Elevation drawing of interior wall of broch.

Description Elevation drawing of interior wall of broch.

Date c. 1905

Collection Papers of John Nicolson, antiquarian, Keiss, Caithness, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 875856

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Watercolour of the inside elevation of Bail a' Chairn broch, Caithness, Highland Bail a' Chairn broch, also known as 'Acharole' or 'Ballacharn', was excavated by Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907) in 1904. Barry had a distinguished business and diplomatic career and became interested in archaeology when he bought the Keiss estate in 1881. This watercolour by John Nicolson (1843-1934) shows part of the inside face of the broch wall with the entrance in the centre. Two niches are shown in the wall. In the foreground, to the right of the entrance, is an internal feature made of a number of stone slabs set on edge. Bail a' Chairn broch was one of a number of broch sites excavated by Barry between 1890 and 1904. Nicolson assisted Barry in his excavations and, being a skilled artist, also recorded many of the artefacts and structures that Barry uncovered. In some cases, Nicolson's drawings provide the only record of these early archaeological investigations. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/875856

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap