Desk Based Assessment

Date July 2006

Event ID 997996

Category Recording

Type Desk Based Assessment

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/997996

An archaeological desk-based assessment was carried out by Headland Archaeology on the site of a proposed housing development in the eastern margins of Fortrose, The Black Isle, Ross and Cromarty.

The assessment included a consultation of documentary and cartographic evidence within the Development Area, and within a wider Study Area, which generally extended 500m from the centre ofthe site. Outside of the Study Area, the Scheduled Ancient Monument, Fortrose Cathedral was included in this assessment due to its Designated Status.

Although no sites of cultural heritage interest are known within the proposed development area and cartographic evidence suggests that the area has remained an open field for a considerable period of time. There are no known archaeological sites within the proposed development area but the general area with its close proximity to the remains of Fortrose Cathedral has high potential for the survival of archaeological deposits. A road, which bounds the development area to the north would have been the main thoroughfare between the town and the nearby Chanonry Point from where a ferry plied to first to Ardersier, and later to Fort George in Morayshire. A footpath, which divides the development area, may also have been an important early route between the outlying farmland and the town and its market.