a 'farmstead' or 'farm and outbuildings,'. The estates in the area passed into the ownership of the Cockburn family in 1368, who were to remain the lairds of Ormiston for the next 400 years. The present Ormiston itself stands on the north bank of the River Tyne, at an elevation of about 276 ft. consisting chiefly of a broad open straight Main Street with a row of double story houses along each side. Scotland's first planned village, Ormiston, was built circa 1735 on the model of an English village by one of the initiators of the Agricultural Revolution and the last of the Cockburn Lairds, John Cockburn of Ormiston (1679 - 1758). Using strict guidelines for its appearance he put housing for artisans and cottage industries (spinning and weaving) around the original 'mill hamlet'. When he did not achieve the expected return on his investment he sold it to the Earl of Hopetoun in 1747. One of Scotland's first bleachfields were built here but by 1811 the both the linen trade and the brewery had closed. Ormiston became a mining village and continued until the closure of the pits in 1961.

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The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston – June 2009

One of the continuing mysteries surrounding the village is the location of the original medieval settlement, with one possibility that it lies beneath the current buildings (which all date to the mid 18th century or later), or that it may lie to the south towards the River Tyne. This investigation has perhaps added to the sparse information on this subject, with negative evidence being useful in archaeological terms. Maps were examined from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries1, but all show the village in its current location (Fig. 4). The two features of note are between the earliest Adair manuscript from 1682 and the later engraved version from 1736 which clearly shows the improvements created by Cockburn. There is also a structure shown on the 1856 OS map, to the southeast of the site, which shows a building in the location of the building noted in the southern wall of the development site. An undated well was uncovered during works in the garden of Beech house, circa 100m to the northeast (A. Robertson pers. comm.) however, very little intrusive archaeological investigation has taken place at this end of the village. Given the unknown dating of the feature, it can have very little relevance or relationship to the present site.

3.0

OBJECTIVES

3.1

The objectives of this evaluation were to establish the potential for medieval archaeology within this area, the type, preservation and depth, and to investigate the stratigraphy of deposits at this location. This investigation also characterised and identified the underlying ground makeup.

4.0

METHODOLOGY

4.1

We excavated a series of trenches along the area of the strip foundations and associated services, using a small mechanical excavator with a 600mm toothless bucket.

4.2

The trenches were excavated by machine under direct archaeological supervision to remove topsoil and modern deposits down to subsoil.

4.3

Further excavation required to fulfil the objectives of the evaluation was carried out by hand, including cleaning of the base levels and sections.

4.4

Photographic recording of the southern wall was also carried out as an additional recording exercise – at no extra to the client.

1

Adair – 1682, Reprint - 1736, Gen. Roy – 1755, 1st Edition OS 1856

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EAST

0

SOUTH

1

1

1000

1002

1001

1005

1004

cut 1003

1006

1000

quoins

Backlot

quoins

Backlot

wall turns to south

5m

north facing elevation of teh southern boundary wall, showing the rear of a building (east) and two further backlot walls

Building

5m

east facing section showing the redeposited natural 1001 and the deposit stratigraphy seen in all excavations

feature scar

99.48

0

99.48

WEST

NORTH

The Old Schoolhouse, Ormiston

Figure No. 3: West section and south Wall elevation

The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston – June 2009

5.0

RESULTS

5.1

Fieldwork The work was undertaken on the 1st June 2009. The turf topsoil [1000] was regular across the site ranging from 150mm to 200mm in depth and was already stripped. In the west half of the site (not affected by the construction of garages in the east half of the site) a layer of redeposited natural [1001] overlying a further topsoil layer [1002] were recorded between 200mm – 650mm. A sandy clay natural [1005] was encountered at 650mm to 700mm with a gravel layer [1006] beneath at c. 900 to 1000mm . The various datasets from the investigation are presented in the appendix section; Context list (Appendix 1 ) Photographic list (Appendix 2), Finds register (Appendix 3)

5.2

The Trenches (Fig. 2)

5.2.1

The trenches followed the line of the building foundation plan, and were excavated down to the level required, which was in excess of the level were archaeological deposits were no longer present. Each trench was shown to have the same general makeup, except for the area to the east, which had been disturbed by the insertion of two garages and a shed in the late 20th century.

5.2.2

(See section on Figure 3) Beneath the topsoil layer [1000] was a layer of redeposited natural [1001] that had been dumped from the construction of the shed and garages to the east. This overlaid a further topsoil layer [1002] which contained the only in-situ find located during the investigation – the neck and shoulder of a handblown 18th century bottle. This layer directly overlaid a level natural orange brown sandy clay [1005], that in turn overlaid the terrace gravels [1006] - the only feature was a single tree bole, [1003] / [1004] that was recent in date.

5.3

The land divisions (Fig. 2/3)

5.3.1

Although outwith the remit of the project, it was considered to be of use to the overall investigation to record the southern wall, and note the locations or absence of north-south dividing walls.

5.3.2

The southern wall showed the clear evidence of a structure in the east section, with a set of quoins clearly visible, and further investigation on the south facing elevation clearly showed wall features and a fireplace, that must relate to the structure noted on the 1856 OS map (fig 4). The two further walls to the west, are of the same size and may represent equal divided backlot plots extending to the south.

