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.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

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.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation

Source: Historic Environment Scotland