They are fairly common bits and pieces, teased from the ground where they lay undisturbed for over a century, old ink bottles, cooking equipment and even false teeth.
Unearthed by amateur archaeologists at the site of one of Edinburgh’s most enigmatic and long-gone mansion houses, the odd set of pre-First World War artefacts are just day to day and even throwaway objects.
But pieced together and with an element of detective work, the collection of old bottles, a comb, pipe, toothpaste lid and ‘gnashers’ are helping to tell the stories of the ordinary folk who worked behind the scenes at the grand house, keeping its eccentric and reclusive occupants in the style to which they were accustomed.
Volunteers from the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society (EAFS) uncovered the objects during painstaking excavations of servants’ accommodation at Cammo House estate, on the north-west fringes of Edinburgh.
Once a glamorous 17th century mansion and estate with its own canal, walled garden, landscaped grounds and water tower that supplied fresh water to the house, its owners included brewer Alexander Campbell, who used it as a rural escape from his city residence at 6 Charlotte Square. It is now Bute House, the official residence of Scotland’s First Minister.
But despite a reputation as one of the city’s grand residences, Cammo House and its carefully cultivated grounds drifted into sad neglect, with odd tales swirling around its reclusive owners and packs of wild dogs that roamed its rooms and covered once luxurious floors with stinking excrement.
A target for vandals and fires, by the late 1970s the crumbling house was demolished and the estate passed into the care of Edinburgh City Council to become the UK’s first Wilderness Park.
These its well-worn paths and leafy woodland is familiar territory for walkers and dog lovers, with little left to show for the owners and the countless servants whose devoted efforts kept it in impressive style for decades.
All that remains of the once impressive property is a door frame surrounded by stones.
Amateur diggers from the EAFS began digging at the estate in 2017. Many of the items they have since uncovered have been linked to Margaret Wright, the Cammo House cook and housekeeper described in her obituary as a “faithful servant for 24 years”.
Along with her dishes, pots and pans, ink bottles to jot down recipes and letters, are personal objects such as hairpins, false teeth and tonic bottles which once contained seaweed tonic and embrocation, telling of the physical toll of her work and the likely dampness of her abode.
At odds with the simple objects, are various champagne bottles, hinting at the grand lifestyles of the estate’s owners.
Although simple items, Ian Hawkins, honorary secretary of the EAFS, says they help build a picture of the many servants whose lives were as much entwined with the estate as the well-to-do in the grand house.
“It was a very large house which at one stage had something like 40 or more rooms,” he says.
“There would have been quite a lot of servant staff at the house at one time, but by 1911, census records show there was only Margaret Wright left.
“We found she was originally from Monymusk in Aberdeen. By 1915, she had returned there and died.”
Although just a scrap of information, Margaret’s story sheds some light on the life and the changing fortunes of a lost estates plagued by scandal, inheritance feuds with eccentric owners.
The grand house at its heart was built in 1693, after owner John Menzies commissioned architect Robert Mylne, whose achievements included the design for Blackfriars Bridge in London.
With 14 bedrooms and 20 rooms with fires including public rooms, a smoking room and billiards room, it dominated the sprawling grounds close to Cramond Brig.
The mansion underwent various improvements before being bought in 1898 by Margaret Maitland-Tennent, whose father had made his fortune from sheep farming in Australia.
Her family would become the estate’s last residents, who drove it into neglect with their eccentric behaviour.
Having sparked scandal by divorcing her husband in 1910 after a chaotic marriage troubled by rows over his entitlement to her inheritance, Margaret lived at Cammo with her two sons, Robert and Percival.
They had embarked on a grand tour to New Zealand, Australia and Japan in 1915, only for Robert to suddenly decide he was not returning home – a move that saw him written out of his mother’s will.
Known to locals as ‘the Black Widow’ because she would be driven into town to shop in Jenners in a car with black curtains drawn, Margaret and son Percival rarely left the estate.
Her wealth was a mystery too: she once spent the night behind bars after refusing to divulge details of her funds in American and Canadian banks.
Percival, meanwhile, had a love of cars, which he drove around the estate and then dumped to rot. Several car parts have been found by the archaeology team.
Eventually mother and son were living in a cottage near the once grand house while packs of stray dogs collected by Percival roamed its huge rooms.
Margaret died in 1955 aged 95, and was buried on the estate near the house – the last person in Edinburgh to be buried on private property. “However, the grave was not secure and her body was later exhumed and moved to Dean Cemetery,” adds Ian.
The entire estate passed to Percival, who continued to let the house fall into ruin. Dogs, vandals, burglars and fireraisers caused massive damage, leaving valuables ruined and expensive artworks damaged.
The house was bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland after Percival’s death in 1975, but it was so rotten and rat-infested that it had to be demolished.
A few remaining artworks and furnishings which had survived were sold at auction, among them an 18th century Italian work which fetched £6000 in 1977 – equating to around £35,000 today.
The EAFS archaeologists are made up of volunteers from around the country who regularly travel to the site to carry out excavations. Their latest digs have concentrated on the servants’ accommodation, workshops, the steadings and piggery.
Mr Hawkins said although the items being found are relatively small, they build up a picture of life behind the scenes at the intriguing estate.
“We are finding pottery, plates, cups and bottles. The loss of this house is within living memory, and it will be interesting to see what else we find.”
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