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Latitude: 59.2271 / 59°13'37"N
Longitude: -2.5113 / 2°30'40"W
OS Eastings: 370919
OS Northings: 1037947
OS Grid: HY709379
Mapcode National: GBR N45B.S92
Mapcode Global: XH9SS.MBJP
Entry Name: Wasso, broch, Tres Ness, Sanday
Scheduled Date: 30 September 1950
Last Amended: 30 September 1996
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM1424
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric domestic and defensive: broch
Location: Lady
County: Orkney Islands
Electoral Ward: North Isles
Traditional County: Orkney
The monument consists of a large mound, which contains the remains of a broch, an Iron Age defensive structure. The mound was scheduled in 1950, but an insufficient area was included to protect the full extent of the important archaeological remains. This proposal increases the area to achieve that purpose.
The mound which contains the remains of the Broch of Wasso stands almost 5m high about the surrounding land, which is flat and sandy. Towards the summit of the mound a short stretch of inner wall face and one of outer face can be traced through the turf, suggesting a wall thickness (at a height of about 4m above the likely ground level) of 4.4m. The mound is very substantial, some 60m by 45m, which suggests the presence of other external structures in addition to a central broch tower. If the foundation level of the broch is similar to the surrounding land surface, then it may well survive to over 4m tall, which would make it one of Orkney's better-preserved brochs. There is no record of any excavation, and certainly disturbance in Victorian or more recent times is ruled out by the presence, on the summit of the mound, of a ruinous small structure of relatively recent date.
The area to be scheduled is a circle some 60m in diameter, centred on the top of the mound and just reaching, on the N side, a modern fence line. This includes the whole of the mound and a small area around it in which associated remains may also survive. It is marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance as what appears to be an undisturbed broch with surrounding structures, the central broch still standing to a considerable height within the mound. The site has the potential, through excavation and subsequent analysis, to provide important information about mid to late Iron Age defensive and domestic architecture, domestic economy and land use.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
The monument is recorded in the RCAHMS as HY 73 NW 2.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Other nearby scheduled monuments