Digging deep into Parliament Hill's past

With the exception of the changing of the guard, few people think of Parliament Hill as a bustling military site. It might surprise you to know that where the Parliament Buildings are today was once home to a military settlement. Recently, archaeologists uncovered artifacts such as champagne bottles, mustard jars and animals bones that give us insight into what life on the Hill was like in the early 1800s.

In 1826, Lieutenant-Colonel John By was commissioned to design the Rideau Canal. His task was to create a navigable waterway between the Ottawa River and Kingston. At the time, it was rocky terrain covered with rough bush and swamps. Colonel By, and the team of British Royal Engineers and officers involved in building the canal, set up a military headquarters on what is now Parliament Hill. The settlement was known as “Barrack Hill,” and it occupied the site from 1827 to 1858, when Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as Canada's future capital.

The archaeological discoveries were made as part of a major project by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) to preserve and rehabilitate Canada's parliamentary buildings and grounds.

“PWGSC is dedicated to preserving Canada's parliamentary heritage for the benefit of today's and future generations,” says Ezio DiMillo, Director General, Long Term Vision and Plan Project Management and Delivery, Parliamentary Precinct Branch. “We have recently restored the Sir John A. Macdonald Building and are currently focusing on the Wellington Building, the West and East Blocks, and creating a new Visitor Welcome Centre.”

Retracing historic steps

Before work begins, the Department identifies the level of archaeological activity required, which is then built into the project's schedule.

Once something is identified for further exploration, mechanical excavations stop to determine if construction plans should be altered. If so, archeologists dig by hand, excavating layer by layer. Any artifacts found are collected, bagged, labelled and taken to a lab to be washed, inventoried and analyzed. Items are dated based on how deep they were found and on other items found around them. Once digging is finished, photos and measurements are taken of each area as a record and to create a map of the findings.

Archaeologists employed by the Paterson Group, on behalf of PWGSC and PCL Construction Canada, have been conducting archaeological monitoring of the various construction activities on Parliament Hill. What they have found sheds fascinating new light on life during the early days of Bytown.

Several pipes, a toothbrush and a comb were discovered, along with two Catholic medals, which are considered unusual since most British officers would likely have been Protestant. The rare finds provide a valuable perspective on officers' health and hygiene, as well as their religious affiliations.

“These artifacts are an extraordinary find of high historical significance,” says Nadine Kopp, project archaeologist with the Paterson Group. “These important pieces from the past reveal how the officers spent their leisure time—hunting to supplement their diet, drinking and playing cards. They give us a sense of who the officers were as people and what life was like for them in the pioneering days of this community's settlement.”

The entire collection represents one of the most intact pre-parliamentary period archaeological deposits found on Parliament Hill to date.

Collecting for Canadians

PWGSC, in coordination with Parks Canada and the Canadian Conservation Institute, is currently determining the most appropriate long-term storage or use of these artifacts. The items are being conserved in a secure holding location until a final decision is made. Items of museum quality will eventually make their way to interested Canadian museums keen to display this little-known part of Canada's—and Parliament's—early military heritage.