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Publication Account
Date 2007
Event ID 586489
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/586489
ND34 10 THRUMSTER (‘Thrumster Mains’) ND/3319 4505 (visited in 1971)
Probable solid-based broch in Wick, Caithness, which was cleared out some time before 1910 – possibly at the end of the 18th century judging from the comb (below) – and had part of the wall on the south side removed to accommodate a summerhouse. The greatest wall height remaining is 1.07m (3ft 6in), and it is now turfed over and fairly secure [1]. During the clearance a cist containing a skeleton was found in the rubbish piled against the outer wallface. A long-handled weaving comb, presented to the National Museum in 1783 by Mr Innes of Thrumster (GA 66), is believed to have come from this site [2].
Dimensions: interior diameter 10.98m (36ft), the wall 4.48m (15ft) thick at the base. In 1971 a new survey of the central court showed that this had been laid out close to an exact circle with a radius of 6.13 +/- 0.04m, giving a diameter of 12.26m (40.2ft), somewhat larger than earlier measurements suggested.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 34 NW 1: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 145, no. 502: 3. Batey 2002, 188.
E W MacKie 2007
