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MHG983 - Possible Broch, East Shebster

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Type and Period (2)

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Cairn (NR) OS 6"map, Caithness, 2nd ed., (1907)

This oval, grass-covered mound, some 86ft by 78ft across and 4.5 ft high, is possibly a large, much-robbed cairn.
RCAHMS 1911.

This Pictish house was almost levelled many years ago. The remains of one small chamber are still visible.
Name Book 1873.

The much-mutilated, grass-covered remains of a cairn, measuring 22m diameter by 2m in height, contain remains of a possible chamber in SE segment.
Resurveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (R D) 3 November 1964.

On a barely perceptible rise in marshy ground, is a mound about 25m in diameter and 2m high, which is overgrown with grass and severely reduced by quarrying. The 'chamber' noted in Name Book and by previous field investigator may be the result of quarrying. Around N half of mound is a well-defined but silted ditch about 4m wide; this ditch may have carried around E and W sides, but this is unclear. The existence of this ditch and the overall size of the mound may indicate a broch or a homestead, but no walling is exposed and at no point can the content of the mound be seen.
Revised at 1:2500. Visited by OS (N K B) 24 November 1981.

ND06 2 EAST SHEBSTER ND/0250 6339
A possible broch in Thurso, Caith-ness, consisting of a much-quarried oval, grass-covered mound – some 25m in diameter and 2m high – with traces of a silted-up surrounding ditch on the north. In 1873 it was stated that "This Pictish house was almost levelled many years ago. The remains of one small chamber are still visible." [1]. The “chamber” was thought unconvincing in 1981 [1].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 06 SW 10: 2. RCAHMS 1911a, 105, no. 385.

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 0249 6338 (70m by 70m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	ND06SW
Civil Parish	REAY
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

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