Tag: South Leith Parish Church

Revealing the faces of centuries-old Leithers

New images been created showing what people living in Leith up to 700 years ago might have looked like.

Forensic artists have used hi-tech software to reconstruct the faces of remains uncovered during the excavation of the medieval graveyard in Leith, dating back to between the 14th and 17th century, as part of the Trams to Newhaven project.

Masters graduate students from the University of Dundee, working closely with project sub-contractors GUARD Archaeology and as part of an ongoing internship with the Council Archaeologist, used special 3D scanners to build up digital versions of skulls discovered during excavations outside South Leith Parish Church.

These were the basis for lifelike representations created of the former residents, the first step in the aging analysis of bodies.

The first two pictures feature a man and woman both aged between 35 and 50. Early forensic analysis indicates that the woman may have suffered from nutritional deficiencies.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “These images give us a fascinating insight into the lives of the people who lived in our city centuries ago. The work being carried out now will not only shed light on the area’s past but will help to conserve it for many years to come.

“This is all part and parcel of the broader project to bring trams to Newhaven, and I’m glad that we’ve been able to involve residents in exciting developments like this, as we progress with such a major scheme.”

Councillor Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, said: “It’s so interesting to see these images.

“It really makes you think about what life could have been like in Leith all those years ago and I look forward to finding out more from the experts analysing the remains found.”

Council Archaeologist John Lawson added: “These fantastic reconstructions help us connect directly with our forebearers. Often, we as archaeologists just see the physical remains but the work undertaken by Dundee University’s forensic artists helps put the flesh, so to speak, back onto these remains and by doing so I feel brings them closer to us today.”

Excavations were carried out in summer 2020 outside South Leith Parish Church, Constitution Street, where previous investigations showed that in the medieval period the church’s graveyard extended across the road with graves surviving beneath the current road surface.

The team of archaeologists, who were working to remove any human remains that could be affected by the tram works, exhumed more than 360 bodies, dating from between 1300 and 1650, as well as finding the apparent remnants of the original medieval graveyard wall.

The remains are now subject to examination and analysis that will reveal information on the origins, health, diseases and diet of the people of medieval Leith. This has involved partnership work with the University of Dundee and Forensic Art MSc graduate students Viviana Conti and Elysia Greenway, who have created facial reconstructions and have recorded vlogs for the Trams to Newhaven YouTube account, explaining their process.

Lynn Morrison, Lecturer in Forensic Art at the University of Dundee, said: “Elysia and Viviana have done an excellent job reconstructing the faces of these individuals. This internship has given them a great opportunity to develop the skills learnt on the course and gain some valuable experience in the field. I am delighted to see how well they are doing.

The main construction works on Leith Walk from Elm Row to Crown Place are currently underway, with traffic management involving Leith Walk being reduced to one citybound lane between London Road and Crown Place for the duration of the works.

Find out more about Trams to Newhaven on the project website. 

Excavation of medieval graveyard begins on Constitution Street

The excavation of human remains which could date back as far as 1300 has begun on Constitution Street, as part of the Trams to Newhaven project.

Archaeologists are on-site outside South Leith Parish Church, where previous investigations have shown that in the medieval period the church’s graveyard extended across the road with graves surviving beneath the current road surface.

The team are removing any human remains that are likely to be affected by the tram works, and have so far exhumed more than ten bodies, dating from between 1300 and 1650, as well as finding the apparent remnants of the original medieval graveyard wall.

After the excavation the remains will be subject to examination and analysis that will reveal information on the origins, health, diseases and diet of the people of medieval Leith.

Depute Leader Cammy Day said: This is an extremely fascinating, essential part of the broader project to bring the tram to Newhaven, shedding some light on centuries of history here in Leith.

“It’s crucial that we conserve the remains found here, and a team of archaeologists are carrying out the painstaking job of doing this. What’s more, further examination of the excavated graves will give us an invaluable glimpse into the lives of Leithers past.”

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “The Trams to Newhaven project is now up and running again and progressing well, as the main works get underway on Leith Walk.

