Scheduled Maintenance
Please be advised that this website will undergo scheduled maintenance on the following dates: •
Every Thursday from 17th October until 7th November from 11:00 to 15:00 •
Tuesday, 22nd October from 11:00 to 15:00
During these times, some services may be temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Achnagoul
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Farmstead (Post Medieval)
Site Name Achnagoul
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Farmstead (Post Medieval)
Canmore ID 8130
Site Number ND13SE 14
NGR ND 1627 3233
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/8130
- Council Highland
- Parish Latheron
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
ND13SE 14 1627 3233.
(ND 1627 3233) Pict's House (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map, Caithness, 2nd ed., (1877)
The remains of a broch comprising a turf-covered mound 23.0m in diameter and 1.5m high, with the lintelled entrance and a curved stretch of the outer wall face 8.0m long and two courses high, exposed on the SE side. There are traces of an outer defence to the SW.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (N K B) 13 November 1968.
(ND 1627 3233) Broch (NR) (remains of)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1979)
No change to the previous field report except that no outwork was identified. The broch is an estimated 17.0m in diameter over all; it
has evidently been levelled off at some time.
Revised at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (J M) 11 November 1982.
Field Visit (August 1997)
The site of this broch was resurveyed for the OS 1:2500 revision programme. It is situated in the yard on the NW side of one of the abandoned farmsteads of Achnagoul. As described by the OS surveyors, the broch probably measures about 17m in diameter overall, and the entrance, with some of its lintels still in place, and part of the inner face of the wall are visible on the SE. As it survives today, the remains of the broch form the core of a much larger mound about 24m across, and it is probably the scarp delineating the mound on the SW that was identified as the remains of outer defences. While the mound might incorporate the remains of an outer wall, it is more likely to be composed largely of rubble derived from the broch itself. The farmstead comprises the ruin of a range situated on the SE side of the yard enclosing the broch. The first edition of the OS 6-inch map (Caithness 1872, sheet xxxix) shows this building roofed, together with a smaller building immediately to the SE and another to the N, immediately adjacent to the broch. The main range was still roofed in 1906 (Caithness 1906, sheet xxxix).
Visited by RCAHMS (SH) August 1997.
Publication Account (2007)
ND13 10 ACHNAGOUL ('Pict's house')
ND/1627 3233
Probable broch in Latheron, Caith-ness, consisting of a turf-covered mound 23.0m in diameter and 1.5m high with the lintelled entrance and a curved stretch of the outer wallface – 8m long and two courses high – exposed on the south-east side; the diameter of the building is estimated at 17.0m [1]. There may be traces of an outer defence to the north.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 13 SE 14: 2, Swanson (ms) 1985, 690-91 and plan.
E W MacKie 2007