Documents

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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

  SM7753_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600013175)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises an area of the summit of Vord Hill containing three prehistoric cairns, two of which are clearly chambered, a double enclosure and a recent watch-house.

Vord Hill North chambered cairn is a large cairn by Shetland standards, measuring some 17m NE-SW by 15m. It has a slightly concave facade on the SE side, with no sign of an entrance. The facade, and a kerb around the rest of the cairn, are formed by a line of large, contiguous boulders. A possible inner kerb or revetment can be seen within the W side and also possibly to the NE. Several large blocks near the centre of the cairn probably mark a burial chamber. This cairn stands 1.3m high.

Vord Hill South chambered cairn lies about 150m away, and has more distinctive features. It measures about 12m ENE-WSW by 11m NNW-SSE, with a concave facade on the SSE, from which an entrance passage leads to a partially-ruined burial chamber. Six of the lintels of the passage are in situ. The chamber measures about 2.7m by 1.6m, and the boulders forming its S side stand upright. The outer kerb of the cairn is visible only in the N part of the circuit.

This cairn stands at least 1.5m high, but its outline has been disturbed by removal of stone to construct a rectangular wartime watch-house just S of the facade and also a double enclosure. The latter is bounded by low drystone walling and takes the form of two conjoined ovals with the cairn at the junction point. The enclosure is likely to be considerably later than the cairn itself.

The third cairn lies on the very highest point of the hilltop, just NE of the triangulation pillar and 70m ESE of the South chambered cairn. It is built of smaller stone and stands lower. It has a distinct heel-shaped plan, almost semi-circular, with a slightly concave facade facing SE. Two slabs set back from the centre of the facade may mark a passage, but there is no clear sign of a central chamber.

The area to be scheduled is an irregular quadrilateral on plan, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract. It has sides of length 155m (SSW), 180m (WNW), 45m (N) and 220m (E), and includes all three cairns, the double enclosure and the ruined watchhouse, as well as an area around all of these in which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive. The Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar is excluded from scheduling.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a group of prehistoric burial cairns of varied types. Individually and as a group, these have the potential to provide important information about prehistoric ritual and funerary practices. The inter-relationship of the three cairns would be of particular interest if it could be established. The enclosure and watch-house provide examples of the continuing importance of hill-top sites.

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.

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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.