MHG11049 - Skail, homestead
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (2)
- BROCH (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
- (Alternate Type) HOMESTEAD (Bronze Age - 2400 BC to 551 BC)
Protected Status
Full Description
Scheduled 3/2003 see secondary file for details - HAW 4/2003
At NC 7135 4744, occupying summit of a steep-sided spur connected to hill-slope to W by a narrow saddle, are fragmentary remains of a defensive work, completely turf-covered. It comprises a sub-oval, fairly level area about 20m E-W by 15m N-S, with a slight counterscarp 0.3m high on west arc. Around the periphery protruding through the turf are several stones in sufficient numbers to suggest an encircling wall which has been almost completely obliterated; no wall faces are exposed and there is no tumble at base of knoll. (The work is situated within a walled pasture field and may have been robbed to build the wall and adjacent farm buildings). A gully extending into summit area from SE may be a later mutilation. On W side, across saddle at the only practical point of access, is a ditch, 1.2m deep and 9.0m wide, which from its size and position has an obvious defensive function.
This ditch is similar to other examples associated with brochs in Strathnaver (See NC75SE 9 and 11, NC74NW 3), and also to other, as yet unclassified defensive works (See NC65NE 1, NC64SE 30).
Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (N K B) 25 January 1979.
NC74 3 SKAIL
NC/7135 4744
This possible broch is on the west side of Strathnaver on the summit of a knoll. There is little to be seen at the site itself but to the west a deep ditch cuts off an easy approach to the knoll [2].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NC 74 NW 20: 2. Swanson (ms) 1985, 733. <1>
Sources/Archives (4)
- --- SHG17779 Image/Photograph(s): Skail. Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG17780 Image/Photograph(s): Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- --- SHG17781 Image/Photograph(s): Colour Slide; Digital Image. .
- <1> 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. NC74 3 SKAIL.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NC 7134 4744 (70m by 70m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NC74NW |
| Geographical Area | SUTHERLAND |
| Civil Parish | FARR |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (2)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM10501 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/6186 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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