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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

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Watten
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Caithness
  • Former County Caithness

Archaeology Notes

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.

Activities

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

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