Description

The monument is a substantial broch mound and associated remains dating probably from the Iron Age (between about 600 BC and AD 400). It is visible as a large turf-covered mound, with additional structural remains and occupation debris visible in a coastal section along its N face. The mound measures approximately 22m in diameter and survives to a height of around 2m. Geophysical survey has indicated the presence of substantial features in the area surrounding the broch, including a series of concentric features thought to be ditches and banks, a possible entrance to the SW and a second enclosure surviving as buried remains in the field to the S of the mound). The monument is located on the N coastline of Westray and is under a mixture of sand dune and improved, enclosed pasture land. The monument was first scheduled in 1953, 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. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of all stone dykes and post-and-wire fencing 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 contribution to our understanding of the past, in particular of Iron Age society in Orkney and the function, use and development of brochs. Despite the damage caused by coastal erosion and ploughing, a significant proportion of the underlying structure and associated deposits is likely to survive. Within the mound, the broch tower is likely to retain its structural characteristics to a marked degree and may preserve a complex development sequence. There is high potential for the survival of buried archaeological deposits containing occupation debris, artefacts and palaeoenvironmental evidence that can tell us about how people lived, their trade and exchange contacts and their social status. The importance of the site is enhanced by the presence of significant archaeological features surrounding the broch, probably including defensive ditches and banks, and by its association with the wider landscape of Iron Age brochs and earlier prehistoric settlement in Westray, including the Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement at the nearby Links of Noltland. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand the nature of Iron Age society, economy and social hierarchy, both in Orkney and further afield. It would also impede our ability to understand the placing and function of such monuments within the landscape and their relationship with each other and with other types of prehistoric site.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as HY44NW11.

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 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.

Hope and Wickham-Jones, R and C, 1977, 'Knowe of Queen o' Howe. Midden and structures', Discovery Excav Scot, 25.

Lamb, R G, 1980, Iron Age Promontory Forts in the Northern Isles, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser 79, Oxford, 81.

Lynn and Bell, D and B, 1990, 'Survey of broch sites on Westray', Discovery Excav Scot, 45.

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.

Moore and Wilson, H and G, 1998, 'Orkney Coastal Survey 1998, Westray, Papa Westray, Mainland', Discovery Excav Scot, 69.

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, 352, no 1043.

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

RCAHMS, 1983, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Papa Westray and Westray, Orkney Islands Area, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series 19, Edinburgh, 29, no 101.

Wilson, G, 2003, 'Assessment survey: Orkney coastal zone', in Dawson, T Coastal archaeology and erosion in Scotland, Edinburgh, 48.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland