Scheduled Monument
Soutra Aisle, part of site of medieval hospitalSM7573
Status: Designated
Documents
Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).
The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.
Summary
- Date Added
- 03/06/1999
- Type
- Ecclesiastical: hospital/hospice
- Local Authority
- Midlothian
- Parish
- Fala And Soutra
- NGR
- NT 45209 58386
- Coordinates
- 345209, 658386
Description
The monument comprises the western part of the medieval Soutra Hospital, consisting of an area to the W of the public road, within Midlothian. The majority of the hospital, and the remains of the associated religious establishment, lie in Scottish Borders and are scheduled separately (scheduled monument number 3067).
Soutra Hospital is said to have been founded by Malcolm IV in 1164, but it is possible that the foundation predates Malcolm. By 1236 the house was observing the Augustinian Rule and it was described as a house or hospital of the Holy Trinity. References to the continued use of the hospital can be found as late as 1584.
A resistivity survey of the top of Soutra Hill in 1986, supported by trial excavation in the following year, identified the likely boundaries of the hospital area. The majority of the proven remains lie to the E of the Roman Road, Dere Street, but there is evidence that significant remains continue to the west of the road, hence this scheduling.
The area to be scheduled is marked in red on the accompanying map. It is bounded to the E by the fence at the W side of the public road and to the S by the N boundary fence of Soutra Mains Wood, and measures a maximum of 250m N-S by 80m E-W. All modern fences are excluded from scheduling.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance because it is a very rare survival of the archaeological remains of a medieval hospital. It has the potential to provide archaeological evidence relating to early medieval practice, hospital architecture, the lives of the patients and the medical staff as well as the religious life of the Augustinian Order who ran the hospital for about four hundred years.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
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