Description

The monument is the remains of a large broch mound and its outworks dating probably to the Iron Age (between around 600 BC and AD 400). It survives as an elongated turf-covered mound with earthworks to its immediate N and S and buried remains to its N and W. The broch is located at the mouth of The Ouse, on the W shore of the Bay of Firth in Mainland Orkney. The monument was first scheduled in 1938, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The mound measures approximately 80m by 25m and stands to around 4m high, with parts of the internal broch structure visible on its summit. The mound has been truncated on its W side by the insertion of the A966 trunk road, on its E side by coastal erosion and on its S side by modern development. It has been investigated and recorded several times since 1927 when the roadworks took place. More recently, between 2004-2008, geophysical survey and archaeological evaluation was undertaken in the area to the W of the broch. This has confirmed the presence of complex archaeological remains in this area, which recall the wider settlement remains and outworks seen at other Orkney broch sites. The presence of an encircling ditch was revealed to the S of the broch and is likely to continue around the W and N sides. The broch was adapted as a defensive position during the Second World War and the remains of a concrete pillbox are visible on top of the mound.

The scheduled area comprises two irregular shapes 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. The scheduling excludes the above-ground remains of all modern boundary features 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. Despite some modern disturbance, this is an impressive and well-preserved example of a large broch mound and associated remains, which has the potential to reveal a complex development sequence. It offers considerable potential to study the origin, development and reuse of brochs and their relationships to other sites in the contemporary landscape. The monument's importance is enhanced by its association with the other brochs spaced regularly along the coastline of E and N Mainland in Orkney, and its association with the wider Iron Age landscape and settlement more generally. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our ability to appreciate and understand the origins, development and reuse of brochs in Orkney. It would also impede our ability to understand the placing and function of brochs within the landscape and to reconstruct and understand the Iron Age landscape.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Further information

RCAHMS record the site as HY31SE 4.

References

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

Armit, I 2005, 'Land-holding and inheritance in the Atlantic Scottish Iron Age', 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, 129-143.

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.

Lawrence, D 2008, 'Finstown, Orkney (Firth Parish), watching brief', Discovery Excav Scot 9, 130.

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.

Mullan S J, 2005 Report on an archaeological intrusive evaluation for Finstown wastewater transfer system, Orkney (= circulated typescript evaluation report). Orkney Archaeological Trust Projects Unit. Kirkwall.

Ovenden, S 2004, 'Hilloch Broch (Firth Parish), geophysical survey', Discovery Excav Scot 5, 96.

Ovenden, S M 2004, Hilloch Broch, Finstown. Geophysical survey report 04/09 (= circulated typescript evaluation report). Geophysics Unit, Orkney College.

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, 92, no 323.

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

Robertson, J, 2005a, Report on an archaeological watching brief for a temporary wastewater transfer system, and test pit in the A966, Finstown, Orkney (= circulated typescript evaluation report). Orkney Archaeological Trust Projects Unit. Kirkwall.

Robertson, J 2005b, 'Finstown Waste Water Transfer System, Orkney (Firth Parish), survey; evaluation', Discovery Excav Scot 6, 97.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/2088/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland