EHG3281 - Geophysical Survey - Inner Sound, Canisbay

Geophysical survey was carried out by ORCA in 2011 and commissioned by MeyGen Developments Limited as part of the pre-planning process in advance of the proposed construction of the onshore aspects relating to offshore marine energy development at Canisbay, Caithness. The survey was carried out using two fluxgate gradiometers. The survey was undertaken in order to further investigate the areas around sites of high, moderate or uncertain significance identified in the DBA and walkover baseline report (see EHG3158). Each site identified in this previous work was given an ORCA number e.g. ORCA 214 and for consistency, these numbers were also used in the geophysical survey report. The areas surveyed were targeted in order to determine the probable nature and extent of any underlying archaeological features, thus helping to inform decisions on the development location. At the time of the survey most of the locations were under pasture, with livestock present in a few fields, predominantly cattle but also a few sheep in Option 2. The weather conditions varied from strong winds and rain to fair weather. At the time of the survey the ground was wet, becoming waterlogged along the coast with some standing water and ponds present. This was particularly true in the north eastern portion of the survey area where peat extraction and coarse vegetation made data collection difficult. The survey identified a number of potential archaeological features, but there are few that are considered to have particular cultural heritage significance. <1>