EHG2872 - Desk-based assessment and watching brief - Hilliclay to Stemster water main

A desk-based assessment, marking-out programme and watching brief conducted for a replacement water main at Stemster and Hilliclay, Caithness in 2008. The new water main ran through an area rich in archaeology, and 19 features or sites were noted during the desk-based assessment. Key areas of sensitivity were marked off and the route of the water main diverted slightly to avoid them. The watching brief identified no further features or sites, but northwest of the Stemster reservoir from about chainage 100m to 600m a lithic scatter including chert, flint and quartzite was found in the ploughsoil. <1> The line of the water main trench can be seen on vertical aerial photographs taken in 2009. <2>