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MHG1801 - Broch - Camster, East

Summary

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Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

Broch (NR) OS 1:10,000 map, (1975)

The remains of a broch surmount a rounded rock about 12ft high on summit of a rocky escarpment 12-15ft high. Two segments of what appears to be turf-covered wall of the broch rise to a height of 3-4ft indicating an approximate diameter of 78ft externally and 34ft internally. No wall-face is visible.
The sides of the rock are steeply scarped on W and E and these sides are also defended (at distance of 20ft from broch) by a trench 30ft wide and 3-4ft deep at counterscarp.
The entrance has probably been from N where there has been disturbance and where there may have been outbuildings.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910.

The broch was Schediuled in 1939.

The remains of a broch of a roughly circular natural knoll on the brink of a rocky escarpment. The knoll has been roughly levelled and its sides scarped and there is evidence in mutilations that a wall has occupied rim enclosing a circular area about 32m in diameter. The broch has been placed centrally within this enclosure and has been robbed from the W so that all that survives is a low,turf-covered hollowed mound about 20m in diameter and 1.5m max height in which no structural details are evident. The area between broch and outer wall in W is mutilated by three elongated hollows which may be due to quarrying although one or two upright slabs suggest that there have been outbuildings here.
The broch has apparently been encircled in W, N and E by a ditch which has terminated at each end on the escarpment. It survives for a length of about 40m in the E where it is 12m broad and 1.2m deep, but elsewhere, apart from a fragment on edge of the escarpment in W, it has been ploughed out.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (I S S) 12 April 1972.

No change. Visited by OS (J M) 8 December 1982.

ND24 2 CAMSTER 2 (‘Lower Camster’) ND/2555 4558
This possible broch in Watten, Caithness, stands on a rounded rock about 3.6m (12ft) high on the summit of a rocky escarpment 3.6-4.5m (12-15ft) high. Two segments of what appear to be the turf-covered wall of the broch survive, but no wallfaces can be seen. An approximate external diameter of 23.8m (78ft) and an internal one of 10.7m (35ft) are indicated. The site seems to have been encircled by a ditch on the west, north and east, which stops at the escarpment at each end.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 24 NE 5: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 163, no. 522. <1>

The Scheduling was amended by Historic Environment Scotland in 2017. <2>

GIS spatial data amended in 2018 according to location on OS MasterMap. <3>

Sources/Archives (4)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 2555 4560 (70m by 70m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	ND24NE
Civil Parish	WICK
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

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