Description

The monument comprises a broch with outer defensive works. The broch itself is already scheduled, but this extension adds the outer defensive works to the area protected.

The broch stands on a rise overlooking the Burn of Warehouse, at around 115m OD. It survives as a mound some 3m high and at least 14m across, mainly grass-covered. The entrance, on the W side of the mound, has been excavated, reveal the entrance passage and the adjacent outer wallface. To the S and E of the broch is a damp ditch with an external bank up to 2m high, representing an outer defensive line. To the immediate W, between the broch and the burn, is an area of hummocky ground that appears to conceal the remains of ruined structures, perhaps associated with the broch.

Brochs are strongly built defensive dwellings of the middle Iron Age, perhaps 200 BC to AD 100.

The area now to be scheduled is circular, 70m across but truncated at the N by the Burn of Warehouse so that the maximum N-S dimension is 60m. This area includes the broch, outer defensive line and area of possible ruined structures to the W of the broch, and is 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 broch with outer defensive works. Such monuments are typical of the middle Iron Age in much of northern and western Scotland. The monument has the potential to increase knowledge of later prehistoric defensive architecture and domestic economy.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS - ND34SW

Source: Historic Environment Scotland