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Upper Bighouse
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Upper Bighouse
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Canmore ID 6797
Site Number NC85NE 1
NGR NC 8896 5752
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/6797
- Council Highland
- Parish Farr
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC85NE 1 8896 5752.
(NC 8896 5752) Broch (NR)
OS 6"map, (1963)
The remains of a broch with outworks.
J Anderson 1873; Visited by OS (W D J) 28 April 1960.
This broch, mutilated and turf-covered, measures about 10.0m in diameter inside a wall about 4.5m thick. From the debris-filled interior the wall stands to a maximum height of 1.5m; there are breaks in the wall in the east and west arcs, but neither can be positively identified as an entrance. An outer face of base stones is intermittently visible round the east. The broch is situated on a moraine ridge and protected by two lines of defensive outworks. The first comprises cuttings through the ridge in the north and south, isolating the broch position but for a narrow neck across the approach on the north side. Inside this is an earth and stone rampart pierced by an entrance from the north-west, and apparently merging with the natural slope on the east. A noteworthy feature is the boulder slab revetting on the north of the entrance. Outside the broch on the north-east are the footings of later or late structure(s).
Revised at 1/10,000.
Revised at 1/2500
Visited by OS (J M) 25 May 1977.
Publication Account (2007)
NC85 4 UPPER BIGHOUSE NC/8896 5752
This probable broch in Farr, Sutherland, stands on a ridge of moraine and consists of a turf-covered stony heap with some wallfaces showing; the inner face stands up to 1.5m high [1]. The wall seems to be about 4.5m thick and the internal diameter about 10.0m. There are two lines of outer defences, an outer ditch and an inner rampart of earth and stone, the latter having an entrance on the north-west. This entrance has a revetment of boulder-like stone slabs [1]. In 1985 hardly any structural features were visible except for an outer bank on the west [3].
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NC 85 NE 1: 2. Joass 1890, 190: 3. Mercer 1980, 149, no. 39: 4. Swanson (ms) 1985, 763 - 65 and plan.
E W MacKie 2007
Note (9 February 2015 - 31 May 2016)
The heavily robbed broch situated on the summit of the morainic ridge overlooking the haughland of the River Naver at Upper Bighouse lies within an outer fortified enclosure. Standing on a morainic ridge, the principle element of the outer defences is a substantial ditch, which is most clearly visible where it has been cut through the moraine on the N and S, but the flanks may also have been scarped elsewhere. The ditch is accompanied internally by a rampart reduced to a stony bank, which can be traced round the lip of the summit everywhere except the SE to enclose an area measuring about 30m from E to W by 27m transversely (0.06ha). There is an entrance on the NW. Apart from the broch, the only feature visible within the interior are the footings of a rectangular structure on the NE.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2807
