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MHG10805 - Broch, Killin

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NC80NE 3 8673 0761.
Killin, Loch Brora, NC80NE0003

Brochs are round, tower-like houses, their monumental size intended to display the wealth and status of the agricultural communities who lived in them. They were occupied in the later Iron Age and occur frequently in N & W of Scotland. (41)
Killin broch sits at the back of a flat terrace, high above Strathbrora and directly opposite Carrol broch on the other side of the strath. Today, this gives it a sense of isolation, very much at variance from its former position at the heart of the community. The only structure near by is a sheepfold, now abandoned in its turn.
The broch survives as a huge pile of stones, crowned by a group of small, modern waymarker cairns. Short lengths of wall facing and traces of the entrance passage are visible. The scale of the broch is indicated by the few huge slabs which are still in situ. The broch is surrounded by quarry faces.
(14.9m/19.6m)
Armit, I., 1997. Celtic Scotland. Edinburgh: Batsford.
Gourlay, R., 1996. Sutherland. An Archaeological Guide.
RCAHMS. 1911. Sutherland. Edinburgh: HMSO, 9, No. 26.
Information from SCRAN Project, March, 2000

(NC 8673 0761) Broch (NR). OS 6" map, (1964)

The ruins of a broch, now a structureless mass of stones. What was probably the entrance is exposed towards the WNW as is one side of the passage for about 10ft. At the inner end of the wall face, placed at right angles to its line of direction, is a slab standing 5ft 4ins above present level, and 3ft broad by 6ins to 8ins thick, which may have formed one of the jambs of the doorway. A very small portion of the wall is visible for a foot or two of its height on the N and a part of the outer wall of a chamber on the S.
The inner face of the broch wall is in no place exposed and without excavation it is not possible to obtain accurate measurements.
The massive rampart which protects broch on W, some 200 yards distant, appears to be of natural formation.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.

The broch is generally as described above, reduced to a massive heap of stones, up to 1m in height.
Short portions of the outer face are visible around the periphery giving an overall diameter of 19.6m and a length of inner face is exposed in ENE indicating a wall thickness of about 4.7m at this point. In SW the outer wall of a chamber is visible.
Connecting this chamber to the outside face of the broch is what appears to be a secondary entrance, 0.9m wide, which is partially exposed in tumble, suggesting the broch was re-used at a later date.
The only evidence of outworks are two upright slabs on line on the level area W of the broch.
Re-surveyed at 1/10,560.
Visited by OS (E G C) 16 July 1961 and (J B) 11 November 1975.

NC80 7 KILLIN (‘Loch Brora’)
NC/8673 0761
This probable broch stands about 198m (650ft) above the sea and was already a structureless mass of stones in 1909 [2]. The entrance is probably on the west side where one side of a passage is exposed for 3.05m (10ft) . A very large slab – at least 1.63m (5ft 4in) in height, 91cm (3ft) wide and 15 - 20cm (6 - 8in) thick – may be a door-check. Short lengths of the outer wallface are visible, suggesting that the overall diameter is 19.6m, and the wall of a mural cell can be seen on the south-west [1]. There seems to be a secondary doorway connecting this chamber to the exterior [1].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NC 80 NE 3: 2. RCAHMS 1911a, 9, no. 26. <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 8672 0760 (70m by 70m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC80NE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	CLYNE

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