Watching Brief

Date 16 November 2010 - 19 November 2010

Event ID 880036

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/880036

NN 1991 8294 A watching brief was undertaken 16–19 November 2010 during the construction of a footpath. The path ran along the route of an 18th-century military road for 350m as it approached the Spean Bridge from the NW. The construction work revealed the original construction

of the military road in areas where it had been terraced into the slope. A road surface made from up to four layers of gravel metalling was recorded in a number of areas. At other locations only a single gravel layer was recorded; farther along the route to the SE all surface deposits had been

washed away exposing bedrock. The remains of a small substantially built masonry bridge were uncovered at one burn crossing point. Most of the N,

W and upper parts of the bridge had been washed away. However, enough masonry survived to allow the form and size of the lower parts of the bridge to be understood. The bridge was 5.2m wide (from parapet to parapet), with a 1.2m span and was carried over the burn on a vault, the lowest parts of which survive in situ to the SE. The bridge was constructed with a lime-bonded rubble face that retained an unbonded rubble fill.

Archive: The National Trust Scotland

Funder: The High Bridge Footpath Group