Landlord is stumped by intriguing doorway to the past

Bryan McCann is convinced his historic pub contains one of the oldest doors in the Capital

The landlord of a historic Lawnmarket watering hole is convinced he owns one of the oldest surviving doors in the Capital and is seeking expert help to uncover its history.

For 25 years, publican Bryan McCann has been behind the bar of The Ensign Ewart, a Royal Mile hostelry more than three centuries old, and his ancient cellar door will be key to his silver jubilee celebrations.

The 63-year-old, whose birthday coincides with the landmark anniversary on October 30, believes the heavy panelled door dates back to the pub's inception in 1645 - a rare relic of 17th century Edinburgh architecture.

"There's lots of symbols carved into the door and many of them look to be masonic in style.

"There is a date of 1693 etched into it which gives some idea of its age and we have had a stone expert examine the stone work around the door indicates that it was 17th century.

"The door itself is much smaller than you would expect now because folk back then tended to be smaller than this generation, though the key holes are huge and the hinges are massive."

Mr McCann says the antique doorway has never been properly examined by an archeologist, and he would love the opportunity to have it authenticated.

"I had at one time this crazy idea to auction the door for charity, then had second thoughts because it's too much part of the pub's history," he said. "I would be delighted to have someone check it over and date it officially, particularly because this is such an important anniversary year."

The landlord believed his age-old cellar door may once have served as the front entrance to the 17th century pub before the site was filled in and built upon during the plague, but City of Edinburgh curator of archeology John Lawson said he thinks this scenario was "unlikely".

"The Royal Mile is on a natural bedrock and the levels have not changed that much in 1,000 years," he said.

"The 17th century graffiti makes it very interesting to me," said Mr Lawson.

"The important thing about that is that it's someone speaking to us from the past."The etching of 1693 on the door is unlikely to have been faked and it gives us a point in time to work from but doesn't mean the door isn't even older."

He added that investigations on the surrounding stonework would help to date the door more accurately and is keen to cast an eye over it.

The Ensign Ewart Pub has been a staple of the Royal Mile landscape under one moniker or another for centuries but adopted its current name in the 1960s in honour of a young officer of the Scots Greys who captured the standard of the French 45th Regiment at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

A sign above the pub depicts Ensign Ewart and the standard.