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Skelbo Wood
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Skelbo Wood
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Canmore ID 14849
Site Number NH79SE 4
NGR NH 7820 9443
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/14849
- Council Highland
- Parish Dornoch
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NH79SE 4 7820 9443.
(NH 7820 9443) Broch (NR)
OS 6" map, (1960)
On a low knoll in Skelbo Wood are the remains of a broch, now a structureless overgrown ruin. No wall faces are visible, but the overall diameter appears to be about 60ft.
A wall surrounds the broch at a distance of 17ft, increasing in the NE arc where an enclosure, 37ft long by 20ft wide, has been formed by walls crossing the interspace. To the E (S) of this enclosure is a break in the rampart. The space between it and the broch has been levelled, suggesting the position of the broch entrance.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.
The remains of a broch, as described by the RCAHMS At one point the outer wall can be seen to be of rubble construction, but is too overgrown elsewhere for further analysis.
The walls crossing the interspace in the NE are curved, and the "rampart" between them is destroyed, or pushed outwards, forming a sub-circular area about 12.0m in diameter. Another ruined wall crosses the interspace in the SSW, and, like the others, is probably later.
Visited by OS (R L) 4 November 1969.
Field Visit (12 July 1909)
106. Broch, Skelbo Wood.
Near the centre of Skelbo Wood, on a low knoll to the E. of the path which crosses the wood from N. to S., on a situation commanding an extensive view of Loch Fleet and the adjacent shore, are the remains of a broch. It is now a structureless mass of ruins, in great measure covered with grass and planted over with trees. Neither face of the wall is visible. The diameter over all appears to be about 60'. At about 17' distant from its base the broch has been surrounded by a rampart or wall, now entirely over grown. Towards the NE. the wall has receded further from the broch, and an enclosure has been formed, 37' long by 20' wide, by walls crossing the interspace. To the E. of this enclosure a break in the rampart, and the levelling up of the hollow in rear of it, suggest the position of the entrance to the broch.
OS 6-inch map, Sutherland, Sheet cx.
RCAHMS 1911, visited (AOC) 12th July 1909.
Publication Account (2007)
NH79 2 SKELBO WOOD NH/7820 9443 (NH/78203 94433 – GPS) Visited 21/7/03
This possible broch in Dornoch, Sutherland, stands on a low knoll in the wood overlooking Loch Fleet and is now an overgrown ruin. It appears as a huge mound of large, rounded stones with a shallow crater in the centre. No wallfaces can be seen but the overall diameter has been estimated at 18.0m (60 ft) [2]. An outer wall surrounds the broch at a distance of 5.1m (17 ft) increasing on the north-east arc, where walls cross the intervening space. There seems to be a break in the outer wall just east of this enclosure, and the space between it and the broch has been levelled; this suggests that the entrance is here [1].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NH 79 SE 4: 2. RCAHMS 1911a, 37-8, no. 106.
E W MacKie 2007
Field Visit (20 July 2012 - 30 August 2012)
A desk-based assessment and walkover survey were carried out 20 July – 30 August 2012 on 29 sites in the North Highland Forest District. The work was undertaken in order to update existing monument management plans with new detailed site descriptions, condition reports, fixed point photography and plans (RCAHMS Level 4) of 25 scheduled monuments and one unscheduled monument. Three additional scheduled monuments were surveyed in greater detail, (RCAHMS Level 1). Recommendations were also made for the conservation management of the sites. The sites visited and surveyed were:
NH 728 784 (SAM 4760) Provost’s Well homestead and enclosure
NC 688 348 (SAM 2513) Noc na h’Iolaire hut circles and clearance cairns
NC 557 027 (SAM 1784) Ruim Baile Fuir stone circle, cairns, hut circles and enclosure
NC 679 390 (SAM 1779) Lach an Righ stone circle
NC 600 149 (SAM 5401) Loch Beag na Fuaralachd prehistoric settlement
NC 623 139 (SAM 5084) Achadh nan Eun shieling
NC 597 149 (SAM 5081) Loch Beag na Fuaralachd cairn and shielings
ND 212 372 (SAM 573) Rumster Broch
NH 786 942 (SAM 5484) Glen Cottage long cairn
ND 205 374 (SAM 550) Golsary Broch
NC 602 146 (SAM 5159) Loch Beag na Fuaralachd shielings
NH 730 798 (SAM 4752) Carn Liath long cairn
NH 731 786 (SAM 4743) Provost’s Well hut circles and field system
NC 689 392 (SAM 2517) Meall a Choire Bhuidhe hut circles
NH 772 926 (SAM 5573) Proncy hut circle
NC 696 334 (SAM 2519) Cnoc Airigh an Leathaid hut circles
NH 681 942 (SAM 4505) Creagan Reamhan farmstead, kiln and fields
NH 728 767 (SAM 2916) Scotsburn Wood cairn
NH 747 780 (SAM 3129) Lamington Park cairn
NH 734 834 (SAM 4763) Redburn Cottage long cairn
NH 396 628 (SAM 2720) Little Garve Bridge
NC 604 124 (SAM 5161) Meall Meadhonach sheepfold
NC 608 112 (SAM 4560) Meall Meadhonach hut circles, field system and shielings
NC 687 370 (SAM 2514) Cnoc na Gamnha hut circles, burnt mound and clearance cairns
NC 619 124 (SAM 5093) Meall Meadhonach settlement and shielings
NH 782 944 (SAM 1885) Skelbo Wood Broch
NC 591 103 (SAM 1829) Altbreck Broch
NC 592 102 (SAM 5563) Altbreck homestead
NC 571 067 Ferry Wood Broch
Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland
Steven Birch, West Coast Archaeological Services
Lynn Fraser, Ross and Cromarty Archaeological Services
Mary Peteranna, 2012
