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Cogle
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Cogle
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Coghill
Canmore ID 8738
Site Number ND25NE 8
NGR ND 2670 5708
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/8738
- Council Highland
- Parish Watten
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
ND25NE 8 2670 5708
Broch, Cogle or Coghill: The remains of this broch are in the stackyard E of Coghill farmhouse and are recognisable only as a low mound 2 ft high, overgrown with vegetation. It was excavated by Dr Anstruther Davidson in 1905 and the plan by John Nicholson, Lybster, was made at that time.
Relics discovered are preserved at this farm and at the school-house, Gersa. They include bones, shells, deer horn, three vessels of unornamented pottery, stone pounders, rubbing stones, shale discs, a bone pin, and querns (saddle type only).
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910
Items of deer-horn from this broch were donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) by the finder, T D Bathgate, in 1934 (Accession nos: GA 1140-3).
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1935
There is no trace of any remains of this broch. The site, at ND 2670 5708, is now used as the farm stackyard. There are now no relics in
the farmhouse; the farmer stated that the property changed hands in 1940.
There are also no relics in the schoolhouse at Gersa (ND 2591 5745). Site surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (R D L) 23 April 1963
(ND 2670 5708) Broch (NR) (site of)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1975)
In the stackyard a low rise of indefinite size and crossed by modern tracks indicates the site of the broch. A square mortar and a rotary quern stone with a piece of concrete in the hole stand in the farmyard. The farmer is uncertain whether they are finds from the broch.
Visited by OS (J B) 19 March 1982
'Broch', Cogle. The site of a broch identified by a slight rise of indefinite size, crossed by modern tracks.
R J Mercer, NMRS MS/828/19, 1995
Publication Account (2007)
ND25 7 COGHILL ('Cogle')
ND/2670 5708
Site of a probable solid-based broch in Watten, Caithness, standing on flat ground. The structure was excavated in 1905 by Dr. Anstruther Davidson and a plan was made of the exposed building by Mr. J Nicholson of Lybster; it survives now as a low mound 60cm high and covered with vegetation.
Description
The entrance passage, 5.19m (17ft) long, is on the west; its width is 75cm (2.5ft) for the first 3.97m (13ft) at which point it is rebated for door-checks, with slabs set in the wall according to the plan. Thereafter the width is 1.21m (4ft), narrowing a little at the inner end. A pivot stone was found just inside from the left check. At 3 o'clock is the doorway to a mural stair, rising to the right, with a stair-foot guard cell on the left. The latter is 5.03m (16.5ft) long by 1.22m (4ft) wide, widening to 2.13m (7ft) at the far end.
Four radial slabs were set in the interior against the broch wallface to the left of the entrance. A curved U-shaped wall, probably also secondary, was in the interior and had a hearth at one end of it, against its inside face. The convexity of the 'U' faced the entrance so one presumably had to go round this obstruction to get to the fireplace. The entrance passage seemed to have been secondarily extended outwards by a “casing wall”. There are no signs of this structure now [1].
Finds: in 1911 these were in the school house at Gersa and included fragments of three "vessels of unornamented pottery", many hammerstones, rubbing stones, thin shale discs and a fine bone pin. Only saddle querns are preserved, although a rotary quern and a stone mortar of uncertain origin were seen at the farm in 1982 [1]. In 1934 some further finds were recorded [3]; they included 1 pointed and socketed deer horn implement, a deer horn handle with socket and 2 pointed implements of deer-horn and bone respectively.
Dimensions: external diameter (from plan) c. 19.22m (63ft), internal 8.85m (29ft): the wall proportion is therefore c. 54%.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 25 NE 8: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 129-30, no. 469 and fig. 31: 3. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 69 (1934-35), 14-15 (donations).
E W MacKie 2007
