Wiltrow, Southvoe

Iron Smeltery and Dwelling, Wiltrow. On an enclosed area of moorland covered with stunted heather, some 200 yds. to the N.E. of Mr. Bairnson's croft at Wiltrow, are the remains of an iron smeltery and of a dwelling, both shown by Dr. Curle's excavation to be prehistoric (Curle 1936). The smeltery, which lay nearest to the crofter's house, had suffered most from dilapidation and no part of the external face of the wall remained. As far as could be ascertained, the building had been oval or elliptical, with its main axis approximately E. and W. On the N. side were three furnaces in which bog ore had been reduced to iron. Adjacent to the furnaces, and to some extent mingling with the scoriæ etc., were many scrapers made of quartz, numerous pieces of pottery, on some of which there was an encrustation of iron, and rude stone implements on the faces of some of which there were also traces of iron. The stone implements were very similar to those found at Jarlshof, including spatulate tools and rounded clubs.

Some 10 ft. N. of the northernmost furnace were the remains of the dwelling, reduced almost to ground-level by the pillage of its material. It had been elliptical on plan, lying with its major axis N.W. and S.E. and measuring 31 ft. by 25 ft. over all, the entrance being from the S.E. At the outer end of the entrance passage there was a much dilapidated and possibly later building. The passage had been about 2 ft. 4 in. wide, and had extended through the wall for from 7 to 8 ft. with an elongated chamber to the left on entering (Fig. 503). The plan of the original dwelling was identical with that employed in the earlier dwellings at Jarlshof, and consisted of a central court, with a long transverse chamber across the inner end and two small recessed chambers on either side. The length of the interior from front to back was some 21 ft., and the greatest width between the outer walls of the opposite chambers 13 ft.

The back chamber (Fig. 504) measured 12 ft.in length and about 6 ft. in greatest width. Originally it had been open to the court, but later a wall had been constructed across the front, an entrance being left at the S. end. The floor was covered with numerous flat stones which suggested the ruin of a " beehive" roof. There was no indication of any hearth. In the court, immediately in front of the later wall, lay a large rectangular flagstone, the fire fractured surface of which showed that it had been a hearth. The lateral chambers or cells, each measuring some 6 ft. in length by 3 ft. in depth, were rounded behind and had paved floors. The floor of the first chamber to the right, on entering, lay some 7 in. above the level of the court and was completed with a kerb, while the floor of the chamber opposite was also raised. There was evidence of fires having burned in front of each of these two chambers. From a point adjacent to the front of the hearth a drain ran to the entrance. It measured some 5 in. across by 22 in. deep, with flags. Such a drain could only have been intended to carry away surface water, and it is therefore obvious that the court was open to the air, only the chambers being roofed.

The building produced more than fifty rude stone implements, broken and complete, representing the numerous types, excepting those of slate, found in the earlier prehistoric dwelling sat Jarlshof. There were also recovered a few hammer-stones, some pieces of pumice, two small scrapers of quartz similar to those found in the smeltery, and a round anvil-stone such as would be used in their manufacture. The querns were of typical saddle-back type, differing materially from the trough-querns found at Jarlshof.

To the eastward of the dwelling lay a group of small inverted bowl-shaped mounds from 10 to 12 ft. in diameter and from 18 to 20 in.in height, covered with a growth of stunted heather. The excavation of two of these showed that they were formed of surface gathered stones which had been piled on exposed rock surfaces. There was not the slightest trace of burial, whether by inhumation or by incineration, in either of the mounds.

RCAHMS 1946, visited August 1935.

Not noted on the OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed.