<< Our Photo Pages >> Pund's Water - Chambered Cairn in Scotland in Shetland
Submitted by PAB on Thursday, 15 February 2001 Page Views: 12702
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Pund's Water Alternative Name: Pundswater Neolithic Tomb and HouseCountry: Scotland County: Shetland Type: Chambered Cairn
Map Ref: HU32457124 Landranger Map Number: 3
Latitude: 60.423705N Longitude: 1.412509W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Pund's Water is reported to be the site of the best surviving 'heel-shaped' cairn on Mainland Shetland. The cairn stands on a plateau above the south shore of the loch known as Punds Water, and it is possible to obtain an almost aerial-view perspective from a nearby hilltop from which the 'heel-like' shape is much more easily recognized. From the same vantage point (HU 32653 71169), a further site can also be seen above the opposite bank, thought by some writers to be a contemporary homestead.
As with other sites visited in Shetland, the description given in Peter Guy's guide (Walking the coastline of Shetland, No. 4: Northmavine, ISBN:1904746179) was too succinct to need changing: "On a plateau above the south shore (of Punds Water loch) a mound of stones will be seen which closer inspection will reveal to be the best heel-shaped cairn on Mainland Shetland. It is estimated to have a 50ft façade, the outer ends of which are prolonged into horns. At the centre of the façade a roofless entrance leads to a roofless, trefoil shaped cairn chamber 6ft square. Build of white granite boulders, measuring 2ft x 1ft, it rises some 5ft above the surface of the knoll on which it stands. The walls of the chamber, which still stand 4ft 9ins high, are built in regular courses of masonry without any use of upright slabs. …. The roof of the cairn has collapsed inwards."
There are section and plan drawings of the cairn on the website of RCAHMS (Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland), together with sources of reference
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