Scanned image of elevation scale drawing of broch wall. Annotated 'Elevation of east wall Ballacharn Broch, Watten. 1905'.

Description Scanned image of elevation scale drawing of broch wall. Annotated 'Elevation of east wall Ballacharn Broch, Watten. 1905'.

Date 1905

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

Catalogue Number SC 876719

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Watercolour of inside elevation of Bail a' Chairn broch, Caithness, Highland Bail a' Chairn broch, also known as 'Acharole' or 'Ballacharn', is located near Watten in north-east Caithness and was excavated by Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907) in 1904. This was one of a number of broch sites excavated by Barry between 1890 and 1904. This watercolour by John Nicolson (1843-1934) of Nybster shows the inside of the east wall looking down the entrance. There are two niches visible in the wall (one only partially). To the right of the entrance is an internal feature made of edge-set slabs. Although the records show that Barry excavated the site in 1904, Nicolson painted this piece in 1905. Barry relied on local people to help him excavate. Nicolson aided Barry on numerous sites. Importantly, he also painted many of the artefacts recovered and structures uncovered. Nicolson is crucial to understanding these early excavations as often his drawings are the only record of the sites. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/876719

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap