RCAHMS NMRS record no. ND49SW 4 is a much reduced round cairn, probably of a tripartite chamber design. Diameter 9.7m, on or ringed by a 21m diameter platform about 0.4m high that is itself edged by a low stony bank presently with a spread of 4m. There is now a rough modern wall about the hollow at the centre.
wideford
RCAHMS NMRS No. ND49SE 7 at ND47289130. Locals once thought this mound, heavily quarried at various times, to be “an ancient Danish fort”. This green roughly circular knoll (about 30m by 2m) was either on the shore of a loch drained long ago or else on an island in that loch. Site-type is not known.
3 mounds between 35’ and 45’ across and 3-4.5’ high, all showing signs of excavation. And I found a cist not previously noted – could the O.S. have missed this in 1967 ? Told the county archaeologist and apparently the Historic Scotland warden holds a watching brief, visiting every 3-5 years, and first noted the cist eroding out eight years ago.
Interesting alignments taken from “Lines on The Landscape, Circles from The Sky” by Trevor Garnham :-
Ring of Brodgar (HY294134) to the Staney Hill Stone (HY31951567) to a broken stone reported in an old antiquarian’s report at Applehouse Farm (presumably the same as the Applehouse Stone HY32621620 that I failed to find). Centre of Ring of Brodgar to Watch Stone (HY30551264) to Barnhouse Stone (HY31271217), centre of Ring of Brodgar to Comet Stone (HY29031331) ending at Maes Howe (HY318127).
Maes Howe (HY318127) to Stones of Stenness (HY307125) then Deepdale Stones (HY27171171 and 27181116, presumably the former as he declares the broad side to face Unstan). ‘The’ Deepdale Stone (HY27171171) faces off to Unstan Cairn (HY282117) like the Stone of Setter (HY56453718) does to the Braeside Cairn (HY563375) entrance passage.
He says that perhaps Unstan Cairn (HY282117) started out as a tripartite cairn and later became the present stalled one. The modified entrance passage points to the Watch Stone (HY30551264) and on to House 2 at Barnhouse (HY306124 or 6). The porch of Barnhouse 8 (HY306124 or 6) then Stones of Stenness (HY307125) to the Staney Hill Stone (HY31951567).
Wideford Hill Cairn (HY409121) to Cuween Hill Cairn (HY363127) to what he refers to as a pair of hills but from the map this is an illusory pairing, either two hills at different distances or perhaps a notch in the Hill of Heddle.
Taversoe Tuick Cairn (HY425276) lower passage to Gairsay Cairn (HY441223, a turf-covered cairn about 12mD and 1.8m high). Eday Church Cairn (HY560334) to Holm of Huip Cairn (HY268312, possibly chambered : NMRS reports there are 5 short stretches of wall with no apparent shape and 2 earth-fast stones 1.05m apart that aren’t an entrance !).
This site replaced Killevin as principal church of the Lord of Glassary and the NMRS believes that it was built using Killevin’s stones because tradition says they did not require dressing. But as traces of an older circular structure can be traced ( inside churchyard at N and W most easily), and this has been identified with the Columbian site ‘Cella Diuni’ (reading Kilneuair as Yew Wood), it would perhaps be more likely to relate to that. On the inside, to the east of the nave door, a now virtually invisible five-toed print called The Devil’s Hand is carved on a sandstone block.
Creag A’ Chaisteal RCAHMS NMRS no. NM34NE 12 at NM35874957 which says that the marks on all four boulders are natural.
The fort NM34NE 1 of the same name at NM35864959 probably started off as a promontory fort because the wall was older than the 2 phases of the SW entrance (this wall is now gone), the SE entrance was paved.. No longer there is a hut circle on the rocky boss – the excavators in 1964 thought there could be more of these but didn’t find any.
RCAHMS NMRS No. HY50SW 13 though it occupies a typical broch site shows no evidence of circularity and so is classified as a promontory fort. A member of the clergy excavated a ‘domestic structure’ on the top from 1929-31 and then built a 1m high square wall about it afterwards. There were two structures above one another, of which only the lower was certainly prehistoric. This lower chamber was D-shaped with a floor 2.6m below ground level (reached by steps) and walls 2m high. Its entrance and that of the modern protective wall are held in common at the west.
