Loch Of Watsness

HU15SE 20 173 507.

A large earthen bank (some 60m long), probably part of a prehistoric boundary system, runs from sea cliffs at its W end, to the W end of Loch of Watsness. It is of earth with a core of small boulders, approximately 1.5m high at its maximum, and up to 10m broad, although its width is difficult to judge as it merges gently with the flanking turf. The bank aligns with a more recent boundary wall on the opposite shore of the loch, but comparative evidence from elsewhere suggests that the bank may be the only surviving portion of a very early boundary system, of which the wall is a modern replacement.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated February 1993.

HU 1735 5075 In November 1997 an exploratory trench was opened up towards the W end of a linear earthwork at Watsness. The earthwork measures 56 x 16m and is 1.5m high. It runs between the Loch of Watsness in the E and Trea Wick, a natural geo, in the W. At this end it suffers from coastal erosion. The site is also under threat due to denudation resulting from trampling by cattle and sheep as well as rabbit burrowing. The purpose of the excavation was to ascertain whether there was an underlying structure and to try and determine the function of the earthwork.

The development of the site was divided into five phases. Phase I represents those deposits which accumulated before any building took place at the site.

Phase II represents the first human activity at the site. The excavation uncovered the remains of an area of stone walling which seems to have been used as revetting for an earth bank. The remains of the outer face of the wall comprised six loosely arranged, angular stones forming three courses. It extended further beneath, and on the same line as the earthwork. The inner face of the wall was constructed from larger stones which were not coursed.

Phase III comprised twelve soil layers that were deposited on top of the walling some time after its construction. Most of the layers seem to have been added to the earthwork deliberately in order to increase its size in terms of height and width. The W-facing section showed that one layer contained interleaving lenses of dark brown silt, indicating that turf was used for this purpose in the construction of the centre of the earthwork.

Phase IV comprised a layer of soil that was formed as a result of ploughing which took place on the southern side of the earthwork. This ploughing activity probably took place when the original function of the earthwork was no longer required.

Phase V represents those layers which formed naturally after the abandonment of the earthwork.

The earthwork can be compared to two examples elsewhere in Shetland: the Feelie [Fealie] Dyke in Fair Isle [HZ27SW 219] and the Funzie Girt [HU69SW 6] dyke in Fetlar, which both divide their respective islands into two unequal parts and seem to have influenced post-medieval agricultural land-use divisions but may originally have been constructed at a much earlier date.

The Watsness linear earthwork has similar dimensions, apart from its length, but it is unlikely that it formed part of an agricultural land-use division because there is no evidence to suggest that it continued E of the Loch of Watsness. In order to determine whether the linear earthwork might be associated with other earthworks, a small landscape survey was carried out over the area S of the earthwork to the Wick of Watsness. Within this area are the remains of two horizontal mills and their associated water courses. A stone-built dam, situated across the burn running out of the southern end of the Loch of Watsness, was clearly associated with the mills. Lying immediately E of the dam are the remains of an old fence line, visible as a line of intermittent stones set in a slight bank. Further to the W, along the coast, are the remains of two noosts and two stone-walled enclosures of irregular shape. The remains of a sheep pund are situated on high ground adjacent to the eastern coastline. Within the area there are also a number of earthworks, some of which appear to be prehistoric. A prehistoric boundary ran NW from Gorsendi Geo towards the horizontal mills; the building of the mills and their water courses may have destroyed part of the boundary. A second boundary was recorded further to the NW and may have been a continuation of it. Next to the coast at the Wick of Watsness are remains of a prehistoric enclosure, divided into two unequal halves by a bank. The E half contains six clearance cairns. Two further clearance cairns lie outside the enclosure some distance to the NW.

The presence of prehistoric sites in the immediate surrounding area of the earthwork creates the possibility that it too had its origins in prehistory. Since no finds were made during the excavation, this has yet to be proved.

Sponsors: Historic Scotland, Shetland Amenity Trust.

A Purdy, H Moore and G Wilson 1998.