Riddle of human remains in Holyrood Park

FORENSIC tests are to be carried out on human remains found by walkers at the bottom of the popular Salisbury Crags beauty spot in Holyrood Park.

Police spent the weekend working on the site with Ministry of Defence experts to recover the remains found by a member of the public at about 5:30pm on Friday.

It is understood that the remains consisted solely of bones.

Three hours earlier, people had been eating a picnic close-by, according to locals.

Walkers had been scaling the sheer side of the hill, something a police source described as “not uncommon” when one of them discovered the remains. It is thought changes in the terrain of the hill caused by the winter weather may have resulted in the remains being uncovered.

Detailed searches have been carried out and an area measuring about 50ft by 150ft remained cordoned off yesterday.

Officially, police said last night they were unwilling to speculate on how the remains were found on the embankment, which is off the main pedestrian footpath in the park.

A spokesman said: “Specialist-trained officers from the Ministry of Defence police force are now assisting local police in recovering the items, which were discovered on Friday evening on the Salisbury Crags, opposite St Leonard’s Bank.

“Further inquiry regarding these items will now be conducted.”

It is understood they are dealing with human remains alone and no other objects.

Last night, there remained few details. Police said they did not yet know if they are male or female, or a child or adult. Officers do not think the remains are recent but do not know how long they may have been there.

Yesterday, 17 police officers searched the bottom of the slope that descends beneath the cliffs at the Crags.

Wearing gloves and boots, they used sticks to search the bushes on the steep slope. Police and Scotland Natural Heritage 4X4s were also at the scene.

One nearby resident said: “Usually the park is full of walkers at the weekend, but after this discovery, the area at the bottom of the Crags was crawling with police.

“Nobody knows exactly what they’ve found, but it’s human remains. It’s a historic site, so they could be very old indeed.”

Holyrood Park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground “circulit about Arthurs Sett, Salisborie and Duddingston craggis” enclosed by a stone wall.

The Salisbury Crags – a series of 150ft cliffs at the top of a subsidiary spur of Arthur’s Seat – have been the scene of a number of previous mysteries.

In 1836, five boys hunting for rabbits found a set of 17 miniature coffins containing small wooden figures in a cave on the Crags. It is believed they might be connected to murders committed by Burke and Hare.

More recently, the body of a man in his 50s was found at the bottom of Salisbury Crags, close to the Commonwealth Pool, in January this year.

And in June 2011, a teenager was found dead after apparently falling from the Crags.