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.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM3599_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600009656)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a broch of Iron Age date, built probably between 500 BC and AD 200, surviving as a series of upstanding walls and earthworks on a cliff edge in South Nesting Bay, at 10m above sea level.

The broch itself consists of a penannular wall, measuring 16m in diameter across walls 4m thick. There is a possible entrance on the SW and two intramural cells are visible. There are possible cellular structures immediately to the NNW and SE of the broch and the remains of two concentric ramparts to the SW. To the NE is a flat 'apron' of ground that may be the remains of an associated enclosure.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. On the N and NE, the scheduling extends up to but does not include the post-and-wire fence.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

The monument is an example of a broch and associated remains, dating to the Iron Age. The broch mound is impressive and it is very probable that substantial buried remains of the broch's lower courses and foundations are preserved within and beneath the mound. There is a strong likelihood that buried archaeological deposits associated with the monument's construction, use and abandonment are preserved. The presence of an adjacent enclosure immediately NE of the broch, as well as possible cellular structures in the vicinity of the broch, enhance its potential and could inform our understanding of the activities that took place around the broch at different times during its use.

The site and its buried remains has considerable potential to enhance our understanding of the use and function of brochs and roundhouses and the daily lives of the people who occupied them. There is high potential for the recovery of significant assemblages of artefacts and ecofacts that could illuminate the diet, economy and social status of the occupants, and the extent to which this varied over time.

Contextual characteristics

This broch is one of over 130 brochs known in Shetland. Brochs have been viewed as having a defensive or offensive function, or simply as being the prestige dwellings and farms of an elite keen to display its status. Many brochs in Shetland, including this one, seem to have been sited to afford wide-ranging views of the sea and they are sometimes inter-visible. This broch is 3.5km NNE of another broch at Brough, on the S side of South Nesting Bay, and 2km W of an Iron Age fort on Hog Island, and therefore forms part of a pattern of fortifications in Iron Age Shetland. This broch has high potential to enhance our understanding of the relationship between brochs and related structures, the extent to which they were contemporary, and their relationship with the wider landscape.

Associative characteristics

It is said that the adjacent church is built from stone robbed from the broch. The site is labelled 'Brough' on the first edition Ordnance Survey map.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to our understanding of the past, in particular of Iron Age Shetland and the role and function of brochs. The monument offers potential to study the relationship between brochs and other broadly contemporary structures in the vicinity. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand the development and use of brochs in Shetland.

References

Bibliography

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.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.