A report has recently been submitted on the results of a programme of archaeological work undertaken in July 2007 at Burgh Halls, Linlithgow by staff from Headland Archaeology. The Burgh Halls, located to the north of the Cross and on the east side of the Kirkgate, occupy an important position in the medieval core of the town. The garden area to the rear of the halls is bounded by the graveyard of St Michael's Parish Church. Documentary sources suggest that a school was situated close to the church in 1187, whilst an almshouse is known to have been located on the east side of the Kirkgate, to the south of the cemetery, from at least 1448 until it was removed in the 17th century. Documentary sources indicate that a new school was erected in 1625, but both the school and almshouse were demolished during the Cromwellian occupation of the burgh, in order to provide stone for the refortification of the Palace and Peel.
The programme of refurbishment of the Burgh Halls included the proposal to construction an extension in the garden area to the rear of the halls. Work undertaken in the 1980s to insert a concreted beam to support the retaining wall that forms the southern side of the garden identified the presence of human bone in this area, in addition to medieval or post-medieval pottery. This material was recovered from a depth of around 3.5m, and it is possible that it may have derived from previously undisturbed burials associated with the graveyard of St Michaels, whcih may at one time have extended into this area. Though work undertaken at that time was likely to have involved a significant amount of ground disturbance, there therefore remained some potential for similar material to survive in situ.
As a result, two trenches were opened in the garden area to the rear of the Burgh Halls. This confirmed that the works undertaken in the 1980s had involved a significant amount of disturbance, but also served to identify the survival of archaeologically-significant deposits in certain areas of the site. The evaluation exposed what may be the corner of a substantial wall some 1m in width that appears to predate Wood's map of the area from the 1820s. While no dating evidence was found in direct association with the wall, the deposit surrounding (and therefore post-dating) it contained occassional butchered animal bone and oyster shells, in addition to some building materials likely to date to the 17th century. Cartographic evidence from the 1820s onward showed no structures at this location, and Headland therefore considered that these walls may relate to one of the structures in the vicinity of the Kingate demolished by Cromwell around 1650, such as the school constructed in 1625, or the almshouse known to have existed in the area from before 1448. Another possibility identified in the Headland report is that the wall may have formed part of the Cromwellian refortification itself. Cromwell is thought to have added one or perhaps two sets of ditches, cutting the promontory off from the town, and it is known that St Michael's Church was incorporated within this defensive circuit, meaning that there is a strong possibility that the defences would have passed through the area to the rear of the Burgh Halls.