MHG2322 - Broch, Grey Cairn
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- BROCH (Iron Age - 550 BC to 560 AD)
Protected Status
Full Description
Grey Cairn (NR) OS 1:10,000 map, (1975)
This is a grassy mound about 79ft in diameter and 5ft high. The RCAHMS (1911) deduce from the character of the stones exposed that there is no doubt that this is a broch. However ONB (1871) reports that the 'cairn' was opened about 1850, and human remains found.
Name Book 1871; RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910
Grey Cairn is now an oval mound measuring 30m N-S by 26m transversely by 1.7m high, with several large flat stones on and around it. It is impossible to say without excavation whether or not this is a broch or a cairn. While ploughing about 1935, James Barnetson of Georgemas, now deceased, discovered a 'tunnel' in W of the mound and several animal bones.
Resurveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (R D) 27 October 1965
Grey Cairn, a turf-covered mound, measures 25m NNE-SSW by 30m transversely and 1.4m high; E sector is practically reduced to field level by ploughing. The mound has no surface indication to distinguish a cairn or a broch, but size and general lack of prominence suggest the latter classification.
Visited by OS (J M) 2 March 1982
'Broch', Grey cairn, Lynegar. Dimensions: 44 x 41m. Grass covered subcircular mound with a platform 8m in diameter in SW sector.
R J Mercer, NMRS MS/828/19, 1995
ND25 9 LYNEGAR ('Grey Cairn')
ND/2304 5662
Possible broch in Watten, Caithness, consisting of an oval grassy mound about 30m by 26m (79ft) in diameter and 1.7m (5.5ft) high. There are several large flat stones on and about it. A “tunnel” was found in it during ploughing in about 1935 [1]. The fairly confident diagnosis of the site as a broch in 1910 [2] may be less plausible in view of the discovery of human remains in it in about 1850 [1], though such discoveries in broch ruins are not uncommon.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 25 NW 3: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 131, no. 471. <1>
Sources/Archives (3)
- --- 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. . 131, No. 471.
- --- SHG3342 Text/Publication/Volume: Name Book (County). Object Name Books of the Ordnance Survey. Book No. 12, 20.
- <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. ND25 9 LYNEGAR.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred ND 2303 5662 (70m by 70m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | ND25NW |
| Civil Parish | WATTEN |
| Geographical Area | CAITHNESS |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (2)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM452 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/8751 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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