Description

The monument comprises an almost circular stony mound, supporting a group of earthfast slabs, an empty cist and seven irregular hollows in the surrounding ground surface.

The mound measures about 17m in diameter and 1m high. The central area is a hollow and may have been disturbed. Immediately E of this hollow, a group of five upright, but broken, earthfast slabs may represent the remains of a chamber - possibly of Orkney-Cromarty type - aligned ESE-WNW. To the S of this vestigial chamber, a second group of slabs, including a large slab set up vertically on its edge in concrete, represents the remains of a stock feed bin; this was demolished by the present owner's father in recent decades.

It is possible that this modern construction incorporated or re-used stone from some original feature of the monument. Towards the SE edge of the mound two loose horizontal slabs are the broken halves of a replaced roof slab of a cist. The cist walls are each made from a single fine-grained slab, neatly butted to its neighbour. On all sides of the mound are hollows, typically measuring 3m by 5m. In most cases it is apparent that these penetrate into the underlying rock.

One hollow has been infilled with rubble in modern times. These hollows only occur in the vicinity of the mound and are interpreted as quarry holes from which slabs of architectural quality were extracted when the mound was first built or when it was altered. The nature of the underlying geology suggests that sediments contemporary with the use of the monument may survive in conditions of enhanced preservation.

The area to be scheduled is a rectangle measuring 30m NW-SE by 50m NE-SW, to include the cairn, all the visible features around it and an area of ground in which evidence to the mound's construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the accompanying plan.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as the remains of a prehistoric burial cairn within a setting that contains quarrying pits from which the stone used in the cairn and its internal architectural features may have been quarried. The site is located in land that has not been intensively cultivated and there is, therefore, a considerable potential for the survival of evidence relating to the nature of its original setting, its construction and its use.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY 44 SW 8.

Bibliography:

Davidson, J. L. and Henshall, A. S. (1989) The chambered tombs of Orkney: an inventory of the structures and their contents. Edinburgh University Press.

Lamb, R. (1983) The archaeological sites and monuments of Papa Westray and Westray, Orkney Islands Area. Edinburgh: RCAHMS.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland