Description

The monument comprises the remains of a broch, an Iron Age drystone fortification, set on a rocky knoll at the foot of overgrown cliffs on the E shore of Luce Bay. The broch appears to have been about 14m across, which is at the extreme low end of the spectrum of broch diameters. It has walls 3.8m in width at base. The entrance is from the NW, and the broch has at least one intra-mural chamber, on the N side and leading to two ruined stairs, one of which gave access to a passage or chamber over the entrance. Outside the broch, on the E, there is a causeway across a natural gully. The causeway is revetted on its N side by a drystone wall. The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, measuring 65m WNW-ESE by 45m, to include the broch and the area around it, as well as the causeway and the gully across which it runs. On the NW, W and S sides the boundary of the area is formed by the high water mark of spring tides. The area is shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a broch which forms one of a group of three lying well away from the main concentration of such fortifications in N and W Scotland. Although partly excavated it retains the potential, through excavation and analysis, to provide important information about the unresolved question of the reason for the existence of brochs so far from their normal area of occurrence, and also for the study of Iron Age defensive architecture and domestic economy. As an exceptionally small, but otherwise normally formed, broch, the site has the potential to provide comparative information for the study of the range and purpose of brochs.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded in the RCAHMS as NX 25 SW 9.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland