MHG1766 - Broch, Skinnet
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (2)
- BROCH (Iron Age - 550 BC to 560 AD)
- BURIAL (Undated)
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
John Miller's account, published in Edinburgh Daily Review of 1865, records the discovery of ‘two or three human skeletons’ in the broch at Skinnet: "one of them lay close to the fireplace, which still retained the strong red colour produced by using peat fuel" (Miller 1865, 6). He also noted a rock-cut well inside the broch and a dry ditch surrounding it. It is possible that the quarrying noted by the RCAHMS in 1911 was the result of the excavations which Miller recorded; these had taken place forty years before Miller’s account was written, placing them about 1825.
Info from George Watson, 30/08/99.
ND16SW 3 1257 6136.
(ND 1257 6136) Brough (NR)
OS 6" map, Caithness, 2nd ed., (1907)
The broch at Skinnet has had E side removed so that a segment, representing less than one half of the original remains of structure overgrown with grass, is all that exists.
RCAHMS 1911; J Anderson 1873
Classified as a broch. A Graham 1949
The remains of this feature now consist of a grass-covered mound of earth and stones, 23m long, 14m wide and 2m high. It is impossible without excavation to classify this as a broch.
Resurveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (R D) 16 February 1965
(ND 1257 6136) Broch (NR) (remains of) OS 6" map, (1970)
This mound is as described by the previous field investigator. An arc of stone spread to 4m tops mound. A measurement across this arc gives an approximate internal diameter of 15m; too great for a broch. The nature of mound cannot be classified from field inspection.
Visited by OS (J B) 6 October 1981
'Broch'. Dimensions: 21 x 13m. Grass-covered oval mound 3m high destroyed by quarrying on E and W sides.
R J Mercer, NMRS MS/828/19, 1995
ND16 13 SKINNET ND/1257 6136
Possible broch in Halkirk, Caithness, consisting of a grass-grown mound part of which (on the east side) has been removed; there are no traces of any building, but it has been suggested that the arc of rubble visible on top indicates a diameter of 15.0m, "too great for a broch" [1]. There are fairly clear signs of a ditch on the east and south-east [4]. The mound had been partially destroyed early in the 19th century [3].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 16 SW 3: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 35, no. 116: 3. Anderson 1890, 185: 4. Swanson (ms) 1985, 637. <1>
Sources/Archives (5)
- --- SHG1281 Text/Publication/Article: Anderson, J. 1873. ''Notice of the excavation of the brochs of Yarhouse, Brounaben, Bowermadden, Old Stirkake, and Dunbeath in Caithness; with remarks on the period of the brochs, and an appendix, containing a collected list of the brochs of Scotland, and early notices of m. Archaeol Scot. 131-98. 185.
- --- SHG1531 Text/Publication/Article: Graham, A. 1949. 'Some observations on the brochs', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 81 1946-7, p.48-99. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 48-99. 95.
- --- 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. . 35, No. 116.
- --- SHG2988 Text/Publication/Article: John Miller. 1865. 'The Prehistoric Remains of Caithness', Edinburgh Daily Review 12.01.1865, p.1-7. Edinburgh Daily Review. 1-7. 1-7.
- <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. ND16 13 SKINNET.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred ND 1256 6136 (70m by 70m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | ND16SW |
| Civil Parish | HALKIRK |
| Geographical Area | CAITHNESS |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (1)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/8544 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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