EHG5700 - DBA and walkover survey - proposed Garvary Wind Farm

A desk-based assessment and walkover survey was undertaken by CFA Archaeology in 2017 of the proposed Garvary Wind Farm development site in order to inform a scoping environmental statement (supplied as Appendix 7.1). Two study areas were used for the assessment: The Inner Study Area: the proposed development site red line boundary forms the study area for the identification of heritage assets that could receive direct impacts arising from the construction of the proposed wind farm. The current land-use of this area is predominantly moorland and rough pasture and lies mostly above 200m above Ordnance Datum; the highest point is Meall Eachainn at 343m AOD; A Wider Study Area: a study area extending to 10km from the proposed development site boundary was used for the identification of cultural heritage assets whose settings may be affected by the proposed wind farm (external receptors). Assets with statutory and non-statutory designations (Scheduled Monuments, Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas, Inventory Gardens and Designed Landscapes and Inventory Historic Battlefields) were included. Not all heritage assets identified by the desk-based study were visited, but sufficient survey was undertaken to establish the likely sensitivity of the remains present and to confirm their extents. That work established that the cultural heritage sensitivity of the proposed development site is largely limited to particular localities within the red-line boundary and that much of the upland landscape away from watercourses or bodies of water has a low archaeological potential. The assets that have been identified are assessed to be mostly of regional importance and of medium sensitivity to change (including changes to their setting). The remains are mostly of medieval/post-medieval settlement of pre-Clearance date and most of the settlement sites were entirely abandoned by the end of the 19th century; although that depopulation probably began in the late 18th century. <1> The survey subsequently informed a full Environmental Statement. <2> The survey data also informed an updated Cultural Heritage chapter for the Environmental Statement (<2>) <3>