Builders have unearthed a fascinating glimpse of the past after they found the gateway to a 'forgotten' city square built hundreds of years ago while renovating a pub.
Work had been underway to strip back the Oz Bar on Candlemaker Row in Edinburgh following a fire last year when the entrance and passageway leading to the long-gone Brown Square reappeared, reports the Daily Record.
The structure, dating back to the 17th century, had been hidden under several layers of plaster without anyone in the building being aware of its existence — until Iain Ponton, the owner of the Australian-themed bar, received a surprising text from the labourers.
Recalling the moment he found out, Iain told the BBC: "When I got a photograph from the contractors saying 'look what we've found' I immediately drove down to the pub.
"They had to remove layers and layers of wood and corrugated iron on top of plaster. When it all came off it exposed this arch.
"I got up on the ladder to see as I was very curious, and then over a week they revealed more and more. I thought maybe the wall was something to do with the furniture store. I had no idea it would actually be evidence of all this history, it's incredible."
He has now vowed to the keep the arch as a permanent feature, and will use a set of lights to draw attention to it.
The BBC reports that the pathway had once passed through a slum tenement and shop on Candlemaker Row, a popular street located in the centre of Edinburgh.
An affluent and state-of-the-art development at the time of its construction in the 1760s, Brown Square was designed by the same architect who put together George Square, James Brown.
Home at the time to some top members of society from doctors to well-known writers, the square was eventually demolished and built over in the decades that followed.
