Description

The monument comprises a substantial broch mound with the remains of a surrounding rampart to the W, together with another circular mound some 40m to the ENE. The broch mound dates probably from the Iron Age (between about 600 BC and AD 400). The origin and date of the mound to the E is unclear, but both it and the adjacent broch mound may have formed part of a 'thing' site (assembly place) in the Norse period. The monument stands 10m above sea level on the S side of a deeply eroded gully containing an unnamed burn which flows into Tingwall harbour some 150m to the ENE. The monument was first scheduled in 1938, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The broch mound is grass-grown, roughly circular in shape, measuring about 20m in diameter and standing around 2.3m in height. It sits on an irregular platform which has hollows derived from quarrying around the S and W sides. Stones and possible structural stonework are visible SW of the main mound and in the hollows, suggesting the location of external buildings associated with the broch. Masonry fragments were visible in the earlier 20th century and were considered to represent stone buildings of considerable extent and complexity. The rampart encircling the W side of the broch is represented by a stone and earth bank spread up to 4m wide and standing 1m high. A small archaeological trench excavated on the N slope of the broch mound revealed stone paving, interpreted as the floor of a structure lying outside the main broch tower. The mound to the E lies at the ENE end of a low natural ridge extending between and conjoining the two features. This second mound measures about 15m in diameter and is not as high as the broch mound. The Old Norse place-name 'Thing-völlr' (meaning 'thing-field': now Tingwall) first occurs in the 12th-century Orkneyinga Saga and was also recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1879-80.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment 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 can make a significant addition to our understanding of the past, in particular of Iron Age society and economy in Orkney and the function, use and development of brochs. The broch mound is large and impressive and, although it has seen some disturbance, the lower courses of the broch are expected to survive in good condition. The mound is expected to contain the remains of numerous structural features typical of brochs, including intramural stairs and cells, together with buried deposits rich in occupation debris, artefacts and palaeoenvironmental evidence. In addition, there is good evidence for the presence of stone structures outside the broch tower, in the form of visible remains, historic accounts of the site and the findings of a small archaeological test pit that revealed a well-preserved paved floor. The broch mound also has the potential to inform our knowledge about the use of such sites subsequently, perhaps showing that the site continued to be a societal focal point in the Norse and later periods. Specifically, it can enhance our understanding of Viking and Norse 'thing' sites, of which very few potential examples have been identified in Orkney. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our ability to appreciate and understand the development, use and re-use of brochs, the placing and function of brochs and related settlement types within the landscape and the nature of Iron Age society, economy and social hierarchy, both in Orkney and further afield. Loss of the monument would also significantly diminish our ability to understand the organisation and functioning of 'thing' sites in Orkney and governance in the Norse period.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as HY42SW 3.

References

Ballin Smith, B 1994 Howe: four millennia of Orkney prehistory excavations 1978-1982, Edinburgh.

Card, N, 1999 'Excavations at Tingwall Broch, Evie, Orkney, 1999', Orkney Archaeological Trust unpubl rep.

Gibbon, S J, 2012 'Orkney's Things', in Owen, O (ed) Things in the Viking World, Shetland Heritage and Culture, Lerwick.

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, no 268, 80.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/2689/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland