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Latitude: 60.4956 / 60°29'44"N
Longitude: -1.6128 / 1°36'45"W
OS Eastings: 421375
OS Northings: 1179161
OS Grid: HU213791
Mapcode National: GBR Q1C0.3RF
Mapcode Global: XHD1G.DG29
Entry Name: Loch of Houlland, broch, Villians of Ure
Scheduled Date: 30 June 1934
Last Amended: 29 April 1996
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM2075
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric domestic and defensive: broch
Location: Northmaven
County: Shetland Islands
Electoral Ward: Shetland North
Traditional County: Shetland
The monument comprises the remains of an Iron Age broch with associated and later walling, causeways and other structures.
The broch is set on a flat promontory in Loch of Houlland. It survives as a mound of rubble in which details of the original construction can be seen. The broch walling still stands to 4m high, especially on the N and NE sides. The overall diameter has been 18m, with a wall thickess of about 4.5m. The entrance has been on the WSW, with a guard-cell to the right. There are three lines of walling across the promontory, with an entrance passage cutting the outer two and running over the innermost. These do not seem to have been very substantial, but this may be a false impression given by subsequent stone-robbing. There are traces of small oval or sub-rectangular buildings, probably later than the broch but possibly still prehistoric, on the SW side of the broch and on the landward side, as well as at the landward end of the promontory. There are also rectangular foundations of more recent date SSW of the broch. In addition, two causeways have been built out into the loch. One runs from the S side of the broch to a small islet, and a second runs from the islet NW back to the shore. There are traces of quarrying on the slopes to the landward side of the promontory.
The broch is already scheduled, but this rescheduling is to extend the protected area to include all of the structural remains on the landward side of the promontory and also the area of loch bed around and between the causeways, and around the broch.
The area to be scheduled is an irregular D-shape. It measures 80m NE-SW by a maximum of 95m, to include all of the features described above and an area around them, including a portion of the bed of the loch, in which further related structures and deposits are likely to survive. This area is shown in red on the accompanying map extract.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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