Scheduled Monument
Wideford Hill,chambered cairnSM90315
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
- 28/06/1994
- Type
- Prehistoric ritual and funerary: chambered cairn
- Local Authority
- Orkney Islands
- Parish
- Kirkwall And St Ola
- NGR
- HY 40903 12097
- Coordinates
- 340903, 1012097
Description
aThe monument consists of a Neolithic chambered cairn situated on a steep W-facing hillside NW of the summit of Wideford Hill. The W- facing location is unusual, but the site commands a fine outward view over the lands of Firth and the sea, and looks towards the cairns of Cuween and Rousay. The cairn had been emptied many years before it came to recent antiquarian notice. A concrete roof with an entrance by ladder has been provided to allow visitor access. The monument is in the care of the Secretary of State. The cairn is almost circular on plan, and is formed in at least three concentric thicknesses, with the revetment walls of each very carefully constructed. The entrance passage faces W. It is very low and narrow, and the modern access does not use it. The rectangular main chamber and three subsidiary chambers are all well-built, with massive lintels over their entrances. The main chamber narrows as it rises while the subsidiary chambers are corbelled. The plan of the chambers places Wideford Hill in the Maeshowe group of cairns. The area to be scheduled is that within the boundary fence. It is rectangular, 35m E-W by 28m N-S, as marked in red on the accompanying map. The boundary fence and concrete roof are included.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance as a fine field example of a Neolithic chambered tomb, of the Maeshowe group of Orkney cairns. It has an unusual W'facing location. Although the chamber has been emptied, the cairn itself may contain important information about the methods of tomb construction, while the old ground surface sealed below it may contain important information, accessible to excavation and analysis, about Neolithic land'use.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/wideford-hill-chambered-cairn
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).
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