Description
The monument comprises the remains of a broch; a substantial circular drystone building dating from the period c.200BC-AD200.
The broch occupies a comparatively flat area of ground at approximately 60m OD, on a slope overlooking Eilean Flodigarry and The Minch to the E. It now lies in the garden of a modern house, having been incorporated into the kitchen garden of Flodigarry House (now the Flodigarry Hotel) at the end of the 19th century. The site was excavated from 1979-82, and has been left clear of most of its burden of topsoil, allowing for easy viewing of the substantial surviving structural features.
Excavation showed that the broch was built on a natural bedrock outcrop, with clay foundations used to even out gaps between the walls and the ground surface. The surviving walls are approximately 4m thick and stand up to 1.5m externally, and 0.75m above the broch interior, defining a circle with a maximum external diameter of 18.35m. Only faint traces of walling were found on the E side of the circuit. The paved entrance passage is located in the NW and there are at least 4 cells or galleries within the walls, which can either be accessed from the centre of the structure, or the entrance passage. A pebbled floor was identified in one of these intramural cells.
The excavations produced pottery, worked stone, charcoal, and bone remains, but the assemblage was small in comparison to similar excavated sites. Likewise, the stratigraphy in the interior of the broch was very limited. These factors, combined with the incomplete walling on the E side of the broch, and the lack of evidence for demolition or collapse, lead the excavators to conclude that the site was abandoned before the structure was completed.
The area to be scheduled is a circle 20m in diameter centred on the broch, to include the structure of the broch and a small area around it where remains associated with its construction and use may be expected to survive, as shown in red on the attached map extract.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance as a fine example of an Iron Age broch. The clear visibility of the structural features of the broch, combined with the surviving unexcavated remains, gives this monument considerable potential to provide important information about settlement, economy, social structure, and the natural environment in the later prehistoric period. The possibility that the building was abandoned before completion, and the relationship between this monument and other sites of a similar date in the vicinity, adds to the importance of this site.