Description

The monument comprises the remains of a broch, a circular stone-built dwelling of Iron Age date (800BC – 500AD). The broch is located on a locally prominent mound to the northeast of Brough Lodge. The mound may be natural but is likely to contain archaeological deposits relating to the broch. A later 19th century tower folly is located within the broch and is likely to be constructed from broch material.

The broch survives as a low stone outer wall which is mostly turf covered but where it is exposed is up to four courses high. The broch measures around 14m in diameter, however, no features such as an entrance are discernible. Part of the interior of the broch is occupied up by a folly in the form of a tower which measures around 6m in diameter.

The scheduled area is circular, measuring 40m in diameter. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduled area specifically excludes the above ground elements of all modern drystone dykes and the above ground elements of the tower folly.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17): 

a.  The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past or has the potential to do so as a broch, likely dating to the Iron Age period (800BC – 500AD). It has the potential to contribute to our understanding of Iron Age society in Shetland and the function, use and development of brochs both within Shetland and across Scotland as a whole. 

b.   The monument retains structural and architectural attributes which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past, in particular the study of broch construction, use and abandonment. 

e.   The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past as it is likely that archaeological deposits survive within and around the broch which have the potential to provide material for radiocarbon dating which when compared with similar monuments could contribute to a better understanding of the chronological development of settlement during this period of Scottish prehistory. Additionally, artefactual and environmental material surviving within these buried features could also provide information on diet, society, agricultural practice and local ecology. 

f.   The monument makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the historic landscape as part of a wider complex of prehistoric settlement on Fetlar and more widely across Shetland. Study of the broch in relation to other similar monuments has the potential to increase our understanding of the landscape setting of these monuments. 

Assessment of Cultural Significance

This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:

Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)

The broch survives as a low stone outer wall which is mostly turf covered located on a prominent mound. Stone from the broch is likely to have been used to construct the folly which stands within the broch. The broch was recognised as being an antiquity from at least the 18th century when Low described it as situated 'on the top of a small hill; the walls entirely in ruins; without any outworks as its situation did not require them' (Low 1879, p166). Around a century later the Ordnance Survey Name Book records that the folly was "built on the site of an ancient Pictish tower" (Ordnance Survey 1877-78). However, it is likely that buried remains of the broch's lower courses are preserved within the mound. There is a strong likelihood that buried archaeological deposits associated with the monument's construction, use and abandonment are preserved. These may allow future researchers to date construction of the broch and compare this with other similar monuments. In addition, the buried remains have considerable potential to enhance understanding of the use and function of brochs and the daily lives of the people who occupied them. There is potential for artefacts and environmental information that may illuminate the diet, economy and social status of the occupants and the extent to which this varied over time.

Brochs are typically thought to date from the mid first millennium BC through to the early part of the first millennium AD And are primarily seen as a specific specialised development of complex Atlantic roundhouses. They were large complex structures that could have accommodated either an extended family or a small community.  While there would have been a social hierarchy within this community, the construction of these elaborate towers is often understood in terms of elite settlement. Other interpretations have stressed their likely role as fortified or defensive sites, possibly serving a community across a wider area. Brochs are complex structures likely to have had numerous purposes and a complex role in prehistoric society.

Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)

Brochs are a widespread class of monument found across northern Scotland with notable concentrations in Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and the northwest Highlands. It is one of around 200 in Shetland. It has potential to enhance our understanding of the relationship between brochs, the extent to which they were contemporary, and their relationship with the wider landscape. Brochs have been viewed as having a defensive or offensive function, or simply as being the prestige dwellings and farms of an elite keen to display its status. The buried remains at Brough Lodge have potential to contribute to these questions and may provide insight into the nature and use of these structures and the landscape immediately around them.

The monument is significant as an upstanding example of a broch on Fetlar. It is located on a prominent mound on relatively flat land close to the sea There are four other examples, including Sna Brough, broch (scheduled monument SM2804) and Feal Kirk, broch (scheduled monument SM2068). The other brochs on Fetlar are also located close to or by the shore which may suggest that visibility from the sea was important and that the occupants may have utilised natural resources both along the shore and out at sea. There is therefore potential for comparative study on a local, regional and national scale to better understand the function of such monuments, their interrelationship and the significance of their placing within the landscape, in particular in relation to our understanding of Iron Age social hierarchy, changing settlement patterns and systems of inheritance.

Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)

There are no known associative characteristics that contribute to this monument's national importance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland http://www.canmore.org.uk reference number CANMORE ID 1393 (accessed on 27/05/2022).

Low, G. (1879) A Tour through the Islands of Orkney and Schetland in 1774, in Anderson, J. Kirkwall.

Ordnance Survey (1877-78). Shetland OS Name Books Vol. 13.

RCAHMS (1946) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Twelfth report with an inventory of the ancient monuments of Orkney and Shetland, 3 volumes, pg. 62. RCAHMS, Edinburgh. Orkney and Shetland, 1946, volume 2 | ScotlandsPlaces (accessed on 27/05/2022).

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/1393/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland