EHG5422 - Watching brief - Beauly-Mossford OHL replacement, Beauly

Highland Archaeology Services Ltd, acting on behalf of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) commissioned P Higgins of Archaeology North Ltd to undertake archaeological watching briefs in 2013 during works related to the Beauly-Mossford OHL replacement project covering work on the undergrounding of cables from Tower 98 to the Beauly substation. Desk-based assessment had identified dykes to record in the northern area only. Fieldwork as proposed was therefore limited to recording during breaching of these. However it was agreed that for the sake of completeness recording should be extended to the southern section also once the easement had been stripped. Attendance in this section was not continuous: records were made of features revealed during stripping of the topsoil along part of the easement in the southern section, but elsewhere the level of recording of contexts other than dykes was on a sampling basis. No significant archaeology was identified and no further fieldwork was recommended. The site of a small ruined farmstead was recorded at the northern end of the works corridor. A brief walkover of the southern section on 20/01/2014 after topsoil stripping found only modern post and wire fences. These followed the lines of the field boundaries shown on the OS 25” map surveyed in 1875, some of which are marked as lines of trees. <1> The works are included in a report providing an overview of the whole Beualy-Mossford OHL project. <2>