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a Wideford Hill site re-discovered ?


"Orkney Today" and "The Orcadian" of June 4th 2009 report the discovery of a potential tomb at Heathfield, beehive shaped and built straight into the bedrock. There is a lintelled space opposite the corbelled cell. Way back "The Orcadian" of March 1st 1864 reports that drainage works on a new Wideford Hill farm revealed a large coverstone in the cut with cells beneath. A roughly 2½' long 2' wide central passage, blocked with stones at the northern end, ran NNW/SSE The southern end widened out, opening into two chambers in opposite directions, the southern one with a floor 4" above both the northern one and the passage. Edge-set slabs form the sides and ends of the northern chamber, which measures 4" by 2½" and some 2'2" high and has a reduced entrance some 2½' across . Except for one edge-set slab at the back the southern chamber is of walling, and it measures 3½" by 2'10" by 2' and the passage enters directly into it. George Petrie took measurements and made a plan of it. As with the present site nothing marked the site on the surface.
If, as seems likely, this is the same site then there is less potential for new finds here.
Caroline Wickham-Jones differs "as this is away from the farm and not related to any previous drainage" and asks "whether there is more than one of these in the vicinity"
wideford Posted by wideford
4th June 2009ce
Edited 4th June 2009ce

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