“This element of the scheme is just as important as track-laying or landscaping and allows us to conserve a small piece of the area’s heritage for generations to come”.

Council Archaeologist John Lawson said: The historic port and town of Leith is one of the Scotland’s most significant urban archaeological sites with evidence of occupation going back over 900 years. 

“Although only just started, the excavations by our team from GUARD have already provided important new evidence regarding the history of the graveyard and earlier town with the discovery of what we believe are the remains of its original medieval graveyard wall.

“It is hoped that further new discoveries will be made and that we will learn important new evidence for the lives of Leith’s medieval inhabitants so that we can tell their story to modern Leithers.”

Last month, archaeologists from GUARD Archaeology Ltd, who are undertaking work on the council’s behalf under contractors Morrison Utility Services, shared images of discoveries made during initial investigations on Constitution Street. These include rare whalebones, a cannonball thought to date back to the 17th century and historic drainage.

Archaeological work began on Constitution Street in November 2019 and was stopped at the end of March, along with the wider project, to comply with Government guidance and to protect the safety of workers and residents in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

During the first phase, the team took down part of a wall surrounding Constitution Street Graveyard, dating back to 1790, ahead of excavation of the historic graveyard. Preparatory work led archaeologists to discover what appears to be a large charnel pit which may contain the remains of some burials recovered from the laying of 19th century services in Constitution Street. 

The main construction works on Leith Walk from Elm Row to Crown Place are currently underway, with traffic management involving Leith Walk being reduced to one city bound lane between London Road and Crown Place for the duration of the works.

All works, including archaeological investigations, are being carried out while maintaining physical distancing and with additional measures to protect workers’ and the public’s health in place.

Find out more about Trams to Newhaven on the project website.

Utilita Hub raises funds for Leith Foodbank

Utilita, the UK’s leading Smart Pay As You Go Energy supplier, is running ‘The Utilita Energy Hub-to-Hub Challenge’ in Leith to support South Leith Parish Foodbank whose vital fundraising and community-building activities have been curbed by the coronavirus crisis.

The charity fundraiser kicked off on 18th May and includes a team from the Leith Energy Hub either walking, running, cycling or skipping the equivalent distance from the Utilita Hub in Newport in the Isle of Wight to the Hub in Leith – totalling a whopping 516 miles.

They are clocking up the miles by making the most out of outdoor spaces, such as doing laps in their local park until they reach the 516-mile milestone.

To promote positive physical and mental health during the lockdown, members of the Utilita Energy Hub team are also recording their weekly body mass index, to demonstrate the health benefits of the challenge.

Debra Clason, Utilita Hub Manager in Leith, said: “The Utilita Energy Hubs exist to give local communities a place to go to talk about reducing their energy usage, as well as providing a space free of charge where local community groups and good causes can host their own activities, so we wanted to fill that current void with something equally as community-centred, whilst keeping the staff active to promote positive physical and mental wellbeing.

“Each Energy Hub has chosen a local charity or support group to raise money for, reflecting Utilita’s ethos of engaging with and supporting local communities.

“The team in Leith chose to fundraise for the South Leith Parish Foodbank because on a daily basis, we see people access the service, some of whom are also our customers. It’s a sobering thought to think there is an increasing need for reliance on food banks in the UK, with many families just one pay cheque away from becoming homeless.

“The energetic Hub team will happily put in the leg work and would be grateful for your donations via a dedicated JustGiving page to help them on their way.” 

Rev Iain May, Chair of the South Leith Parish Church Food Bank, said: “The support from Utilita is really appreciated. In Leith, there are over 6,000 people, including over 1,500 children, who live on or below the poverty line.

“The efforts of the team from Utilita will make such a difference in allowing us to provide essential food to those in need in these challenging and difficult times.

 “The support of the local business community here in Leith has been amazing, and Utilita has been in many ways at the forefront of this recently. So thanks again for all many miles, running, cycling, skipping that Utilita staff are doing, it will really make a difference.”

