Whalsay, Loch Of Huxter

Fort, Loch of Huxter.

The fort in the Loch of Huxter (Fig. 599) occupies the whole area of a small island lying off the S. shore, with the nearest part of which connection was maintained by a roughly built causeway, 64 ft. long and from 6 to 12 ft. wide. Between the front of the fort proper and the inner or "island" end of the causeway, at a distance of 10 or II ft. from the water's edge when the loch is at its normal level, a transverse line of large boulders extends for a distance of 34 ft., probably representing the remains of a wall designed to protect the entrance.

The interior of the fort itself is roughly circular and about 70 ft. in diameter. The enclosing wall, which is of dry-stone masonry and some 4 or 5 ft. thick, still survives on the N.W. to a height of about three courses, but is almost completely destroyed on the N.E. and S.E. It has been carried round three sides of the islet at an average distance of 7 or 8 ft. from the water's edge, but on the S.W., over against the line of boulders mentioned above, it is replaced by a rectangular structure against which its two ends abut. This structure, which is also of dry-stone masonry, is 41 ft. long by 11 ft. thick, and is divided into two nearly equal portions by a passage leading into the enclosure. Each portion contains a cell or chamber, entered from the enclosure by a doorway, and the chambers measure respectively 14 ft. by 4 ft. and 10 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 6 in. About the middle of the passage, the width of which expands from 2 ft. 6 in. at the opening to 3 ft. 6 in. at the inner end, there are upright checks for a door, and behind the north-western of these there is a rectangular aperture which penetrates to the adjacent chamber and is probably a bar-hole, despite its rather abnormal size.

In 1863 the structure just described stood 8 ft. high, while the roof of the passage through it was intact and there were indications of a second tier of chambers above (Mitchell 1881, 304). Since then there has been considerable dilapidation, with the result that to-day the passage is open to the sky and no signs of an upper storey are visible. Not far from its S. extremity the enclosing wall has formerly been interrupted by an opening which may have been a water-gate, but which appears to have been deliberately filled in. On the N.W., again, the wall shows a definite bulge, the significance of which is not apparent, although it is just possible that it may betray the former presence of a mural cell, all further evidence of which has been obliterated by the general collapse that has taken place.

RCAHMS 1946, visited 15 September 1930 and 3 August 1935

OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed., (1903) ‘Brough’

RCAHMS surveyed the fort at Loch of Huxter Head in 1935 by plane-table and alidade. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink and published at a reduced scale (RCAHMS 1946, fig. 601).

HU56 4 LOCH OF HUXTER 2 ('Burgh of Hogsetter')

HU/559620

Unexcavated gatehouse ring-fort on Whalsay which stands on an islet in the loch of that name; a causeway about 19.5 m(64 ft) long and from 1.8 - 3.6 m (6-12 ft.) wide connects the site directly with the shore [2, fig. 601]; Mitchell saw the site in 1863 and gives the length as about 30.2 m (99 ft) and he also mentions that it runs obliquely to the shore [3, fig. 1]. At that time stone was being taken from the site to build a school.

The islet is almost completely occupied by the fort which consists of a drystone wall 1.2 - 1.5 m (4-5 ft.) enclosing a roughly circular area some 21.4 m (70 ft.) in diameter. This survived in 1935 up to about three course on the north-west but had almost completely vanished on the north-east side.

The part facing the causeway consists of a separately built rectangular gatehouse section 12.5 m (41 ft) long by 3.4 m (11 ft) thick; the ring-wall abuts against the northern end of this but at the other end it abuts against the end of the inside face, so that there is a sharp corner there, formed by the front end of the gatehouse.

An entrance passage runs through the centre of this section with a large intra-mural cell on either side of this. A low doorway opens from each cell to the fort interior. The chambers -- which Mitchell describes as of 'beehive construction' -- measure (presumably at ground level) 4.27 m (14 ft) by 1.22 m (4 ft) on the southern side and 3.20 m (10 ft 6 in) by 1.07 m (3 ft 6 in) on the south side. The entrance itself is equipped with a door frame about half way down its length and at the door-checks the width increases from 76 cm (2 ft 6 in) at the front to 1.07 m (3 ft 6 in) at the inner end. Behind the left check is a large rectangular hole which lead to the left cell; it is presumably for the draw bar behind the door.

The passage is now unroofed and open but in 1963 the gatehouse section was somewhat higher (c. 2.4 m), the passage was lintelled over and there were apparently traces of a second tier of cells above those mentioned. This is perhaps more likely to have been a raised gallery but Mitchell is not very specific about what he saw. No trace of a an intra-mural stair was seen.

Discussion: Loch of Huxter is of interest because it is not a simple promontory fort like the two closest parallels for the gatehouse section -- Scatness (HU30 3) and Ness of Burgi (HU30 2). The closest parallel for the general plan is with the second ring-fort at Clickhimin as I interpret it but at the latter site the gatehouse section is slightly curved and contains several clear broch-like features which are apparently absent at Loch of Huxter. There seems no reason to doubt that the three classic gatehouse forts are an indigenous Shetland development.

Sources: 1. OS card HU56 SE 1: 2. RCAHMS 1946, vol. 3, no. 1316, 83 and figs. 599 and 601: 3. Mitchell 1881, 303-05: 4. Carter, McCullagh and MacSween 1996: 5. Low 1879, 177 and fig..

E W MacKie 2002