RCAHMS NMRS No. HY50SW 15. There has been a church at the present site since 1570, it has been rebuilt once. It is believed that there was a previous church on the mound where part of the graveyard lies as various drystane walls have shown up and a Celtic cross-slab has been found.
This mound extends well beyond the churchyard and was originally a settlement. A ring of stones protrudes at the summit HY51010065 in the field to the north of the church. Last century 40 trailer-loads of stones, including many red ones, were removed from HY51010065 and dumped on the shore at HY50880075. Amongst these was a redstone block with 6 cupmarks which has since disappeared.
At the given NGR is NPRN 309041 a clearance cairn, of which the steep angle of the remaining stone shows it to have been a sheepfold. The correct NGR for the tomb in the photo is SM93313923 and is yet another Carreg Samson, distinguished as Carn Wnda. The capstone is approx. 3.3m x 3.1m and covers a rock-cut pit.
RCAHMS NMRS no. HY31NW 51 the wasted remains of a long chambered cairn that would, if it only has one stalled chamber, be the largest recorded in Orkney with the main body (i.e. excluding horns) 67m long by a maximum of 27m across the SE end’s horns (main body’s waist down to 11m). CANMAP shows it but not the O.S. T’other side o’t’ road from the standing stone a tumulus is shown alone in a field on the O.S., and the cairn is along the western edge of the field behind that about the 30m contour line [apologies for not listing it sooner Hobs, Moth, Jane !]. It is horned and may have a concave facade. The latter is unrecorded for Orkney which further marks it out as a site needing excavation.
In reference to Rhiannon’s query about a possible link twixt stones and springs I know of two face-aligned stone pairs in Orkney. By coincidence I just added one (The Round) last night and the associated dwelling has a well by its side and two others in close proximity. The other is Leafea, very near which is the Brockan settlement with a spring and a well (though I should mention that this whole area to the W of Stromness has quite a few wells and springs anyway).
Excavations this past fortnight show that the Lochview settlement mound represents a series of Neolithic settlements probably covering 2.5 hectares. Towards its western outskirts geophysics may be showing us a chambered cairn. Geophysics also shows up a ‘wall corner’ (one of whose sides follows the modern road for about 10m) and apparent paving was revealed by a thin trench across it.
Source “The Orcadian” of June 17th.
orkneyjar.com/archaeology/brodgardig.htm
“Fort of the Red Eye”. This ruinous vitrified fort (RCAHMS NMRS record no.NN17SW 6) would seem to hold a similar position relative to Fort William as Dun Phadraig (also vitrified) does to Inverness. An enclosure wall runs about a natural knoll on the E & W & N, and a 4m D depression in the northern area of this is a well/cistern beside a marshy area.
Hatston generally seems to be a hotbed of earthhousing. In wartime the Hatston Airfield Souterrain was found at HY43621238. After excavation the roof and uprights were buried/stored at HY43621265. And the Saverock Souterrain used to be at HY43681296.
Hatston Airfield was also a set of two (“The Orkney Herald” 12/7/39)
The Statistical Accounts mention a small Cromwellian fort on the point of Ness as being an earth and stone circular embankment, with a piece of ordnance still there in 1842.
A collection of sites under the umbrella of St Peter’s Bay, record HY50SW 21 to be exact; mound, ditch, ?settlement. It was as late as 1979 that RCAHMS found a five foot high turf-covered mound measuring 16m by 18m from the top of which slab stumps protruded. Level platform traces to the south were investigated in 2001 when a section of ditch (with a likely SE entrance or other break) about the mound estimated at 6-8m wide gave an estimate for the site, likely a broch, being some 55m across. Geophysics also found anomalies outside of this area. More detailed geophysics on the mound and platform in 2006 confirmed the ditch and suggested associated banks as well as further settlement, this especially beyond the putative entrance. The resistance survey found several concentric rings, with the innermost believed to be a broch tower and the rest ditch revetment, and radar indicated a 3m deep ditch 8m wide. In between the survey dates the farmer had managed to uncover passages and walls in which he found saddle querns and decorated stones
CANMAP still shows this as a chambered tomb, but CANMORE now says RCAHMS NMRS no. HY20NW 1 is the remains of a settlement (presumably centred about the spring here). But they aren’t sure whether it is Skara Brae type or secondary broch. Makes you wonder about other chambered cairns in proximity to brochs, there’s at least one other in a similar situation. Also Hawell burnt mound used to be compared to this, and at both places “rude stone implements” were found.
