EHG5402 - DBA and walkover survey - Mybster-Sealky Head

A DBA and walkover survey of the route of a 100m corridor and a 20m wide working corridor for the buried cable from the landing site at Sealky Head to the site of the Moray Firth Hub & Caithness HVDC Connection converter station at Spittal was carried out by ORCA between the 7th and 11th June 2010. The section between Houstry and Banniskirk, and the area to the north and west of Spittal Quarry towards Achanarras, and other slight alterations to the route have not been covered by the DBA or the walkover survey. Within the construction corridor are several sites of uncertain but potentially of regional importance. These are a mound of unknown date at the Loch of Winless, clearance cairns at the Bridge of Winless and the battle sites at Skida Mire and Altimarlach. The many vernacular farm buildings and the wartime structures at Wick Airfield are also worthy of further recording. In total, 285 sites of archaeological or historical significance have been identified: 250 of these were recorded during the desk based assessment, with a further 35 identified during the walkover survey. These sites include 7 listed buildings and 5 Scheduled Ancient Monuments. <1> Additional DBAs and walkover surveys were conducted by ORCA on 14th-16th September 2010 and 15th March 2011 to cover changes in the route and alternatives to small sections of the preferred cable route. These later surveys also examined proposed track access points and temporary compound sites. Finally, a 20m wide construction corridor along the cable route was used as the basis for the assessment of the potential direct physical impacts of laying of the cables and associated activity on cultural heritage assets. The results of the surveys were used to inform an environmental statement for the project. <2> An additional survey of the site of the converter station was also carried out (see EHG5401).