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The Old Schoolhouse, Ormiston

Adair - 1680

Adair print version - 1736

Gen. Roy- 1755

1st Ed OS 1856

Figure No. 4: Map regression, with site highlighted in red

The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston – June 2009

5.3.3

The stump of a north-south division wall was noted as a truncated feature that would have originally extended into the development area, but had been removed in the late 20th century by the later garage buildings.

5.4

Artefacts

5.4.1

A single artefact was recovered from a secure context, a handblown bottleneck of clear 18th century date. This correlates to the construction of the new village and the creation of new backlots.

6.0

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The programme of investigation has shown that no significant archaeological deposits are to be encountered in the development area. The recommendation to the East Lothian Council Archaeology Officer is that no further work will be required. It is clear from standing remains that structural activity has taken place in the area, and therefore archaeological deposits may be present in the immediate vicinity.

South facing elevation of southern boundary (east end) showing features including fireplace)

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The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston – June 2009

Appendix 1 Context Register Context List – 00S_09 - Ormiston Old Schoolhouse 09 Context Description 1000 Recent Topsoil 1001 Redeposited natural with mixed orange brown silty clay and gravels 1002 Buried Topsoil 1003 Cut from small tree 1004 Dark brown soil infill 1005 Orange brown silty clay with few gravel inclusions 1006 Gravel and water worn cobbles in a gritty clay sand matrix.

Appendix 2 Photo Register - Digital Photo Record List – 00S_09 - Ormiston Old Schoolhouse 2009 Photo Site Code ID 1 00S09_001 2 00S09_002 3 00S09_003 4 00S09_004 5 00S09_005 6 00S09_006 7 00S09_007 8 00S09_008 9 00S09_009 10 00S09_010 11 00S09_011 12 00S09_012 13 00S09_013 14 00S09_014 15 00S09_015 16 00S09_016 17 00S09_017 18 00S09_018

Description

Direction to

Record shot of Area – pre-excavation Record shot of Area – pre-excavation South boundary wall (east-west) record South boundary wall (east-west) record South boundary wall (east-west) record South boundary wall (east-west) record South boundary wall (east-west) record South boundary wall (east-west) record South boundary wall (east-west) record Stump wall of central plot division East facing section on extreme west trench East facing section on extreme west trench East facing section on extreme west trench East facing section on extreme west trench Record shot of Area – post-excavation Record shot of Area – post-excavation Record shot of Area – post-excavation South boundary wall (east end) record of south facing section showing blocked wall features

N E S S S S S S S NE W W W W NE E SE N

Appendix 3 Artefact List Artefact Record List – 00S_09 - Ormiston Old Schoolhouse 09 Trench Context Description 1 1002 1 bottleneck and shoulder - handblown

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Date 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009 01/06/2009

The Old Schoolhouse, Ormiston

Site Photos

The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston – June 2009

References Maps: •1682 - John ADAIR - East Lothian authore Johanne Adair. (manuscript) •1736 - John ADAIR - A Map of East Lothian survey'd by Mr J. Adair. •1799 - William FORREST - Map of Haddingtonshire. •1821 - John AINSLIE - Ainslie's Map of the Southern Part of Scotland. •1747-55 - William ROY - Military Survey of Scotland •1856 - ORDNANCE SURVEY - One-inch 1st edition maps of Scotland

Bibliography Martine, John 1883/2008 ‘Reminiscences of the Royal Burgh of Haddington and Old East Lothian’ Charleston , Bibliolife p259 McWilliam, Colin 1975. ‘Scottish Townscape’ London, Collins p95 Ormiston

2006, http://www.ormistonvillage.com/history.htm

Ormiston, County of Haddington. Statistical Accounts of Scotland of 1791-99, volume 4, page 166-171 Ormiston, County of Haddington. Statistical Accounts of Scotland of 1834-45, volume 2, page 135-142

OASIS reference: connolly1-60865

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The Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, Ormiston – June 2009

Discovery and Excavation Scotland LOCAL AUTHORITY:

East Lothian

PROJECT TITLE/SITE NAME:

Old School House, Ormiston

PROJECT CODE:

OOS09

PARISH:

Ormiston

NAME OF CONTRIBUTOR:

David Connolly

NAME OF ORGANISATION:

(Connolly Heritage Consultancy)

TYPE(S) OF PROJECT:

Monitored Strip / Trenches

NMRS NO(S):

-

SITE/MONUMENT TYPE(S):

18th century – 20th century

SIGNIFICANT FINDS:

none

NGR (2 letters, 8 or 10 figures)

NT 41548 69295

START DATE (this season)

1st June 2009

END DATE (this season)

1st June 2009

PREVIOUS WORK (incl. DES ref.)

-

MAIN (NARRATIVE) DESCRIPTION:

An archaeological investigation in the rear garden of Ormiston Old School House was conducted to establish the presence of archaeological deposits. No Archaeological deposits were encountered.

PROPOSED FUTURE WORK:

none

CAPTION(S) FOR ILLUSTRS:

-

SPONSOR OR FUNDING BODY:

Mr K. Herd

ADDRESS OF MAIN CONTRIBUTOR:

Connolly Heritage Consultancy Traprain House Luggate Burn Whittingehame East Lothian EH41 4QA

EMAIL ADDRESS:

[email protected]

ARCHIVE LOCATION (intended/deposited)

RCAHMS (intended)

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