Description

The monument comprises the remains of a broch, an Iron Age fortified residence.

The remains of Balta broch lie on a rocky promontory just S of the inlet called Geo of the Brough, facing E on the E side of Balta, the island which shelters the entrance to Balta Sound, one of the safest anchorages in Shetland. The broch has been of the usual near-circular plan, although the outer wall face has been somewhat eroded, and is everywhere reduced to its basal courses. The overall diameter has been about 15.3m, with an internal diameter of 7.2m.

The wall thickness varies markedly, being thickest (4.9m) at the entrance, which is on the WSW of the wall circuit. At this point an inner wall, about 1.3m thick, has been built along the inner face of the broch wall, but the detail is obscured by a later watch-house, itself ruined, which has been built over this portion of the remains. There are very slight suggestions of turf-covered foundations of further structures on the landward side of the broch.

The area to be scheduled consists of the broch and the land around it in which further remains may survive, comprising the entire extent, above high water mark, of the promontory. It is bounded on the WSW by a line running along the lowest part of the rocky neck and elsewhere by the shoreline. It measures a maximum of 75m E-W by 40m N-S, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved example of an Iron Age broch with associated later structures, in a particularly exposed location. The monument has the potential to provide important information about the purpose and function of brochs and about the economic and social life of their inhabitants.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HP 60 NE 2.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland