Elgin: Area 9This page was copied from: http://www.suat.demon.co.uk/elgin_bs/elgin_a9.htm for informational and historical purposes. Please note original copyright at bottom of page. Duffuses had an early presence in Elgin.
Elgin: Area 9
This area is defined by the River Lossie to the North, an arbitrary line to the west of Pansport Road, the main railway line to the south and an arbitrary line to the east. This area contains the sites of the Maison Dieu, the Leper hospital and the Order Pot.
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Founded by Andrew, Bishop of Moray in 1237. Erected to provide for the `entertainment of strangers, and the maintenance of the poor and infirm'. It was burnt by the Wolf of Badenoch in 1390 but rebuilt, and is referred to throughout the 15th century. It was abandoned by 1620, but some ruins were still visible in the late 18th century and possibly in the late 19th century (Shaw 1827, 303). Some skeletal remains were recovered in the 1960s during redevelopment (Simpson and Stevenson 1982, 33).
On the north side of the East Road and a short distance to the north-west of the Tyock industrial estate was the Order Pot, the ducking pool for witches. This has since been filled in, notably with stone from the cathedral.
In 1982 the remains of 16 extended inhumations were recovered from a gas pipe trench on the northern side of East Road by the Tyock industrial estate. As these burials lie within the lands of the leper hospital (see 4 below) they are assumed to be associated with it (Grampian Region SMR). An assessment in 1992 by SUAT adjacent to the site of the burials located no further skeletal remains. (Coleman 1993, 40).
This institution is not accurately located. Trenching in 1850 may have exposed foundations which were dug out and removed. Most of this area, formerly Pinefield nurseries, has now been built on. The date of the foundation and closure of this institution are not known either (Simpson and Stevenson 1982, 34).
From references to both the Leper hospital and the Maison Dieu it would appear that a great deal of damage may have been done to these establishments in the late 19th / early 20th centuries. However the uncertainty of their true locations means that any development in these areas should be closely monitored. Any proposals involving the site of the Order Pot (no 2) should be monitored as there may be the chance of recovering some of the stone of the cathedral from the backfill of this feature.
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