Description
The monument comprises the remains of a settlement mound containing one or more substantial prehistoric structures and associated remains; and the remains of a medieval church. The settlement (then termed a 'broch') and the church were first scheduled separately in 1957, but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains: the present re-scheduling rectifies this and combines the two smaller scheduled areas into one larger one.
The monument lies on the NE coast of Orkney Mainland, overlooking Eynhallow Sound. The site first identified as a possible broch lies on a low promontory, in a typical broch location; but the mostly turf-covered remains visible on the ground surface are difficult to reconcile with those of a typical broch. Several straight-sided features and lines of walling are visible. For example, there is a roughly square platform on the SW side of the mound, bounded on three sides by walls, which may have been for midden. Other surface indications suggest complex settlement remains but form no coherent pattern.
The settlement is suffering active coastal erosion, which has exposed two main areas of massive stone walls in the cliff section, perhaps indicative of an Atlantic roundhouse. The interior of the probable roundhouse (between the walls) may still contain occupation and floor levels. Complex extra-mural drystone walled structures are visible elsewhere in the cliff section, together with possible floors and extensive middens; these might be related to surface indications of cellular structures outwith the main building. The site is rich in artefacts, with the beach and cliff section routinely producing quantities of midden debris and pottery. The structural and artefactual evidence all suggests that the site is probably multi-period and was extensively occupied in prehistory. A recent geophysical survey has indicated that archaeological deposits extend at least 9m N of the church and about 10m inland from the cliff section, and that there is a substantial outwork enclosing the mound.
The remains of St Thomas's Church, known locally as 'Tammas Kirk', are located N of the settlement. The church is divided into two chambers, presumably a nave and chancel, with the nave measuring about 7m E-W by 4.3m N-S and the chancel 4.5m E-W by 3m N-S. The nave and chancel may have been built at different times, but the layout is indicative of a 12th-century date. What survives of the E gable of the church has been incorporated into a later, now ruinous, structure. A resistivity survey in 2000 suggested that the S boundary of the churchyard lies c.10m from the church. Human skeletal remains are regularly recovered from the beach and eroding section in the vicinity of the church.
The area to be scheduled is irregular in plan, with maximum dimensions of 107m N-S by 40m E-W, to include the church and settlement site and all the ground within the stone dyke that encloses all of the promontory, as marked in red on the accompanying map. The above-ground components of the enclosure wall are excluded from scheduling to allow for its maintenance.