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Barns of Hempriggs, chambered cairn 550m SSE of

A Scheduled Monument in Wick and East Caithness, Highland

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Coordinates

Latitude: 58.4049 / 58°24'17"N

Longitude: -3.0938 / 3°5'37"W

OS Eastings: 336176

OS Northings: 946801

OS Grid: ND361468

Mapcode National: GBR L6QJ.3GB

Mapcode Global: WH6DV.F0ZJ

Entry Name: Barns of Hempriggs, chambered cairn 550m SSE of

Scheduled Date: 24 July 1934

Last Amended: 22 March 2005

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Source ID: SM455

Schedule Class: Cultural

Category: Prehistoric ritual and funerary: chambered cairn

Location: Wick

County: Highland

Electoral Ward: Wick and East Caithness

Traditional County: Caithness

Description

The monument comprises a chambered cairn, visible as a low turf-covered stony mound. The monument was originally scheduled in 1939, but the extent of the scheduled area was unclear: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

The cairn is situated at the edge of agricultural land in a field which has recently been improved from unenclosed rough grazing. It lies c. 200m from the sea cliffs, at 46m OD. It is turf covered and measures c. 17m in diameter. The perimeter rises undisturbed to a maximum height of 1m, but the interior has been greatly reduced and disturbed. In the centre are two slabs, set on edge, 0.9m apart and almost at right angles to each other, which may have formed part of a chamber.

The area to be scheduled is a circle of diameter 30m centred on the centre of the cairn, to include the cairn and an area around in which evidence relating to the construction and use of the cairn may survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as the remains of a chambered cairn which has the potential to provide important information on the funerary and ritual architecture of the Neolithic period in Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as ND34NE1.

References:

Batey C E 1984, 'CAITHNESS COASTAL SURVEY 1980-1982: DUNNET HEAD TO OUSDALE', Durham University Department of Archaeology Occasional Paper No. 3, 10, 79

Batey C E 1981, CAITHNESS COASTAL SURVEY 1981: INTERIM REPORT, TYPESCRIPT, Durham, WIC 184.

Davidson J L and Henshall A S 1991, THE CHAMBERED CAIRNS OF CAITHNESS: AN INVENTORY OF THEIR STRUCTURES AND THEIR CONTENT, 116, No CAT 27, Edinburgh University Press.

Henshall A S 1963, THE CHAMBERED TOMBS OF SCOTLAND, Vol 1, 273, CAT 27, Edinburgh University Press.

RCAHMS 1911, THIRD REPORT AND INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF CAITHNESS, 170, No. 540, Edinburgh: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

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