Watten
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Watten
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Nether Banks; Wick River
Canmore ID 8782
Site Number ND25SW 13
NGR ND 2410 5397
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/8782
- Council Highland
- Parish Watten
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
ND25SW 13 2410 5397.
(ND 2410 5397) Broch (NR) (remains of)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)
The broch at Watten is 64ft in diameter overall. The remains are now covered by a grass-covered knoll 8ft high. A piece of walling 8ft long, 2ft high, exposed on the SE indicates the inner wall of a chamber, and several large boulders projecting through the turf in line 22ft from the base of the broch are the remains of an outer wall.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910.
A turf-covered mound, 29.0m N-S by 22.0m transversely, with a maximum height of 3.0m. It is much mutilated, exposing slate-type stones. On the SE, close to the top of the mound, is a small exposed stretch of walling (possibly the inner wall face of a chamber) 2.0m long and 0.4m high. In the NW side there is a shallow excavation indicating the possible entrance, but which may only be the result of quarrying. Several large boulders lie along the base of the mound on the S side, and one large boulder lies on the E side. The feature has more the appearance of being a cairn than a broch.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (W D J) 27 April 1963.
A turf-covered broch mound, 25.0m E-W by 23.0m transversely and 2.5m high, situated on the edge of the natural slopes above the flood plain of the Wick River. No walling is exposed. A total of three stones at the base of the mound to the S and E may be the remains of an outer encircling wall.
Visited by OS (N K B) 17 May 1982.
Scheduled as 'Nether Banks... the remains of a broch.'
Information from Histroric Scotland, scheduling document dated 8 November 2005.
Publication Account (2007)
ND25 16 WATTEN
ND/2410 5397
Possible broch in Watten, Caithness, consisting of a turf-covered mound 19.5m (64ft) in diameter and 2.4m (8ft) high standing on the edge of the natural slopes above the flood plain of the Wick river. A fragment of curved wall was visible on the south-east side, 2.0m long and 40cm high and is evidently part of the inner wall of a chamber, but had evidently vanished in 1982 [1]. There are several large boulders in a line which suggest the foundations of an outer wall.
Sources: 1. NMRS site ND 25 SW 13: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 129, no. 468.
E W MacKie 2007