Description

The monument is a broch, a complex stone-built substantial roundhouse, dating to the Iron Age (between 600 BC and AD 400). It is visible as a roughly circular grass-covered mound about 32m in diameter and 2.5m high, with an entrance passage visible on its south east side. The monument is located in garden ground to the south of Loch Watten at approximately 50m above sea level.  

The scheduled area is polygonal on plan and includes 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 specifically excludes the above ground elements of all earthfast garden furniture. The monument was first scheduled in 1934 but the documentation does not meet current standards. The present amendment rectifies this.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The 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 Caithness and the function, use and development of brochs. It is a well-preserved example with previous surveys recording internal features. Its field characteristics indicate the likely survival of considerable structural, artefactual and paleoenvironmental evidence beneath the mound. Its proximity to a locally dense group of brochs adds considerably to its significance. 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 the north of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland http://www.canmore.org.uk reference number CANMORE ID 8757 (accessed on 05/05/2016).

The Highland Council Historic Environment Record reference number is MHG2327 (accessed on 05/05/2016).

Armit, I (2002), Towers in the North: The Brochs of Scotland. The History Press. Stroud.

Banks and Beverley Ballin, I and E (Eds.) (2002), In the Shadow of the Brochs: The Iron Age In Scotland. Stroud, Tempus Publishing.

MacKie, E W, (2007), The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c. 700 BC - AD 500: architecture and material culture. Part 2 The Mainland and the Western Islands. BAR, vol 444. Oxford.

RCAHMS (1911), The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Third report and inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Caithness. London.

HER/SMR Reference

http://her.highland.gov.uk/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MHG2327

Source: Historic Environment Scotland