Hoy

ND16SW 6 1416 6062.

(ND 1416 6062) Broch (NR)

OS 6" map, Caithness, 2nd ed., (1907)

The close proximity of the farmhouse has necessitated the demolition of the broch on one side, and elsewhere the facing stones have been in a large measure removed. The diameter of the remaining mound is about 45ft and its elevation 13 to 14ft. The wall has been 15ft thick. In 1910, the remains of a human skeleton protruded from the S edge of the top of the mound. It had been laid extended from E to W.

The Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB, 1871) notes that, about 1816, 'some human bones, and ornaments comprising diamonds and other precious stones were excavated from the mound, as well as some horns and bones of beasts'.

Name Book 1871; RCAHMS 1911.

This broch now appears as a large, grass-covered stony mound, 5.4m high and 24.0m in diameter, in which an outer wall face, 1.8m high and 2.0m in length, is visible on the NE side where it joins on to a modern retaining wall.

Further portions of broch walling have been exposed on the SW slopes. Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (N K B) 11 November 1965.

The remains of a broch as described by the previous authorities.

Visited by OS (N K B) 15 February 1982

'Broch', Farm of Hoy. Dimensions: 25 x 24m. Grass-covered mound 5.5m high, quarried round almost the entire circumference, set within the courtyard of a modern mains farm. A retaining wall has been built on it's E side to protect the adjoining barn from tumble.

R J Mercer, NMRS MS/828/19, 1995