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Latitude: 59.3896 / 59°23'22"N
Longitude: -2.3834 / 2°23'0"W
OS Eastings: 378321
OS Northings: 1055986
OS Grid: HY783559
Mapcode National: GBR N3GX.JTV
Mapcode Global: XH9S2.98G4
Entry Name: Versa Breck, buildings 130m W of lighthouse, North Ronaldsay
Scheduled Date: 1 March 2000
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM8650
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Secular: domestic buildings
Location: Cross and Burness
County: Orkney Islands
Electoral Ward: North Isles
Traditional County: Orkney
The monument comprises a rectangular building and associated structure which are sited in rough grazings on SW-facing ground to the E of the lighthouse at Versa Breck (Dennis Ness).
The main structure is sub-rectangular on plan and measures about 10m from SW to NE by 6m transversely within stone walls which are spread to about 3m in width. It is aligned down the slope, with no apparent entrance.
Within the interior at its down-slope end is a small pile of stone, while at the up-slope end there are hints of a raised area (about 2.5m deep) with, below it, a possible horse-shoe-shaped arrangement defined by small uprights. To the NE of this structure is a smaller one (about 2 by 3 m internally), apparently open-ended and opening to the SE.
The date of this construction is not known. It does not appear on any 18th century or later maps of North Ronaldsay, but may be later prehistoric or Norse in date. The building is very wide and direct parallels have not been found.
The area to be scheduled is rectangular on plan and measures 50m from SW to NE by 40m transversely, to include the structures and an area around in which evidence associated with their construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance because it is an unusual building form with well-preserved field characteristics, of unknown date, which has the potential to provide information about the development of Scottish architecture and the uses to which such buildings were put.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
RCAHMS records the monument as HY 75 NE 5.
References:
RCAHMS (1946) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Twelfth report with an inventory of the ancient monuments of Orkney and Shetland, 3v, 52, No. 205, Edinburgh.
RCAHMS (1980) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Sanday and North Ronaldsay, Orkney, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 11, 19, No. 103, Edinburgh.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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