Hill History: Relics from bygone Bytown’s base

A historical watercolour image of Wellington Street in Ottawa circa 1853, with Barrack Hill and the Ottawa River in the background.

Watercolour: Wellington Street near Bank Street, Ottawa, ca. 1853
Source: Library and Archives Canada/Charles Berkeley Powell fonds/e011181127

In February 2019, the Senate moved to the Senate of Canada Building, a former train station built in 1912. The Senate will occupy this temporary location while Parliament’s Centre Block — the Senate’s permanent home — is rehabilitated.

Although Centre Block is shuttered for rehabilitation work, Canadians can still experience its art and architecture through the Senate’s immersive virtual tour.

Pharmacy bottles. Dinnerware. Smoking pipes. Chamber pots. Combs. Bone buttons. Remnants of military uniforms.

Those are among the 205,000 — and counting — fragments of objects and artefacts from the early 19thcentury that a team of archaeologists has unearthed during 13 months of excavation on Parliament Hill and have been cataloguing since the conclusion of the big dig.

That intense period of excavation occurred in 2019 and 2020, towards the start of the rehabilitation of Centre Block, before construction of the new underground Parliament Welcome Centre began.

Since then, archaeologists have been researching and categorizing these pieces of history at a warehouse in Ottawa and consulting experts ranging from material culture specialists and military archaeologists to plant and animal experts.

It’s an archaeological project so large in scope that the experts involved can’t think of a recent dig that compares.

What this years-long endeavour has produced is a sharper image of life on the Hill almost 200 years ago when it was Barrack Hill in Bytown in the United Province of Canada.

Life on the Hill was life on a military base.

From 1827 to 1858, the Hill was home to the British Royal Engineers, the corps of soldiers who oversaw the construction of the Rideau Canal, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On the east side of Centre Block, close to the Senate Chamber, archaeologists discovered the foundations of barracks, a guardhouse and other smaller buildings that made up the camp.

Once the Rideau Canal was completed, the base’s activities wound down, but it remained in use until Ottawa was officially declared the permanent national capital in 1858. After that, planning and construction began to build the capital’s new, supposedly permanent but less than fireproof legislature on the same site.

SenCAplus visited the warehouse where most of the artefacts from Parliament Hill’s archaeological dig are being stored. Scroll down for a closer look at a history — and for more information about the excavation, watch Public Services and Procurement Canada’s video.

One room of the warehouse in Ottawa where thousands upon thousands of fragments and artefacts from the archaeological dig on Parliament Hill are analyzed and stored.
Archaeologists found glass bottles deep in the soil on Parliament Hill, including ones used to store hard liquor, soda and condiments, like vegetable oil. They also found pharmacy bottles among the ruins of the military barracks and hospital.
A range of dinnerware, mostly originating from the United Kingdom, was discovered at the site of the old Barrack Hill military base. The nicer china cups and plates with patterns and designs would have belonged to military personnel of a higher rank.
A range of dinnerware, mostly originating from the United Kingdom, was discovered at the site of the old Barrack Hill military base. The nicer china cups and plates with patterns and designs would have belonged to military personnel of a higher rank.
When it came to reassembling broken fragments of an object or artefact, archaeologists would use painter’s tape or even white glue. They described the process as akin to “a 3D puzzle.”
When it came to reassembling broken fragments of an object or artefact, archaeologists would use painter’s tape or even white glue. They described the process as akin to “a 3D puzzle.”
This decorative badge belonged to members of the Enrolled Pensioner Force, a military company stationed on Barrack Hill from 1854 to 1858. The badge attached to the front of the cylindrical hat, called a shako, that military members wore as part of their uniform.
This decorative badge belonged to members of the Enrolled Pensioner Force, a military company stationed on Barrack Hill from 1854 to 1858. The badge attached to the front of the cylindrical hat, called a shako, that military members wore as part of their uniform.
The fragments of a shako badge from the front of a bell-top military hat that was part of the uniform of the 15th British Regiment.
The fragments of a shako badge from the front of a bell-top military hat that was part of the uniform of the 15th British Regiment.
Ceramic chamber pots, thankfully empty, were among the ordinary household items found among the ruins of the Barack Hill military base.
Old personal grooming items, like hairbrushes and shaving supplies, were found when archaeologists combed through the site.
Old personal grooming items, like hairbrushes and shaving supplies, were found when archaeologists combed through the site.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, soldiers were issued certain tools to maintain their weapons, including this y-shaped turn-key and worm that would service the lock and clean the interior of a gun barrel.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, soldiers were issued certain tools to maintain their weapons, including this y-shaped turn-key and worm that would service the lock and clean the interior of a gun barrel.
This ceramic blacking bottle would have once contained a blackening substance used to polish shoes in the 19th century.
This ceramic blacking bottle would have once contained a blackening substance used to polish shoes in the 19th century.
Archaeologists discovered heel plates that would have once been attached to shoe soles to help prevent wear and tear.
Archaeologists discovered heel plates that would have once been attached to shoe soles to help prevent wear and tear.
This old ceramic bowl from the 1800s was found completely intact deep in the earth on Parliament Hill.

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