Westray, Taphland
Naust (Period Unknown)
Site Name Westray, Taphland
Classification Naust (Period Unknown)
Canmore ID 2811
Site Number HY44SE 10
NGR HY 4734 4447
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/2811
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Westray
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
Field Visit (1998)
A noost, set into the banks, measures 3m long by 1.8m wide and is up to 1.2m deep. The sides are revetted with stone and there are slight indications that the base was paved. Where the noost probably originally sat at the top of a slope, through the effects of erosion it is now located above an eroding vertical section at a distance of 1.4m above the beach. It is now very overgrown.
Moore and Wilson, 1998
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey
Field Visit
Taphland HY 4734 4447 HY44SE
In the rapidly disintegrating cliff below Taphland is a drystone-lined pointed-ended naust dug into the top of the cliff. Its sea end is now 1 .4m above the shoreline. The naust has a surviving length of 3m, its width 1.8m, and its maximum height 1.2m.
RCAHMS 1983, visited June 1981.
