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Hillock Of Breckna

Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Flagpole (20th Century)

Site Name Hillock Of Breckna

Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Flagpole (20th Century)

Canmore ID 1931

Site Number HY30NE 13

NGR HY 3533 0508

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/1931

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Orkney Islands
  • Parish Orphir
  • Former Region Orkney Islands Area
  • Former District Orkney
  • Former County Orkney

Archaeology Notes

HY30NE 13 3533 0508.

(HY 3533 0508) Hillock of Breakna (NR) (Remains of)

On the landward side the "Hillock of Breckna", a possible broch, has an average height of 6ft and covers an area roughly 92 ft N-S by 103 ft E-W. The surface, covered with turf, is broken at several points revealing the remains of a completely ruined building.

At one point, in an apparently old excavation, a short length of inner wall-face is still traceable with a course or two of a very short length of outer wall-face, giving a thickness, at some height above ground-level, of 11 ft.

This fact and the curve of the wall where visible suggest that the remains are those of a broch, and this is supported by the description in the Statistical Account (OSA). (OSA 1791-9; A W Johnston 1903).

A small cist-like construction in the centre of the hillock was the socket for an Admiralty flag-pole or wireless mast during the 1914-18 war.

RCAHMS 1946.

The Hillock of Breakna (the locally-recommended spelling) lies on the moderately flat summit of an eminence at the SE corner of a pasture field, close to the shore.

It now measures 30.0m. E-W by 24.0m. N-S, with a maximum height of 1.7m: the NW side has been "squared off" by cultivation.

An excavation through the centre and thence to the east side has revealed the only part of the inner and outer wall-face visible: no other constructional details are visible.

The modern "cist", 1.4m. by 0.6m., is still visible. There is insufficient evidence for a definite classification but it is probably a broch.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS(RL) 26 April 1966.

Activities

Field Visit (26 April 1966)

The Hillock of Breakna (the locally-recommended spelling) lies on the moderately flat summit of an eminence at the SE corner of a pasture field, close to the shore.

It now measures 30.0m. E-W by 24.0m. N-S, with a maximum height of 1.7m: the NW side has been "squared off" by cultivation.

An excavation through the centre and thence to the east side has revealed the only part of the inner and outer wall-face visible: no other constructional details are visible.

The modern "cist", 1.4m. by 0.6m., is still visible. There is insufficient evidence for a definite classification but it is probably a broch.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS(RL) 26 April 1966.

Field Visit (1998)

HY 3532 0508 - A large, well-defined grassy mound is located on improved grassland about 25m from the coast edge. It measures 20m in diameter and stands up to 2m high. The mound has been disturbed and previous surveyors noted the presence of structural remains at the centre of the mound. The remains included a section of curved wall suggestive of a broch. This is not now visible, although part of a wall face stands to the east side. A admiralty flagpost or mast was erected on the mound during WWI. Several large stones with iron fixings, which may have served as mooring posts, are strewn around the site.

Moore and Wilson, 1998

Orkney Coastal Zone Assessment

Publication Account (2002)

HY30 1 HILLOCK OF BRECKNA

HY/353051

Possible broch in Orphir, consisting a hillock some 1.8 m (6 ft.) high on the shore of Swanbister Bay, on a small peninsula. Scanty traces of a ruined building can be seen below the turf, including a length of curved inner wall face and a possible fragment of a corresponding outer one.

Sources: 1. OS card HY 30 NE 13: 2. RCAHMS 1946, 2, no. 486, 175-6: 3. Old Statistical Account, xix, 417.

E W MacKie 2002

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