Looked this up again, RCAHMS NMRS no. HY20NW 4 lists it as 3 stones that may have been from something bigger but not a stone circle. After Friday I’m thinking Stones of Via ?? Will see.
RCAHMS NMRS records HY21NE 85 & 86. Nice to see professional archaeologists spotting Orkney’s anomalous under-representation in the crannog stakes. Several are being looked at this year, of which these (briefly mentioned in my Heart of Orkney weblog “In the loch there were two islets , a very small one on which were some no doubt natural slabs and a larger one with the remains of some structure apparent”) are the main targets.
Trying to find out why Round Howe is demoted to “pseudo-broch” I find archaeologist Nick Card in 2002 saying that so few artefacts had been retrieved from that season’s excavation that it could be that objects from this had been deposited at Mine Howe, explaining why so many items by contrast turned up there.
ArchSearch lists 3 relevant items at the grid reference: a robbed Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age cairn NTSMR-NA6900, a prehistoric cairn NTSMR-NA2382, and a possible prehistoric cairn or extraction pit NTSMR-NA20875. All do come under the SSSI and scheduled monument.
Just catching up on “Broadleaf”. Strategically placed in Welsh Marches, bivallate hillfort in Credenhill Park Wood purchased by the Woodland Trust. Larger than Maiden Hill – ramparts in places maxing out at 250m wide and 60m high. SAM SO44SE 1.
Crannog, causewayed island dun, broch – are these three items one basically and the same? In Orkney CANMORE lists 112 brochs (actuals and some possibles and a few nots) and 2 crannogs (Stoney Holm HY311273 and Bretta Ness HY397322 at the Loch of Wasbister on Rousay). But two of the brochs do have causeways (Loch of Isbister HY257233 and Loch of Clumley HY252165) and the notes for Loch of Wasdale liken it to a causewayed island dun (perhaps more would show up if CANMORE did keyword searches as well as by site-type). Perhaps we think ourselves so much an island of brochs we can’t see the wood for the trees. A websearch shows some archaeologists lumping all round stone prehistoric buildings together but I am only arguing for these specific three types being in a real continuum.
Promontory fort consisting of two widely spaced walls according to RCAHMS NMRS record HY185031 . About as far south of the Yesnaby road end as the Broch of Borwick is to the north – I would suggest that in Orkney promontory forts are being used in the place of brochs to maintain some kind of spacing .
Having decided at some time to go to the Brough of Bigging at HY219157 ( S of Yesnaby , the Broch of Borwick being to the N – confusingly they share the alternative name of Yescanaby ! ) I did a websearch for the other Orcadian promontory fort . Finally had to fall back on CANMORE , which came up with five sites which have at one time or another been described as such . Off Mainland there is Br(a)e Brough a.k.a. Sui Fea at St.John’s Head on Hoy (HY185031) and the less certain Scuthi Head on Sanday (HY633041) . Then there are the Brough of Windwick (ND459872) , the Point of Onston and my new target ( comprising simply of two widely spaced walls they say ) .
The three headlands next to Kirkwall are basically off-limits. At very low tide you could reach Car Ness along the seashore maybe (even I’ve never risked it) but the road to Carness Farm is private – fortunately there is no archaeology noted here. The Head of Work you can only go as far as stopping short of Work Farm itself. But this is because hereon in is the private property of the water board. Which is a shame as from this junction you can make out an ayre [shingle bank] and a mound stands out over on the peninsula ( Long Cairn HY483138, a horned chambered tomb). Finally there is the Head of Holland (the red mound visible for miles is now used for quarrying stone for the cathedral and its earlier structures are much too fragmentary to attempt identification even before the present time). Orcadians have walked this at the weekends like forever , but now there is a sign at Seatter Farm preventing further progress – I am unconvinced of its legality, but there you (don’t) go. North Taing in this area might be a broch or proto-broch.
RCAHMS NMRS record HY31SE 5 refers to a doorway with guard chamber on the SW portion and to a section of gallery (and I saw at least one of these features still surviving).
Though crannogs are believed to be Iron Age a bronze sword was found in Carlingwark Loch (and a flint arrowhead, knife and scraper found at NX772613).
The small crannog near Ash Island was discovered during limited drainage in 1765. Fir Island is not artificial but is reached over a prehistoric causeway.
