Atherosclerosis is a vascular disease, which causes a remodelling of the arterial wall leading to restriction (stenosis) by thickening of the intima and the formation of vascular plaque through the deposition of fatty materials.  This remodelling alters the compliance of the artery stiffening the arterial wall locally.  A common location for this to occur is in the carotid artery, which supplies blood to both the brain and the face.  It can lead to complete occlusion of the artery in the extreme case and is a major cause of stroke and ischemic infarction.  Stroke is the third largest cause of death in the U.S.A., but even if not fatal it can cause coma, paralysis, speech problems and dementia.  Atherosclerosis causes a change in the local hemodynamics.  It can produce areas of flow separation and low wall shear stress (WSS), which can lead to endothelial dysfunction and to promotion of plaque growth.  Several investigations have been made numerically into stenosed arterial geometries with rigid walls and some work modelling the fluid structure interaction (FSI) in compliant geometries. Although there is some experimental work available in compliant geometries representing stenosis, further work needs to be done to provide data that can be used to validate computational results. In this work particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to investigate the flow field and WSS through, and downstream of, a 3.2 times life size compliant silicone phantom of a stenosed common carotid artery. Comparisons are also made with results obtained in a compliant phantom of a healthy artery.