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

  SM3700_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600009740)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of a multi-period settlement site, including: a broch of Iron Age date built between 500 BC and AD 200; the remains of an outer rampart enclosing the elevated area around the broch; and a series of earlier and later structures and archaeological deposits indicating that this headland was a focus for settlement from the second millennium BC to the 19th century. The W side of the broch is visible as a large turf-covered mound standing about 3m high, with the broch's internal wall face exposed. The E side of the broch has been affected by coastal erosion. The mound now measures about 12m N-S by 7m transversely, but the broch was originally about 19m in diameter within walls 4.4m thick. A scarp slope standing up to 2m high indicates the position of an outer rampart enclosing a sub-circular area 40m in diameter, now open on the E side. Small-scale excavations have sampled buried midden deposits beneath and adjacent to the broch. These, together with a variety of low earthworks, suggest that this settlement was perhaps almost as extensive as those at Jarlshof and Scatness. The monument stands less than 10m above sea level, on a rocky headland at the mouth of the Pool of Virkie, 4km north of Sumburgh Head. There are long views out to sea and along the coast to the south. The monument was last scheduled in 1975 but the documentation does not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

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. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of post-and-wire fences and modern gates to allow for their maintenance.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics

The broch itself is subject to serious coastal erosion, but represents only one part of a complex and extensive prehistoric and later settlement, most of which is in good and stable condition.

The surviving parts of the western circuit of the broch are sufficient to indicate its original total dimensions and character. The remains include a probable first floor gallery, visible above a length of the inner wall face. Remains of the internal broch courtyard and the broch's eastern wall have been damaged by coastal erosion. Small-scale excavations have demonstrated that the broch was built on top of midden deposits: a deposit late in this sequence gave a radiocarbon date of around 1610-1268 BC, in the middle Bronze Age, but settlement here could have begun much earlier. Midden deposits also accumulated outside the broch after its construction. A deposit early in this midden sequence gave a radiocarbon date of about 50 BC to AD 230, while another deposit towards the middle of the sequence was dated to about AD 640-890. Significant dilapidation of the broch only began after this date.

There has also been limited excavation of a stone structure with two radial stone walls sited immediately inside the broch's W wall. These remains are part of a wheelhouse, erected later than the broch, but probably before its abandonment and decay. The broch's outer rampart, still visible as an earthwork scarp, encloses an area immediately west and north of the broch. Coastal erosion at its northern corner has revealed a substantial dry stone revetment. Parch marks visible some 60m northwest of the broch indicate the position of rectangular structures; these can only be dated broadly to between AD 900 and AD 1850. The upstanding roofless remains of 19th-century buildings and yards reflect the most recent use of this headland.

Researchers believe that this monument preserves evidence for a very long-lasting and extensive settlement, in which the broch may only represent a brief phase. Despite the coastal erosion, much of the archaeology of this site survives buried beneath the ground surface and not yet recorded. Future investigation may allow researchers to understand more fully the character of occupation in different periods, to analyse evidence for the development sequence, assessing the duration of settlement at different times and whether it was continuous or intermittent. There is also potential for researchers to refine the dating for the construction, occupation and disuse of the broch and to compare it with the outer rampart and other potential structures. The buried remains have very considerable potential to enhance understanding of the daily lives of the people who occupied the site over an extended period. There is high potential for the recovery of artefacts and ecofacts that may 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 around 130 known in Shetland. It has high potential to enhance our understanding of the relationship between brochs, the extent to which they were contemporary, and their relationship with the wider landscape. 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. The buried remains here have the potential to help us address these questions and provide insight into the nature and use of these structures and the landscape immediately around them.

This broch is particularly interesting and unusual in that it lies on a headland with a long settlement history. In particular, there is high potential for this settlement, with its wide range of structures and deposits known to be rich in artefacts and ecofacts, to be compared with those known from similarly long-lived and extensive settlements at Jarlshof and Scatness, which are sited only 1.8km to the SSW and 1.4km to the WSW respectively.

Associative characteristics

The site is marked on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map and is labelled 'Brough, Site of'.

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 Bronze Age and Iron Age Shetland, the role and function of brochs there, and the relationship of brochs to earlier and later settlements. The broch is particularly interesting because it stands on top of Bronze Age remains and its site continued to be occupied for most of the first millennium AD. This headland has been a favoured location for settlement over many centuries and its archaeology offers significant potential to study changes in building style, material culture, economy and agriculture over an extended time period. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand settlement archaeology in the Shetland Islands.

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.