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

  SM9353_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600013501)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a broch of Iron Age date, built probably between 500 BC and AD 200. It is visible as an earthwork monument and survives in a field of improved pasture at approximately 30m above sea level. It is located on a neck of land at the south end of Shetland mainland, overlooking Bay of Quendale to the west and Pool of Virkie to the east. The monument was first scheduled in 2001 but the documentation does not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

The area to be scheduled is a clipped circle on plan, 52m in diameter, 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 all post-and-wire fencing, drystone walling and a small shed.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics

This is a well-preserved broch mound with evidence for intact drystone masonry surviving for the exterior walling, entrance and interior features. The undulating nature of the ground in the interior suggests that further buried deposits survive here. The overall, circular footprint of the broch is clear to see and measures approximately 32m in diameter. A break in the northern arc of the broch wall probably represents the site of the entrance. It is likely that substantial buried remains of the broch's lower courses and foundations are preserved within and beneath the mound. There is a high likelihood that buried archaeological deposits associated with the monument's construction, use and abandonment are preserved. These may allow future researchers to date the construction, the period of use and abandonment of the broch. In addition, the buried remains have considerable potential to enhance understanding of the use and function of brochs and the daily lives of the people who occupied them. There is potential for the recovery of a range 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. It has high potential to enhance our understanding of the relationship between brochs, the extent to which they were contemporary, and their relationship with other types of Iron Age settlements and the wider landscape. This broch occupies an interesting landscape position as it overlooks the Sumburgh Head peninsula to the south and is inter-visible with two other major brochs, at Old Scatness and Brough Head respectively. The monument therefore has considerable potential to help us understand the relationship between several geographically close and inter-visible 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 at Toab have high potential to help us address these questions and to provide further insights into the nature and use of these distinctive structures and the landscape immediately around them.

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. Excavations at the nearby broch of Old Scatness have amply demonstrated the quality, complexity and depth of archaeological remains which can be expected to survive. The monument offers high potential to study the relationship between this broch and several similar, broadly contemporary monuments in the surrounding landscape. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand the development and reuse of brochs 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.