Field Visit
Date 9 August 1931
Event ID 1130304
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1130304
Broch (probable), Fethaland.
The scattered remains that are still to be seen on the so-called "Isle of Fethaland," just beyond and NE of the neck which connects the peninsula with the mainland, are noted on the O.S. map as those of a broch, and for many years they have been locally so regarded. The site is not, however, included in the list of Shetland brochs supplied in 1871 to Anderson by Russell (1), nor do the remains appear to have been unequivocally accepted as those of a broch by Lord Abercromby, who investigated and planned the existing structure in 1904. He says: "This mound, about 5 feet high at the most, had the appearance of a very much ruined broch, or analogous structure." (2). The plan which he reproduced (Fig. 603) shows little indication of broch-like outline. Indeed, no evidence of an outer wall-face can be traced nor can any wall thickness of broch-like dimensions be determined. There are, moreover, no traces of any adjacent "out-buildings" or surrounding defensive works. The absence of such distinguishing features, however, might be explained by the fact that the structure and its surroundings had been extensively quarried to provide building materials for the now deserted huts or ‘lodges’, once used for the ‘haaf’ or deep sea fishing.
Abercromby's plan shows an irregularly shaped structure which he describes as "far from circular." "Its greatest length," he says, "measures 49 feet and its greatest width 37 feet. At A on the plan there is a slightly curved chamber 11 feet long by 3 ¼ feet wide, with an entrance 3 ½ feet in breadth. At the west end of the chamber is a step about 3 inches higher than the rest of the floor. At B there are also remains of a curved chamber 6 feet by 3 ¼ feet. nearly closed at the south end by an upright slab 3 feet long. Between the outer edge of the slab and the inside of the outer wall is 10 inches. At C there seemed to be the remains of a beehive hut, as the walls on the north side, which are still 3 feet 4 inches high, are not vertical, but project a little forwards. The large stone to the right of C is 2 feet 2 inches long and3 feet high ....
"The recess D, which seems to have been used as a fireplace, as quantities of ashes were found there, is formed by three slabs; that to the north is 31 inches high, that to the west 34 inches high, and that to the south only 18 inches in height. Its prolongation westwards, marked F, shows a row of horizontally placed slabs, extending for about 7 feet, and about 21 feet wide. They look like the roof of a drain or narrow passage. . .. At E there is a rectangular depression 6 ½ feet by 4 feet; on the north side the height of the wall is 34 inches, and on the east 30 inches.
"Close to the north-west corner of the structure is a paved road, or perhaps the foundation of a wall, 5 feet wide, leading due north. . . . The present entrance is about 4 feet wide, but this is the most dilapidated part of the ruins ... ." It "leads straight to a rectangular foundation of modern date".
Most of these constructional details clearly belong to structures of secondary character, the entrance above mentioned, for example, having no resemblance to that of a typical broch. Nowadays the larger part of what Abercromby saw has been destroyed, but it is possible still to trace the arc of the semicircular wall shown on his plan in the interior of the structure at A and B. It might be claimed that this may possibly represent the foundation course of the inner face of a broch wall but, in the absence of any definite masonry above, no more positive identification can be made.
The relics found during the 1904 examination do not, in any respect, help towards a definite identification. They were "all more or less fragmentary and of no special interest". Few can be described as characteristic broch relics.
RCAHMS 1946, visited 9 August 1931.
(1) Russell's broch at "Fedeland" (Arch. Scot., v, p. 180) can be identified with the remains at the Kame of Isbister (HU39SE 4).
(2) PSAS, xxxix (1904-5), p. 171.
(3) Ibid., pp. 172-3.
(4) Ibid., p. 174.