Visit the Leith Energy Hub JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hub2hubchallenge

The Utilita Hub teams have been busy taking part in the challenge across the UK, clocking up more miles each day – please see an infographic providing an update on how far they have travelled below.

You can download this here: https://we.tl/t-7mqEN1fpzT 

Explore the ‘Past Lives of Leith’ in the Museum of Edinburgh

Visitors to the Museum of Edinburgh can now explore the results of the largest excavation of a medieval graveyard undertaken in Leith.

Continue reading Explore the ‘Past Lives of Leith’ in the Museum of Edinburgh

Meet the ancestors!

REVEALING THE FACES OF LEITHERS PAST

Alas poor Leither ...
Alas poor Leither …

A five-year project to analyse bodies discovered during an archaeological dig by the City of Edinburgh Council and Headland Archaeology has shed new light on Leithers of the past. Forensic artists have now unveiled what the Medieval residents of the former burgh might have looked like some 500 years ago.

A team of experts from the University of Dundee carried out a painstaking process to reconstruct the faces of the 14th to 17th century remains, discovered near Constitution Street.

The bodies of almost 400 men, women and children dating as far back as the 14th century were found on the site of a previously unknown section of the South Leith Parish Church’s graveyard during preparation work for Edinburgh Trams in 2009.

SouthLeithIdentified as a particularly sensitive archaeological zone, the Constitution Street location was considered important due to its proximity to the early Medieval core of Leith and the later 16th and 17th century town defences.

The subsequent unearthing of graveyard burials are thought to be amongst some of the most significant Medieval finds in Scottish history. They could provide the first archaeological evidence for the Medieval Hospital of St Anthony’s, destroyed in the 16th century.

Now detailed analysis by the City of Edinburgh Council’s Archaeology Service and Headland Archaeology, in partnership with the University of Aberdeen, has revealed the age, sex, build and pathology of the individuals.

Artists from the University of Dundee have also been able to provide a glimpse of the faces of Leithers past using hi-tech reconstruction techniques, revealing strikingly modern-looking results.

face3By using forensic modelling to determine the shape and depth of facial muscles and soft tissues, isotopic analysis to ascertain individuals’ origins and state-of-the-art computer programming, researchers were able to build up lifelike facial representations for the 400 to 600-year-old remains.

Amongst the reconstructions was that of a boy, aged between 13 and 17, who was thought to have lived around Leith and Edinburgh and to have died in the late 14th or early 15th century, an adult male aged 25 to 35 who lived in the mid 16th to 17th century and a woman also aged between 25 and 35, who died in the late 14th and early 15th century.

Richard Lewis, City of Edinburgh Council’s Culture Convener, said: “The unearthing of such important remains was a major discovery five years ago, but to be able to gain an even closer insight into Leith’s medieval past is incredibly exciting.

“Edinburgh has an undeniably rich and interesting history, but work like this means the whole city can truly appreciate our heritage.”

face2John Lawson, City Archaeologist, said: “This is one of the largest and most important urban excavations of human remains undertaken in Edinburgh and Scotland in recent years. The results have shed new light on the lives of the Medieval population in one of Scotland’s largest and most important ports.

“It has allowed us to highlight the lives of the ordinary person in Leith, by putting a face to these individuals and showing how they lived and died. The forensic reconstructions have really helped to identify these remains as those of members of the public, rather than merely deeming them as archaeological remains, and how alike they are to modern day inhabitants of Leith and Edinburgh.

“Additionally, the project has allowed us to develop important partnerships with the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen, which is already leading on to possible further areas of collaborative research into the former inhabitants of Edinburgh.”

Professor Caroline Wilkinson from the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee, said: “The MSc Forensic Art course has been running for eight years at the University of Dundee, and over the last few years a fruitful partnership has been built with the City of Edinburgh Council and the Museum of Edinburgh.

“Postgraduate students have been using forensic techniques to analyse the burials unearthed by the Edinburgh Tram project and through these internships and research projects this has developed into a productive and stimulating collaboration. Through craniofacial analysis it is now possible to exhibit the faces of local people from Edinburgh’s past and gain insight into the lives of our ancestors.”

face1