Description

The monument comprises a broch dating probably from the Iron Age (between around 600 BC and AD 400). It is visible as a substantial turf-covered mound, with part of the broch tower's walls still visible on the N and S sides, surviving up to 2m in height. Limited excavations in the early 19th century revealed that the broch is approximately 18.3m in external diameter, within walls 4m thick. A Pictish silver hoard was recovered from within the broch, but the artefacts have since been lost. Two skeletons were also recorded, one apparently accompanied by two Viking gold rings. Part of the interior of the broch with its intramural cells is still traceable today. The buried remains of an external defensive ditch and further settlement surround the broch tower. The broch is located next to the coast, at about 5m above sea level. It has extensive views in all directions, but especially to the N out over Eynhallow Sound. The monument was first scheduled in 1936, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan and includes 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.

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. This is an impressive and well-preserved broch mound in a rich archaeological landscape. By analogy with excavated brochs elsewhere in Orkney, and as confirmed by the 19th-century exploratory excavations, this monument retains its structural characteristics to a marked degree. The broch is likely to have a complex development sequence. It may overlie earlier remains and there is evidence for later re-use of the site, as indicated by the discovery of a Pictish hoard and at least one Viking burial. Its importance is enhanced by the presence of defensive outworks, rare on Orcadian brochs, and because of its proximity to several other brochs along the Evie coastline, 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 HY32NE27.

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 Monogr 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.

Graham-Campbell, J 1987, 'A lost Pictish treasure (and two Viking-age gold arm-rings) from the Broch of Burgar, Orkney', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 115, 241-61.

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, 81.

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, 74, no 261.

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

Thomas, F W L 1852, 'An account of some Celtic antiquities of Orkney, including the Stones of Stenness, tumuli, Picts houses &c., with plans', Archaeologia 34, 122-3.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland