Scheduled Monument
Knowe of Burristae,broch W of Langskaill,Bay of KirbistSM1452
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
- 10/11/1953
- Last Date Amended
- 30/11/2000
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: broch
- Local Authority
- Orkney Islands
- Parish
- Westray
- NGR
- HY 43163 42916
- Coordinates
- 343163, 1042916
Description
The monument comprises the remains of a broch, possibly enclosed by a ditch, and extensive archaeological remains exposed by coastal erosion. The monument was first scheduled in 1953 but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains: the present rescheduling rectifies this.
The monument forms a low but extensive mound, cut by the coast. The interior of the broch, approximately 8m in diameter, has been exposed by coastal erosion, and by deliberate excavation, to reveal some walling, scarcement, intramural gallery, floor surface and upright slabs. The broch wall is estimated to survive up to 4m high within the mound. On the landward NW side of the mound a boggy depression may correspond to a defensive ditch. Archaeological sediments and orthostatic settings are present within a 60m long erosion-section at the coast.
The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, with a maximum dimension of 95m E-W by 73m NW-SE, to include the broch, putative ditch and all exposed features at the coast that can be reasonably associated with the broch. The area is bounded by the seashore on the SW, by a curving stone dyke on the NW, by a straight segment of an open field drain on the SE and by a post and wire fence on the NW, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
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.
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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.