A large hoard of weapons has been found in the loch.
RCAHMS NMRS record HY41SW 4 . A twice-excavated site on the lower slopes of Wideford Hill , on a natural rise above the Quanterness Farm off the main Kirkwall-Stromness road . In the Iron Age a roundhouse was built through the E side . No internal structure can be seen as the site was sealed .
Petrie descibes a raised platform surrounded by a circular ditch. There were two central stones that he believed originally lay upon one another. He compared this site in its entirety to the Ring of Bookan.
RCAHMS NMRS record HY74NE 1 scheduled as cairns and enclosures , including 6 large mounds and about 50 smaller ones . Not yet excavated but previous observations have been re-evaluated in the interim anyway ( especially of earthhouses since covered by sand ) .
RCAHMS NMRS record HY74NE 5 . Occupied Neolithic to Early Bronze Age then Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age including roundhouse .
RCAHMS NMRS record HY74NE 3 . Occupied throughout the Bronze Age , including a roundhouse .
Nine mounds “to the SE of the airport” just past the Tankerness junction on your right as you come from town, a little further along from Craw Howe. Most obvious in the second field behind Fairview, second field along from that in which Craw Howe lies.
Enclosure and stone setting RCAHMS NMRS record HY21NE 3 The stones occupy what was an approx. 14m area of rough ground and lie within a slight hollow whose edge represents an ‘enclosure’ around 88x75m.
At HY258161 what looks like a cist in the barrow is where a modern aerial used to be . There is an undated reference to a marked stone at HY259160 if you want to investigate .
There is a ruined cairn to the NW at HY564372 and much of the Fold of Setter ( HY53NE 14 ), a large circular enclosure , can be faintly made out on a NE slope 300m to the North at HY564375 .
RCAHMS NMRS record HY22NE 15 now considered to be a barrow into which stones were later inserted , and of the two latter only the stump of one remains . There are three definite barrows at HY275277 .
There is considerable dispute over whether the two stones here (HY25492444 and 25542442) are the ones originally described, and if so as to to whether one or both moved since then !
In the Proceedings of the Society of Orkney Antiquaries John Fraser describes a 4’x3’x1’ standing stone at the edge of The Loons with a recumbent nearby. Fuller details are 3’6"x3’x10” and second stone 12’9’ away that is 3’x1’x8”.
RCAHMS NMRS record HY33SE 10 is the much eroded remains of an extensive settlement .
At HY268250 is a group of eight barrows , of which several held central cists .
RCAHMS NMRS record HY22SW 26 , a burnt mound divided by a gully .
RCAHMS NMRS record HY44SW 8 , possible tri-partite or stalled cairn . At HY430449 OS shows a marker but RCAHMS NMRS record HY44SW 14 believes this cairn to be prehistoric .
RCAHMS NMRS record HY53SE 7 according to which it may still turn out to be a settlement mound . The carved stone became the lintel of a church but has not been found in the ruins . At HY560323 lies HY53SE 8 , six hard to distinguish mounds about which there has been much conjecture but no definitive answer as to what they are .
Just past the airport on the Deerness Road on your right you reach another Gleneagles. Behind this is an anti-aircraft placement to the left of the fence , behind that is a pool and Craw Howe is there . RCAHMS NMRS record HY40NE 19 . Mostly obscured by thick peat . Two slight mounds to the east of this .
RCAHMS NMRS record HY53NE 10 , not to be confused with HY53NE 27 the Carrick Farm cairn also known as Braeside which probably held a cist ( since removed ) .
Scheduled Ancient Monument SD19NW 1 according to English Heritage’s Pastscape website comprises seven types of Bronze Age site , three Roman types , a mediaeval shieling and an undated coin hoard !
ArchSearch comes up with Bampton Towtop Kirk as an enclosure that could be the result of digging for peat , whereas ARCHI in 2001 has it down as early Christian enclosure ( whatever that is ) .
P.S. see Towtop Kirk forum for fuller description .
In the kirkyard of St.Mary’s Church near the Burwick pier there is a water-worked whinstone with two hollows resembling feet .
It has been suggested in the last few years that it is the inaugural stone of a sub-king with land in both South Ronaldsay and Caithness.
At 5m this has the thickest walls of any accepted broch (see my forum post “proto-broch” for another very early possible) .