Publication Account
Date 2007
Event ID 586414
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/586414
ND25 1 ACHAROLE ('Baile a' Chairn') ND/2281 5171
A probable ground-galleried broch in Watten, Caithness, which is now a conspicuous grassy mound on flat land with stones protruding through the turf (the Gaelic name means 'the farm of the Cairn': visited 13/7/63). It was almost completely excavated in 1904 by Sir F Tress Barry, MP, and the only available plan [2] was apparently made, together with many others, by John Nicholson of Lybster (information received with gratitude from Andy Heald). The broch was filled in again before the excavation was completed by the order of the proprietor; there seems to be no record of the finds.
Description
The site is now an oval mound up to 5.5m (18ft) high with a terrace or glacis 3.6-4.2m (12-14ft) wide running round it. The outer edge of this on the north was defined by a wall or stony rampart up to 3.0m (10ft) wide at the base. The broch itself thus seems to have been built on a flat-topped platform, presumably artificial; this 'mound on mound' appearance is clear in the 1910 photograph [2, pl. XLII] .
The entrance passage was on the east and had been extended outwards through a sort of added casing wall for a distance of 6.7m (22ft); there was a door-frame in this secondary passage 1.53m (5ft) from the outer end and probably also another one 4.27m (14ft) in; about 1.53m (5ft) in from the outer secondary door was a guard chamber on the right side but none of these details are shown on the plan. This secondary entrance was about 60cm (2ft) wide at the outer end widening to 1.2m (4ft) where it abutted against the broch wall.
The original broch doorway was 4.27m (14ft) long and 90cm (3ft) wide at the exterior. A pair of door-checks, apparently built of slabs set in to the passage walls, was 3.3m (11ft) in from the exterior, and thereafter the passage widened to 1.2m (4ft). There were lintels in position over most of the passage, at a height of 1.65m (5.5ft) above the floor.
At 9.30 o'clock in the interior was a lintelled doorway in the wall 61cm (2ft) wide and 1.37m (4ft 6in) high which lead to a 7.63m (25ft) long flight of stairs rising to the right: the sill of the doorway was 61cm (2ft) above the broch floor. A stretch of ground- or near ground-level gallery 10.07m (33ft) long ran anti-clockwise (away from the stair) from this doorway towards the entrance passage; it was partly lintelled and had a window or void leading to the interior (not on the plan).
At about 3 o'clock was another doorway into the wall – 60cm (2ft) wide and 1.53m (5ft) deep – leading to a second stair (neither are shown on the plan), which also rose to the right. The maximum height of wall preserved was 3.05m (10ft). Two aumbries or recesses were found in the inside wallface, and upright flagstones had been set up in the central court, against the wall to the left of the main entrance and immediately in front of it.
Discussion
The lack of a clear description of the structural features, and the absence of any contemporary photographs of the excavations, makes it difficult to be sure what type of broch this was, but the long stair-foot gallery may well indicate that the structure is at least partly ground-galleried. On the other hand the rest of the wall base may still be solid as at Carrol.
Dimensions: internal diameter c. 9.0m (30ft): wall 4.27m (14ft) thick at entrance so external diameter may be about 17.39-17.69m (57-58ft). The wall proportion would thus be about 48-48.5%.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 25 SW 8: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 127-9, no. 466, fig. 30 and pl. xlii.
E W MacKie 2007
