EHG6198 - Earthwork survey - A9 dualling, Tomatin-Moy

An earthwork survey was undertaken by AOC Archaeology Group in 2022 on a stretch of Wade's 18th century Military Road to the north of Tomatin ahead of the Tomatin to Moy section of the A9 Dualling Programme. The surviving remains of the military road comprised a revetment wall running for 115m northwest to southeast supporting an earth and gravel bank on its northeast side forming a rough platform c. 3m wide. The road itself would have run along the top of the material revetted by the wall however, little evidence remained of a formal road surface perhaps due to subsequent robbing and subsidence of material. The construction of the road was investigated through the excavation of three trenches (see alos EHG6196) which identified a construction cut related to levelling material and redepositing it to create a relatively level route for the road. The presence of only one bank delineating one edge of the road and no cut drainage channels does not follow the standard pattern of the military road construction but does emphasise how the road builders utilised the natural topography, drainage and local ground conditions to minimise the construction required in this location. A programme of photographic landscape survey and historic land use assessment covering the full proposed route of the dualling programme from Tomatin to Moy was undertaken at the same time. <1>