Description

The monument is a broch dating probably from the Iron Age (between 600 BC and AD 400). The monument is visible as a roughly circular mound, measuring around 40m NNW-SSE by 35m WSW-ENE and standing up to 3m high. The mound sits on top of a wider platform or sub-rectangular mound, measuring approximately 45m NNW-SSE by 40m WSW-ENE. Known locally as 'the castle', the mound is expected to contain the foundations of a substantial broch tower, similar to the Broch of Burrian some 525m to the NNE. The monument is located in an area of unimproved, relatively level ground E of the Loch of Harray, at about 15m above sea level. It has extensive views in all directions, but especially to the W and S over the Loch of Harray. The monument was first scheduled in 1937, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

The scheduled area is circular on plan, 55m in diameter, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction and use is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of the post-and-wire fence and a water trough. It also excludes the top 300mm of the surface of the track and passing place to the SE to allow for their maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to our understanding of the past, in particular of Iron Age society in Orkney and the function, use and development of brochs. By analogy with excavated brochs in Orkney, this monument is likely to retain its structural characteristics to a marked degree and may have a complex development sequence. Its importance is enhanced by its proximity to several other brochs in the Loch Harray area, especially the Broch of Burrian, with high potential to study the relationship between them. The monument is part of a landscape containing an exceptional concentration of important archaeological sites testifying to social and economic change over several millennia. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand the development, use and re-use of brochs, and the nature of Iron Age society, economy and social hierarchy in Orkney and further afield.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as HY31NW 1.

References

Armit, I 2003, Towers of the North: The Brochs of Scotland. Tempus.

Ballin Smith, B (ed.) 1994, Howe, Four Millennia of Orkney Prehistory, Edinburgh, Soc Antiq Scot Monog Ser 9.

Ballin Smith, B 2005, 'Orcadian Brochs ' Complex Settlements with Complex Origins', In Turner, V E, Dockrill, S J, Nicholson, R A and Bond, J M (eds) 2005, Tall Stories? Two Millennia of Brochs, Shetland Amenity Trust: Lerwick, 66-77.

Hedges, J 1987, Bu, Gurness and the Brochs of Orkney: Parts I, II and III, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser 163-165.

Lamb, R G, 1980, Iron Age Promontory Forts in the Northern Isles, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser 79.

Mackie, E W 2002, The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c. 700 BC-AD 500: Architecture and Material Culture, Part 1: The Orkney and Shetland Isles, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser 342.

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, 3v Edinburgh, 18, No. 22. .

Ritchie, J. N. G. 1988, The Brochs of Scotland. Aylesbury: Shire.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland