Dounreay helps Caithness retrieve its past

17th June 2025

A Pictish stone believed to date back 1,700 years has been retrieved and preserved for future generations with financial help from Dounreay's operators.

Dounreay isn't the only site in Caithness where relics of the past are being retrieved and made safe for the future.

Thirty miles south-east of the site, a Pictish stone believed to date back 1,700 years has been retrieved and preserved for future generations, with financial help from Dounreay's operators.

The stone was discovered in 2022 by Fiona Begg Wade who alerted archaeologists when she was clearing up the burial ground at St Martin's, Ulbster, where some of her relatives are buried.

It was found lying horizontally on the ground, in a line with other plain stones, and probably used as a grave marker in recent times. It is weathered but several typical Pictish symbols - the double disc and z-rod, the mirror, and the comb - can be made out.

A project to remove, restore and place the stone on public display came to fruition when it was unveiled at the North Coast Visitor Centre in Thurso.

Among those attending the unveiling by Lord Thurso, the land-owner who has loaned the artefact to High Life Highland who run the centre and museum, was Dave Wilson, managing director of Nuclear Restoration Services Dounreay.

He said:

We're in the business of retrieving the past to make it safe for the future, and I’m delighted we can help the visitor centre do the same with a long-lost legacy of previous generations.

The Caithness and North Sutherland Fund has contributed £5,500 towards the cost of the project. The Fund was established by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Dounreay to provide community benefit from the construction and operation of the site’s low-level waste vaults.

A total of £4 million has been invested in the fund to date, supporting a range of community projects with a combined value of £15 million.

Dounreay also part-funds the running costs of the North Coast Visitor Centre with High Life Highland.

For more information about the Caithness and North Sutherland Fund, see their website. https://www.cnsf.org.uk/