EHG6313 - Watching brief - new house plot, Staxigoe, Wick

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by West Coast Archaeological Services in 2024 at Plot 1, on land NE of Norbrae, Staxigo, near Wick, in advance of the construction of a proposed new house, access, parking area and associated infrastructure (pre-planning submission). The work was undertaken to assess the nature and extent of any archaeological sites or features likely to be affected within the areas outlined for proposed development and to inform recommendations for their protection and management where necessary. The watching brief carried out at Plot 1 Staxigo, built on a previous field evaluation and watching briefs relating to a new access road and service trench for 4 plots of land on the headland at Staxigo and in advance of a new house, parking and associated services at Plot 3, which borders the NE boundary of Plot 1 (see EHG6241 & EHG6242). The watching brief covering Plot 1, was carried out between the 24th and 26th September 2024. No field evaluation using hand-excavated trenches was used on Plot 1. Instead, the watching brief phase of the archaeological input carried out on Plot 3 was continued on Plot 1, with the two plots located adjacent to each other. The watching brief on Plot 1 included monitoring of the topsoil stripping covering the entire development site, in advance of the submission for outline planning. The ground-breaking works were carried out using a mechanical excavator equipped with a straight-edged ditching bucket, 1.6m wide, while a mechanical dumper truck was used to move the spoil to the extremities of Plot 1. Excavation was carried out in shallow units/spits after removal of the extensive turf and vegetation mat, and all machine excavation was guided by an experienced field archaeologist. The work revealed boundary walls defining a small field and garden plots (some containing midden deposits) and the remains of five buildings. The remains of the buildings were very fragmentary due to demolition activities, but the excavations revealed fragments of walls, Caithness flag and brick floors, and the base of one relatively intact external stone stairwell adjoining the gable end of one of the structures. The watching brief produced a similar range of artefacts as recovered in the adjacent Plot 3 and where excavations removed any surviving structures no earlier features, deposits or artefacts were identified. <1>