EHG5689 - Watching brief - new house, Hilton, Dornoch

A three-phase archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Highland Archaeology Services in 2019 to mitigate the potential heritage impact of ground works for a new dwelling house and associated features at Seaview, Hilton near Dornoch. The work was required to satisfy a condition attached to planning consent because the site was considered to have archaeological potential, foremost due to the presence of a nearby prehistoric burial cairn, Embo Street Cairn , which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SM1788). Intrusive works for the house site and the construction of a new Ha-Ha were monitored archaeologically. The remains of a modern brick septic tank and a modern buried soil were revealed in the Ha-Ha trench whilst part of an undated kerb formed of large boulders was revealed during reduced level excavation of the site for the new house. The kerb was considered to reflect part of a modern garden feature. No significant archaeological deposits, features or finds were identified during the course of the watching brief and no further archaeological work is recommended. <1>