Scheduled Monument
Verron, broch, platform and cultivation rigs, N of Bay of SkaillSM1475
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
- 31/03/1940
- Last Date Amended
- 30/09/1996
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 05/06/2018
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: broch; platform, Secular: field system
- Local Authority
- Orkney Islands
- Parish
- Sandwick
- NGR
- HY 23129 19764
- Coordinates
- 323129, 1019764
Description
The monument comprises the remains of an Iron Age broch and outer enclosure, a nearby platform which may represent a settlement site, and an area of medieval or early modern cultivation rigs.
The broch survives as a hollow-centred mound standing to some 2m above the surrounding ground level. On the SW side there is an eroding area at the head of the cliffs, in which up to 1m of Iron Age midden and masonry is visible, but the main structure of the broch appears not to have suffered to any great extent. About 25m away from the centre of the mound a line of large earthfast stones is visible, protruding through the turf, and curving on an arc roughly concentric with the broch. This may represent the former line of an outer enclosure. About 30m beyond this, in an ESE direction from the broch, is a low rectangular platform. This is grass-covered and measures about 15m across by at least 20m long, elongated NNE-SSW. This may be the remains of a settlement, and the fact that it is respected by the extensive and well-preserved cultivation rigs which occupy the area between the cliffs and the fence some 50m-70m to the N suggests that it is earlier than this cultivation episode. The rigs themselves are an unusual survival in Orkney, and date to a period before the early 19th-century agricultural improvements.
The area to be scheduled is a considerable extension on the small area protected around the broch since 1940. The area now to be scheduled includes the broch, the outer line of stones, the platform and an area of cultivation rigs, all as described above. It is bounded on the N by a modern fence (which is excluded) and on the NW, W, SW and S by the top edge of the coastal cliffs. The boundary on the E is not defined by any physical landmark. This area measures a maximum of 155m E-W by a maximum of 70m N-S and is shown in red on the accompanying map.
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.
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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).
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