Two mysterious stone heads found in Park

RANGERS at Holyrood Park are appealing for the public's help in solving a riddle surrounding two mysterious stone heads found in the grounds.

Workmen discovered one of the pieces of stonework, believed to be the head of a man from a 200-year-old garden statue, after partially draining St Margaret's Loch.

The work was being carried out to find the cause of a recent outbreak of lead poisoning that injured more than a dozen swans by the loch.

But after uncovering the masonry, park rangers were left puzzled after they uncovered a separate head from a female statue in undergrowth after carrying out a routine patrol in nearby Spring Gardens.

Bosses for Historic Scotland, who run the park, said they had no idea where the artifacts had come from and added they were keen to hear from anyone who may be able to shed some light on the finds.

Peter Yeoman, Historic Scotland's senior archaeologist, said: "The male carving has distinctive rustic tooling and may be from a statue of a faun or similar mythical creature.

"We don't know where it came from and are not yet certain of its age.

"While the style of the second carving is quite different, it is certainly an unusual coincidence for two stone heads to turn up in the park.

"If anyone has any ideas, we would be fascinated to hear from them."

Historic Scotland experts believe the male head, which is larger than life-size, could be up to 200 years old may have belonged to a garden statue at a large Edinburgh house.

Another theory is that it could have been an apprentice piece that was possibly created in a mason's yard at Edinburgh Castle.

They said that, as the head is also very heavy, it may have taken two people to get it into the water. As it was covered in large amounts of plant growth and had been badly eroded, they suggested that it had probably been in the loch for a considerable number of years.

The second artifact, which was found in the park's Spring Gardens, was described as a female head that was smaller than the St Margaret's one. Experts suggested it could be from a garden ornament.

A spokesman for Historic Scotland said: "These are very strange finds. We have no idea why they were there in the first place.

"There are few clues as to their exact age or origins but it's clear that they have not come from the same piece of stonework. To find two ornamental heads is a complete coincidence.

"We are really hoping that someone will be able to shed some light on this and has an idea of where they came from."

Orders to drain the water at St Margaret's Loch were made following an outbreak of lead poisoning at the lake last month.

Around 20 swans were taken by Scottish SPCA ambulance drivers to a rescue centre in Middlebank, near Dunfermline, after falling ill and were later confirmed by experts to be suffering from the effects of lead poisoning.

Experts from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency were also called in to analyse water from the lake, although park rangers suggested the poisoning could have originated elsewhere.