Kirkwall, Hillhead House
Well (Period Unassigned), Carved Stone Ball
Site Name Kirkwall, Hillhead House
Classification Well (Period Unassigned), Carved Stone Ball
Canmore ID 2351
Site Number HY40NW 12
NGR HY 4473 0866
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/2351
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Kirkwall And St Ola
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY40NW 12 4473 0866.
Situated some 70yds (21m) N by W of enclosure HY40NW 6 there was an old well or spring destroyed c. 1872. A type 9d carved stone ball (with various types of decoration) was found about 3ft below the surface at a distance of 6ft from the well site when digging a drain in 1882. This ball is now in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow (B.1914.357); a cast of it is in Royal Museum of Scotland (RMS AS 38).
J W Cursiter 1882; D N Marshall 1977.
There is a modern well some 80m N of enclosure HY40NW 6; it probably occupies the site of the earlier well. No further finds are known to have been made.
Visited by OS 5 April 1964.
