Scheduled Monument
Skail, chambered cairn 90m N ofSM1776
Status: Designated
Documents
Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).
The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.
Summary
- Date Added
- 25/01/1961
- Last Date Amended
- 27/01/2003
- Type
- Prehistoric ritual and funerary: chambered cairn
- Local Authority
- Highland
- Parish
- Farr
- NGR
- NC 71296 46899
- Coordinates
- 271296, 946899
Description
The monument comprises a prehistoric chambered burial cairn, known locally as 'the Temple'. The cairn was originally scheduled in 1961, but an inadequate area was included fully to protect the archaeological remains. This scheduling extension rectifies the situation.
The chambered cairn is situated some 90m N of Skail, on the alluvial plain W of the River Naver at a height of about 125m OD. The cairn has been disturbed in antiquity, but was originally a round cairn about 18m in diameter, of Orkney-Cromarty type. Most of the smaller stones making up the body of the cairn have been removed, revealing a chamber of polygonal form with a transverse subdivision. The entrance to the chamber has probably been from the NE. Low turf-covered banks mark the perimeter of the mound which once covered the cairn, and a few larger stones hint at an external kerb. Although disturbed, the site retains the potential for important archaeological material to survive beneath the chamber and under the remains of the body of the cairn.
The area now to be scheduled is circular, 40m in diameter, to include the remains described and an area around them in which related archaeological evidence is likely to survive. The scheduled area is indicated in red on the accompanying map. The above-ground portions of the modern walkway and information panel are excluded from scheduling, to facilitate maintenance.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
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Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.
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