Knife from the 1800s found under botanic garden

A large turf knife thought to date back to the late 1800s has been discovered under the ground at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

The "exciting" artefact was found during excavation work to install a new energy source heating system at its Inverleith hot houses.

Horticulturists said they were thrilled with the 49cm (19in) blade saying it gave a "fascinating" glimpse into the site's past.

Nails from the original 200-year-old pot a sabal palm was planted in have also been found along with a lost shoe, butter dish, bottles and pottery.

Fiona Inches, horticulturist and glasshouse manager, said they had also found a bottle from the 1800s they believe held medicine used for the treatment of baldness and constipation.

"We've found quite a variety of things that we didn't quite expect," she told BBC Scotland.

They have found two pieces of shoe thought to be over 100 years old and the top of a butter dish.

"It has a chip in it so I'm wondering if someone has seen a hole in the ground and thought I'll throw it in there," said Ms Inches.

"We think the shoe could be from the 1920s because there is stitching.

"It's exciting and we are very curious about the different elements we have found in the ground."

The heating project started in 2021 when 800 plants were removed from the hothouses including a 200-year-old sabal palm, which was chopped down.

The wooden pot the palm was in has rotted - but the nails still remain.

"When we dug the root ball out it had a very distinct shape to it and we realised that was due to the bottom of the pot," Ms Inches said.

"You can take the sides off but the chances of you taking the bottom off the pot are slim, you're much more likely to just drop it in the hole and it would rot, leaving only the nails."

Construction workers have been digging trenches for more than a year and the work will be complete in April.

Ms Inches said the turf knife would have been used for cutting peat and moss to make planting walls when the site was developed in the late 1800s.

She said only recycled peat was used in the grounds now for environmental reasons.

During the work they discovered the old brick work where the original coal-fired heating system was before it was changed in the 1970s to gas.

Bits of old tiles from the floor of the old glasshouses have also been found.

Ms Inches said this showed they had heated the glasshouses from the middle.

Then, in the 1970s, the heating was moved to around the edge and loud fan blowers were used, which was not good for the ambience.

The new ground source heating also means it could potentially be turned off in the summer months, something that was not feasible previously.

The glasshouses are due to reopen by the middle of next year and the artefacts which have been unearthed will be put on display in an exhibition.