<< Our Photo Pages >> Knowe of Verron - Broch or Nuraghe in Scotland in Orkney
Submitted by howar on Wednesday, 25 August 2004 Page Views: 5578
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Knowe of VerronCountry: Scotland County: Orkney Type: Broch or Nuraghe
Nearest Town: Finstown Nearest Village: Dounby
Map Ref: HY231198
Latitude: 59.058215N Longitude: 3.342523W
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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SandyG has visited here
RCAHMS NMRS record no. HY21NW 22 is a probable broch 66' NS x 75' EW x 5'8" high, the top excavated early.
Built over a midden containing broch-style pottery. Two structures were found in the coastal exposure, the later one poorly preserved. The earlier one was sub-rectangular or oval with a flagged floor, internal fittings and a large hearth. It was in the later one, with its paved floor and probable flue, that peat ash and metalworking remains were found - the vitrified base of a possible furnace was stolen before the limited 2001 dig.
I harboured slight doubts of its status when I was there too. It is in a similarly precarious position to the Broch of Borwick at Yesnaby but without the wall height to keep you out. As I came to the broch remains all I saw was a short grass mound, and in the modern-times excavated cliff edge I could see a gallery wall sticking out. The 'back' of the site is well protected by a sharp deep sea inlet to the cliffs, calling to mind the Brough of Bigging in Yesnaby. There are traces of early diggings when you are on the broch (even on the grassy top I was careful). This I found out about back home but this doesn't tell you about the square pit there, so could it have been revealed not long ago ? Smallish relatively deep slab-lined square pit and stones surrounding the top. Exquisite. Nearer the cliff edge there are other areas of stone I could make nothing of, could find not even the slightest viewpoint to make them worth a photo.
Looking over the cliff at the recorded excavation I could see the slabs of a rectangular structure and I thought there was something alongside. I could also see the edges of black material coming through the cut, placed there after the exploratory excavation of the eroding section. The weather being fine and dry I gingerly crept down onto the cliff exposure using some of the bigger stones as lightly as possible in order to disturb nothing. I had hoped from down here that the nondescript stone scatters above might show something but still no. You can still see some of the midden material on the 'floor'. Looking from left to right there's the slab-sided structure, the seeming outline only of another structure, some of the gallery wall sticking out (as is often the case with these cliff-eroding sites) and then further up the cliff face a couple of spaced small protruding boulders (including a well-rounded ovoid) that gave the appearance of being the ends of a 'cupboard' or niche.
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