MHG1800 - Broch - Camster, South
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- BROCH (Iron Age - 550 BC to 560 AD)
Protected Status
Full Description
Broch (NR) OS 1:10,000 map, (1975)
The remains of a broch, contained within a green, flat-topped mound, 4-5ft high and 35ft in diameter across the top.
The base of a wall, enclosing an area about 85ft in diameter, is visible round the base of the mound, with an entrance on the ENE indicated by the exposure of a few feet of inward curving wall.
The mound is surrounded by a 44ft wide ditch with a very shallow scarp - a depth of 5ft in 30ft. The much steeper scarp is 4ft in depth.
Placed at irregular intervals around the base of the mound, and in one instance on the sloping side of it, are four or five small cairn-like heaps of stones about 8ft in diameter.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910.
The broch was Scheduled in 1939.
A turf-covered broch mound measuring about 28m diameter and 2.5m maximum height. No structural details are evident. One or two stones and a slight ridge surrounding the mound suggests that there may have been an enclosure around the broch and one or two irregular hollows and upright stones in the side of the mound in the S suggests secondary buildings.
About 23m from the centre of the mound in E and S arcs is an outer defence consisting of a curving ditch which cuts the broch off from rising ground. The outer scarp survives to a height of 1.2m but the inner scarp has been eroded or dug away and its original width cannot be ascertained. There is no trace of the ditch in the N and W which is drained marshland and it cannot be established if it ever continued in these arcs. The four or five small cairn-like heaps of stones are not evident.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (I S S) 6 April 1972.
The Scheduling was amended by Historic Environment Scotland in 2018. <1>
No change. Visited by OS (J M) 8 December 1982.
ND24 1 CAMSTER 1 ND/2520 4518
Possible broch on moorland in Latheron, Caithness, consisting of a green, flat-topped mound 1.2-1.5m (4-5ft) high and 10.7m (35ft) in diameter across the top. There are no traces of wallfaces in it, but some traces of what appears to be a surrounding wall forming a circle about 25.9m (85ft) in diameter can be seen at the base of the mound. There seems to be an entrance through this on the east-north-east. A ditch 13.4m (44ft) wide surrounds the mound beyond this wall; it cuts the site off from rising ground.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 24 NE 4: 2. RCAHMS. 1911b, 51, no. 189. <2>
Sources/Archives (3)
- --- SHG2664 Text/Report: 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. . 51, No. 189.
- <1> SHG27819 Text/Designation Notification/Scheduled Monument: Historic Environment Scotland. 2017. Amended entry in the Schedule of Monuments: SM537 Camster, broch 500m S of Lower Camster. Historic Environment Scotland. Digital.
- <2> SHG26111 Text/Publication/Monograph: Mackie, E.. 2007. The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC - AD 500: Architecture and material culture Part 2 (I & II) The Northern and Southern Mainland and the Western Islands. BAR British Series. 444. Paperback. ND24 1 CAMSTER 1.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred ND 25208 45081 (70m by 70m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | ND24NE |
| Civil Parish | LATHERON |
| Geographical Area | CAITHNESS |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (2)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM537 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/8674 (View HES Canmore entry for this site)
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