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 E : INFO@CHCHERITAGE.CO.UK

Table of Contents
1.0 SUMMARY 2

2.0 INTRODUCTION 2

3.0 OBJECTIVES 3

4.0 METHODOLOGY 3

5.0 RESULTS 5

5.1 Fieldwork 5
5.2 The Trenches and Elevations 5
5.3 Artefacts 5

6.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6

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
 The Old Schoolhouse, Ormiston

North Sea

Inverness
Aberdeen

Edinburgh

Glasgow

100 km 1 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

Old
Schoolhouse

Cross Loan
Areas of investigation

wall stump and brick wall interface.

section
Shed

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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 0 1 5m

SOUTH cut NORTH

1003
1000
1000
1001 1004

1002

1005
99.48 99.48

1006

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

0 1 5m

EAST Building Backlot Backlot WEST

quoins quoins wall turns to south

feature scar

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

Figure No. 3: West section and south Wall elevation

The Old Schoolhouse, Ormiston
 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 Description Direction to Date
ID
1 00S09_001 Record shot of Area – pre-excavation N 01/06/2009
2 00S09_002 Record shot of Area – pre-excavation E 01/06/2009
3 00S09_003 South boundary wall (east-west) record S 01/06/2009
4 00S09_004 South boundary wall (east-west) record S 01/06/2009
5 00S09_005 South boundary wall (east-west) record S 01/06/2009
6 00S09_006 South boundary wall (east-west) record S 01/06/2009
7 00S09_007 South boundary wall (east-west) record S 01/06/2009
8 00S09_008 South boundary wall (east-west) record S 01/06/2009
9 00S09_009 South boundary wall (east-west) record S 01/06/2009
10 00S09_010 Stump wall of central plot division NE 01/06/2009
11 00S09_011 East facing section on extreme west trench W 01/06/2009
12 00S09_012 East facing section on extreme west trench W 01/06/2009
13 00S09_013 East facing section on extreme west trench W 01/06/2009
14 00S09_014 East facing section on extreme west trench W 01/06/2009
15 00S09_015 Record shot of Area – post-excavation NE 01/06/2009
16 00S09_016 Record shot of Area – post-excavation E 01/06/2009
17 00S09_017 Record shot of Area – post-excavation SE 01/06/2009
18 00S09_018 South boundary wall (east end) record of south N 01/06/2009
facing section showing blocked wall features

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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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) An archaeological investigation in the rear garden of Ormiston Old School House was
DESCRIPTION: 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 Connolly Heritage Consultancy

CONTRIBUTOR: Traprain House
Luggate Burn
Whittingehame
East Lothian
EH41 4QA
EMAIL ADDRESS: info@chcheritage.co.uk

ARCHIVE LOCATION RCAHMS (intended)

(intended/deposited)

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