Description

The monument consists of a large settlement mound, occupying the whole of a D-shaped promontory on the E shore of the Loch of Boardhouse. The monument was first scheduled in 1937 but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains: the present re-scheduling proposal rectifies this.

The mound measures about 50m NW-SE by 40m NE-SW and stands about 2m high. Its upper surface is very uneven and consists of spreads of large and small stones, amongst which vertical and corbelled wall faces, collapsed lintels and collapsed stonework are visible. Two well-preserved chambers lie within the northern half of the mound, both measuring about 3m wide by at least 4m long. The monument represents the remains of either a single multi-chambered drystone building (although it is unlikely to be a broch), or several contiguous single-celled buildings. Despite extensive quarrying in the 19th century, about half of the monument survives in reasonably good condition.

The lochside edge of the monument is a steep cliff about 1m high, within which further stonework and midden are exposed. The eastern edge of the settlement mound is marked by a steep slope, which descends to a broad area of damp ground. Large earthfast stones of the eastern edge of the damp ground, and irregularities in the ground surface, indicate the likely presence of further, possibly defensive, structures in this area.

The area to be scheduled is irregular in plan and measures a maximum of 63m N-S by 70m E-W, as marked in red on the accompanying map. It includes the whole of the mound and an area around it in which evidence relating to the construction and use of the settlement is likely to survive. The modern post-and-wire fence which runs across the mound from NE to SW is excluded from the scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as the reasonably well-preserved remains of a substantial prehistoric stone-built settlement of unusual type. It is one of a small group of stone-built defensive structures of probable Iron Age date in Orkney, which appear to occupy naturally defensive sites but do not resemble the more common types of contemporary defensive structures, such as brochs or duns.

Although the monument has been partly quarried in the past, it retains considerable potential to provide important information about the architecture and economy of an important group of prehistoric settlements. It is also likely that there is high potential for the preservation of organic remains here and there on the site: within the lower levels of the buildings; within sediments on the loch bed; and in the marshy ground on the eastern side of the mound.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY22NE 6.

References:

RCAHMS 1946, TWELFTH REPORT WITH AN INVENTORY OF THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF ORKNEY AND SHETLAND, 3V, Edinburgh, 19

Spence M 1903, 'REPORTS OF THE DISTRICT SECRETARIES', Saga Book Viking Club 3, Part 3, 312-318.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland