Foyers Campsite

NH 4928 2104 A watching brief was undertaken, January – April 2013, during site clearance associated with the construction of a new camping and caravan site on the SE shore of Loch Ness. A total of 27 features were identified, including a ditch, a possible fire pit, an old ground surface, a spread of stone/remains of field clearance material and a mid-1900s animal burial pit. The ditch, only part of which was uncovered on the S side of the site, may have been an earlier boundary ditch. The remaining features consisted of scattered pits in the subsoil, which probably related to agricultural activity.

One intriguing, but inconclusive feature (26) on the upper terrace, was a sub-rectangular hand dug pit uncovered during the excavation of a service trench. There appeared to be two further pits next to it, although these were only partly revealed in the trench. The gravelly soil fill of the pit contained a small fragment of white glazed pottery and a small slate fragment. The subsoil at the base of the pit was concrete-like in hardness.

Another surprising find from the site was a chance find made by a site worker, Christopher Birch. He recovered a late 18th- or early 19th-century sword from a spoil heap. The sword has a basket hilt with possible copper alloy braiding on the handle and a flat blade, the tip missing, bent to an approximately 140degrees angle. The sword was passed to Stuart Campbell at the Treasure Trove Unit, who suggested the sword is a typical broadsword, a British Army type and possibly used for dress only.

Archive: RoCAS. Report: Highland HER and OASIS

Funder: D and L Forbes

Mary Peteranna and Lynn Fraser, Ross and Cromarty Archaeological Services, 2013

(Source: DES)

OASIS ID: rosscrom1-149008