Description

The monument to be scheduled comprises the remains of a high-status settlement of the Norse period extending 50m to 65m inland from the cliff edge along a stretch between 50m and 160m W of the 12th-century Cross-Kirk on Westray.

The settlement site was identified as a result of marine erosion causing material to fall out of an exposed cliff section. Excavations and coring carried out between 1982 and 1993 have defined the extent the structures and midden deposits and have suggested a period of occupation extending from pre-Viking times to the 15th century.

The principal structure to be identified consists of a stone-built hall-like building, with minimal internal dimensions of 6.65m by 3.75m, plastered walls 1m to 1.4m thick and a door in the SE gable wall. The interior was found to have been paved at least three times with large stone flags and on three occasions it had been subdivided.

A re-used slab built into the latest partition bore the runic inscription: 'Thorstein Einarsson carved these runes'. A second rectangular structure, less substantial than the first and measuring c.13m by more than 5m, was later built at right-angles to the first. Analysis of metal-working debris from within it suggests that it may have been a smithy.

Remains of other stone structures, probably medieval, were found immediately to the W. Organic material from a large waterlogged pit, some 40m to the E, produced a C14 determination suggesting a date in the 9th or 10th century AD.

The area to be scheduled is irregular in plan, extending for a maximum of 134m E-W by 87m N-S, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a good example of a high-status settlement of the Norse period of which comparable examples, also associated with a 12th-century church, are known from elsewhere in Orkney, notably at Cobbie Row's Castle on Wyre and Orphir on Mainland. Its importance is enhanced by the potential of its below-ground remains for shedding further light on the social and economic history and material culture of the pre-Norse, Norse and medieval periods.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY 44 SE 5.

Bibliography:

Owen, O. (1988) 'Tuquoy, Orkney 1988: further assessment and tapestry excavation of the manse and Medieval settlement site' Central Excavation Unit and Ancient Monuments Laboratory Annual Report (1988) Edinburgh, 5-8.

Owen, O. (1993) 'Tuquoy, Westray, Orkney: a challenge for the future?', in Batey, C. E. Jesch, J and Morris, C. D. The Viking age in Caithness, Orkney and the North Atlantic Edinburgh, 318-21, 324-39.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland