The coastal town of Aberlady has been a port since a Royal Charter was conferred on it by King David I in 1149.  A Carmelite Friary may have been established in the 13th century and this survived until at least 1512.  The late 16th century Kilspindie Castle on the edge of the bay may have been built in response to the town’s growing importance as a trading port.  In 1633, almost 500 years after the granting of the Royal Charter, Aberlady was recognised as ‘The Port of Haddington’ and a map by John Adair, published in 1736, depicts Aberlady Bay as ‘Haddington Port’.  Gradual silting of the bay, allied to a trading shift towards Leith, led to a decline in prosperity from the mid 19th century but this has been reversed in recent years with new housing being built to the south of the town.  Recently, approval for limited development within the old medieval town has been granted by East Lothian Council.  As a result of this, a programme of archaeological work took place during the construction of a retirement housing development adjacent to Back Lane, in the southern end of the grounds of ‘The Poplars’, a substantial house fronting the High Street.  The work was commissioned and funded by the developers, PPG Residential. 

As part of the archaeological work, the history of the site was assessed.  Primarily, this comprised of the study of early maps drawn between c.1650 and 1950.  Prior to the Ordnance Survey (OS) 1st Edition of 1854, Back Lane did not exist and the southern boundary of the High Street plots was depicted as a hedge in 1799, and later was undefined (1844).  The OS 1st Edition records a footpath to the south of these plots, with a clear intervening boundary, although the form of this boundary (ditch or wall) is unknown.  Several buildings were shown within the gardens, including two whose remains may have been recorded during the fieldwork. 

The early history of ‘The Poplars’ is obscure but it was bought by the Salvesen family sometime following Johan Salvesen’s move to Grangemouth in 1843.  In 1851, his brother Christian opened an office in Leith, exporting coal and importing timber by return.  He may have been able to watch the arrival and departure of his ships from the window of ‘The Poplars’.  In 1933 it was acquired by the Grassmarket Mission and was used as a holiday home for those living in the slums of Edinburgh’s Grassmarket.  In the latter years of the 20th Century, an old people’s home was established in the garden but its failure to meet modern standards led to its demolition and allowed both redevelopment and archaeological work to take place. 

The first phase of the new development involved the removal of rich garden soils, 0.75m deep, containing a variety of artefacts and ecofacts.  Once removed, archaeological features - ditches, drains, pits and a wall - cutting into the subsoil were excavated and recorded. Artefactual remains included a varied assemblage of pottery dating from the 12th to the 20th centuries and glassware from a rather narrower timeframe. Ecofacts comprised animal bones, burnt wood and sea shells.  The ceramics largely consisted of what is known as Scottish White Gritty Ware (SWGW), some of which was produced at Colstoun, near Haddington.  Imported Yorkshire wares were also present. SWGW is the earliest wheel-turned post-Roman pottery made in Scotland and, in its earliest form, is unglazed.  Many pieces of jugs were recovered, with a lesser quantity of cooking vessels, and all were produced between the 12th and the 15th centuries.  Although tempting, the association between the ceramic jugs of this period and alcoholic drinks could not be proved, whereas several glass bottles dating from the 18th to the 20th centuries clearly held beer or wine.  Clay pipes included one with the initials ‘TW’, which may be related to Thomas White and Sons, a 19th-century clay pipe manufacturer in Edinburgh.  Although charcoal and organic remains were in general poorly preserved, a small assemblage of animal bone was recovered.  This included bones of cattle, sheep/goat, pig and horse.  Several had cut marks on their surfaces from the butchery process, but this trait did not extend to the horse bones.  Marine mollusc shells, including oyster, cockle, winkle and mussel were also found on the site and their deposition in the garden may stem from efforts to reduce the acidity of the soil. 

A picture of the way the garden developed over time was obtained. Initially, the southern extent of the garden was defined by an open ditch, over 3m wide and 1m deep, cut into the natural clay subsoil, with an internal clay bank.  The bank was not preserved, but its eroded clay filled the base of the ditch. Three circular pits, including one with a mysterious slot in the base, may also belong to this initial medieval phase.  On the basis of the pottery they contained, both ditch and pits may date to the 12th-13th centuries. The ditch clearly separated the house (on the High Street frontage) and its garden from the fields beyond, and the location of the pits, as far from the house as possible, may suggest an industrial or craft use, involving smelly or dirty processes although there was no evidence for what these may have been. 

Later, this ditch became choked and a building was constructed over it in the adjacent plot to the east, with a new ditch being formed to include it in the garden plot.  Although of a similar width and depth, this later ditch had an internal stone wall, and may date to the 18th-19th centuries.  It may have rapidly (or been deliberately) filled in, as a second building, probably non-domestic in nature due to the lack of a fireplace and the presence of aligned doors with rebates was built using dressed sandstone in ‘The Poplars’ garden, covering both ditches.  Both of these buildings, and the bend in the revised ditch, may well be shown on the OS map of 1854. 

Finally, in the mid 20th century, the first nursing home was built, which may be a continuation of the humanitarian virtues espoused by the Grassmarket Mission, providing a pleasant seaside environment for the retired. 

The work at ‘The Poplars’, has provided, through desk-based research and fieldwork, both documentary and artefactual evidence of the importance of trade in the history of Aberlady.  It is, however, through its modern attraction as a seaside town and pleasant place to live in retirement that archaeology has allowed an insight to the past.  

Ian Suddaby
(This article was previously published in East Lothian Life)