Scheduled Monument
Burghead WellSM90044
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
- 30/11/1981
- Last Date Amended
- 30/07/1998
- Type
- Secular: well
- Local Authority
- Moray
- Parish
- Duffus
- NGR
- NJ 11026 69156
- Coordinates
- 311026, 869156
Description
The monument consists of a rock-cut well of probable late prehistoric or early medieval date. It is in the care of the Secretary of State.
The well comprises a rectangular chamber about 5m square and 3.8m high, with rounded angles, cut out of rock at the base of a crag. It lies 6m below the present ground level. The water is contained within a 3m-square basin bordered by a rock shelf 1.2m wide. The present entrance was constructed after the well was discovered during road improvements in the 19th century.
The well lies within the now-largely destroyed outer defensive line of the Pictish fort at Burghead, which itself probably has Iron Age antecedents, and may be supposed to be the water supply for the fort. However, its elaborate structure may indicate more than a merely utilitarian function, possibly as a religious site. A stone slab with a bull carved on it was found within the well when it was cleared out. This was one of 20 to 30 such bull carvings from the general area, and these were mainly located around the perimeter of the fort.
The area to be scheduled includes the well and the area around the site likely to contain associated archaeological evidence. It measures 30m NNE-SSW by 19m and is marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
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.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
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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