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MHG2133 - Broch, Green Hill, Reiss

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Green Hill (NAT) Broch (NR) OS 6" map, (1968)

'Norwall Broch', South Kilmster, ruins of which are partially exposed, is in a partly excavated grassy mound and plan by John Nicolson, Lybster, was made then. The wall thickness is 13.5ft, and the interior diameter is 26ft. Outside broch, and to N of entrance passage the remains of considerable outbuildings have been uncovered. Finds from broch were donated to NMAS by C S T Calder in 1947-8.
RCAHMS 1911; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1950.

The broch is situated on a v gentle NE-facing slope and has been cut off from higher ground to SE by a broad ditch, now under the plough, but still about 1m deep. The broch, which has max height of 2.6m on NW side, is now entirely grassed over and no trace of any wall is evident except for a few exposed stones on S side of the entrance passage, which is in W side.
The court is 9.2m diam and has a max depth of 1.1m below present top of broch. No traces of outbuildings mentioned by RCAHMS are evident; 7m N of entrance, in a hollow is an upright stone slab 0.7m high by 0.4m broad and 0.2m thick, possibly a door jamb.
Revised at 1:2500. Visited by OS (E G C) 22 April 1963.

No change except that the slab noted is part of outbuildings, of which nothing further can be seen on ground.
Visited by OS (J M) 27 July 1982.

ND35 6 NORWALL ('Green Hill 3') ND/3266 5445
This probable broch in Wick, Caith-ness, stands on a very gentle, north-east- facing slope and has been cut off from the higher ground to the south-east by a wide ditch which is still about 1.0m deep even though under the plough [1]. The broch was partly excavated in 1903 or soon after by Sir Francis Tress Barry and by 1910 it was a grassy mound with some structural features visible; now it is lower and ploughed out [4 and plan]. The original plan was made by Mr J. Nicolson of Lybster at the time of the excavation; there is nothing to be seen at the site now [4].
Description
The entrance was on the west, 4.12m (13.5ft) long, and an outward extension had been added to it at some stage, evidently running through some outbuild-ings. One door-check face with a thin stone slab was found in this, 1.07m (3.5ft) outwards from the broch. About half the inner wallface was exposed during the excavation, and the internal diameter was found to be 7.93m (26ft).
The broch door-frame is about 2.7m (9ft) in from the outside but the passage was badly ruined; the design of the checks is not mentioned. The published plan shows a doorway to a mural stair, rising to the right, at about 9 o'clock and traces of outbuildings in front of the entrance. No such structural features are now visible [1], and even in 1910 hardly anything remained of the outer wallface [2]. There is no record of any finds.
Dimensions: the internal diameter is 27ft. (8.24m) and the wall, at the entrance, some 13ft 6in (4.12m); if it is this thickness throughout the external diameter would be 16.17m (53ft) and the wall proportion 50.9%.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 35 SW 10: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 148-9, no. 508, fig. 36: 3. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 82 (1947-48), 317 (finds): 4. Swanson (ms) 1985, 611-14 and plan. <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 3266 5445 (70m by 70m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	ND35SW
Civil Parish	WICK
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

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