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

  SM6214_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600012105)

Summary

Description

The monument is a fort occupying a promontory on the W coast of Orkney mainland, in use probably between around 1100 BC and AD 800. The promontory measures about 170m from NE to SW by 60m transversely and is surrounded by cliffs except at its SE corner where it can be accessed by a narrow isthmus, 25m wide. Three grass-covered banks run across the isthmus, enclosing an area of approximately 1.3 hectares. Slight traces of other structures survive both on the isthmus and the promontory.

At least two of the banks are the remains of defensive walls. The innermost is much reduced, measuring 4m wide and standing 0.5m high. Some 40m to the SW is an outer wall, on the N edge of a deep natural gulley, visible as a grassy scarp about 5m wide and standing 0.4m high. Its outer face appears to have been of coursed drystone construction and a gap at the E end may be an original entrance. A third bank, which may be later in date, lies on the SE side of the same gulley and measures up to 3m wide and stands 0.5m high. The footings of two rectangular buildings are visible close to the banks. Immediately S of the innermost bank are the remains of a possible gatehouse or forework, measuring 5.5m from NE to SW by at least 2.5m transversely, within a wall 1.5m thick formed from large edge-set stones. The grass-grown wall footings of a rectangular building, measuring 13m NE-SW by 8.4m transversely, partly overlie the NE end of the outermost bank. There are a number of features atop the promontory itself. A summit cairn and walled enclosure are relatively recent additions. At the cliff edge some 20m to the SW are the remains of a possible burial cairn, about 3.7m in diameter; at least two edge-set stones appear to mark its edge and cairn material is visible to a depth of 0.65m in the eroding section. Other surface features include a circular depression, 5m in diameter, and a circular platform, 8m in diameter, which may represent the sites of roundhouses.

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 is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of all post-and-wire fences to allow for their maintenance.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a rare example of a promontory fort in an area where brochs and other, more compact, stone fortifications are much more common. A highly visible coastal landmark today, the Brough of Bigging preserves a range of archaeological features in their original and dramatic landscape context, testifying to use of the site probably over many centuries. This monument has good potential to enhance our understanding of the organisation and social and economic activities of the later prehistoric people who built and used it. Although damaged by stone-robbing and some erosion at the cliff-edge, substantial remains of the fort's defensive works survive across the narrow neck of the promontory, together with associated structures, including, possibly, evidence for a guardhouse, and for two roundhouses on the promontory. The enclosed area retains high potential for the presence of buried archaeological deposits relating to the prehistoric and later use of the fort. There is also significant potential to compare this site with the nearby and probably roughly contemporary broch at Borwick, Yesnaby, and with other promontory forts locally and nationally to enhance our understanding of the development and functions of different types of broadly contemporary, defensive sites within the landscape. The loss of this monument would significantly diminish our ability to understand the nature of prehistoric and later society, economy and social hierarchy, both in Orkney and further afield.

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.