To find this cache, first visit Soutra Aisle to find the initial
cache container and the co-ordinates of the final cache. Please
leave the laminated card with the final co-ordinates in the small
cache container.
You then travel down Dere Street (signposted off the road just
beyond Soutra Aisle), which is a Roman Road, to the final cache
site. Please be careful during lambing season. You can still walk
down Dere Street, following the markers on the ground, just take
care not to disturb the sheep and their lambs.
Soutra Aisle.
The views on a clear day are breathtaking. You can see 60 peaks
clearly from the Soutra Aisle. The Pentlands, Ochils, Sidlaws,
Lomonds and the majestic sweep of the Firth of Forth. Dress
sensibly.Soutra is high and exposed. When the wind blaaws...it will
certainly take your breath away!
Soutra Medieval Augustinian Hospital was established by the 12th
century. In 1164 AD King Malcolm IV " confirmed the foundation
charter". It was a refuge for travellers, pilgrims, the aged and
the needy, midway between Edinburgh and the Border Abbeys on the
Via Regia ( royal road). In the 12th century it would have been
funded by income from estates covering 20 sqare miles.
Soutra Medieval hospital has been the site of "a unique
archaeo-medical investigation" (1986-now) exploring medical
practice in Southern Scotland, through the distinctive waste
produced at the hospital. Augustinian medicine was mainstream and
well funded. The research analysed waste from mud on the site,
compared it with medieval medical recipes and was able to draw
conclusions about medical pratices and patient outcomes. Perhaps
this research will show us old and forgotten medical practices
which can still apply today.
Soutra Hospital declined following a scandal in 1460 when a
renegade Master, Stephen Fleming, was deposed after many offences
were reported to the Papal authorities. The Scottish Crown then
confiscated most of Soutra's estates and re-assigned them to the
new "Trinity College Hospital" (now beneath Waverley Station in
Edinburgh). At the stroke of a Royal signature Soutra was
impoverished and a hospital of international status was reduced to
merely local significance. In this guise, Soutra hospital struggled
on until around 1650. Soutra's loss laid the foundations for
Edinburgh to become a medical center of international renown.
As Soutra shrank buildings were removed and the site converted
to farmland leaving only Soutra Asle. An aisle is a family burial
vault. The aisle at Soutra has a lintel dated 1688 and inscribed to
the Pringle family ( now of Torwoodlee by Galashiels)
Note for previous visitors: The cache has had a small
refurbishment and the final co-ordinates are now on a laminated
card in a small lock-and-lock box. The final cache has been moved a
little to a (slightly!) less boggy and jaggy location.
