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Sanday, West Brough
Axe (Viking)
Site Name Sanday, West Brough
Classification Axe (Viking)
Canmore ID 3518
Site Number HY64SE 26
NGR HY 663 422
NGR Description HY c. 663 422
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/3518
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Cross And Burness
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY64SE 26 c. 663 422.
A Viking iron axe with a wooden handle, found at West-Brough by Walter Denison was in the possession of J Cursiter in 1911 and was bought by Mr Bishop and presented to the Hunterian Museum, but it could not be found in 1940.
S Grieg 1940.
Note (1980)
'Westbrough', Sanday
Viking axe.
Greig 1940, 172; OR 326.
Field Visit (1999)
Four mounds, of which three lie within the area under investigation by this survey, were previously identified as probable Viking burials due to chance finds of Viking-period artifacts (HY64SE26) said to have been made in the area. Recent assessment has indicated that the mounds are of prehistoric date, although a disturbed boat-shaped setting was found which may be part of a Viking burial setting. The southernmost mound (HY64SE18) is 30m in diameter. It is prominently located on a natural rise, has a conical shape and lies within 10m of the coast. The surface is pitted and stony. A low grass-covered bank runs off for some 10m from the east side of the mound. A second mound (HY64SW30,'B'), 10m in diameter and lies c.45m to the northeast. The surface is uneven and stony with what may be part of a structural feature. The third mound (HY64SW18, 'A') lies to the north, is oval in shape and measures 13m by 11m. It stands to 1m high and lies 18m from the sea. Ref.: Orkney Name Book, no.2, 73; Grieg, S (1940) 'Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland: part II' 171-2; RCAHMS (1946), #188; RCAHMS (1980), #132; Hunter, JR & Dockrill, SJ (1982) 'Some Norse Sites on Sanday, PSAS, 112, 570-76; Owen, O & Dalland, M 1999 'Scar: A Viking Boat Burial on Sanday, Orkney', Tuckwell Press/Historic Scotland, 14; Bond, Dockrill, Gibson & Owen forthcoming 'The Styes of Brough, Sanday, Orkney, re-examined for Channel 4's Time Team'.
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, 1999
Orkney Smr Note
Allegedly in Hunterian Mus, Glasgow, but reported 1940 it could not be located there.
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An iron axe of the Viking period was exhibited at the 1911 Glasgow exhibition. According to a communication from Mr Cursiter this axe was fitted with a carefully executed wooden handle. Found at West-Brought, Sanday, by Walter Denison (sic).
The axe cannot now be identified in the Museum. [R1], [R2]
Although the most immediately obvious provenance is the farm tell at Westbrough, the farm lands as a whole may have been meant, in which case this find could be from Sties of Brough.
OR 321, see OR 324 & cf OR 325, 327,
Information from Orkney SMR (RGL) [n.d]
