caithness-1911/05_211

Transcription

[Page] 126 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF THURSO.

directly one above the other, with a clear space between. The shaft
at the bottom curves slightly to the right, and measures 4' x 2'. The
lower portion is entirely cut out of the rock. The depth from the
level of the original building to the lowest exposed floor is 9' 2".
O.S.M., CAITH., xi. ("Broughs"). Visited, 17th August 1910.

The O.S. maps indicate sites as under -:

456. Castle of Haimer, Haimer. -- O.S.M., CAITH., v.
457. Ormelie Castle, Thurso. -- O.S.M., CAITH., v.
458. Bishop's Bridge, near Thurso Castle. -- O.S.M., CAITH., v.

PARISH OF WATTEN.

ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURES.

459. Chapel (in ruins), Old Hall of Dunn. - About 1/4 m. S. by W. of
Old Hall farm-house, within a graveyard, are the ruins of an old
church. It measures interiorly 48' x 18', has its entrance door in the
E. end, and two elliptical arched windows in the S. wall. It appears
to be a building of late date. Beneath the W. half of the church is a
burial vault which may belong to an earlier structure.
O.S.M., CAITH., xviii. Visited, 25th May 1910.

460. Chapel (remains of), The Clow. - At a spot known as The
Clow, where the Southal Burn makes a sharp turn towards the E.
from its northward course at the upper end of the Scouthal wood, are
the fragmentary remains of a chapel. It appears to have consisted of
a chancel and nave, the former measuring interiorly 14' x 10', and the
latter 26' or 27' x 16'. The walls have been some 4' in thickness. A
faced opening through the E. wall of the chancel near the N. side seems
to indicate an entrance, while a depression in the mound covering
the S. wall of the nave near its W. end probably marks the doorway
into that portion of the church. The base of the wall separating the
two areas has been some 4' 6" in thickness. The walls appear to have
been built without mortar. The wall of the nave in places on the
interior is visible for some 3' in height, otherwise it is overgrown
with turf. To the W. of the ruin is an old enclosure and several
foundations of old rectangular buildings around it. It is stated to
have been ruinous in 1726, when it was used as the burial-place
only of strangers and unbaptised children.
See Macfarlane's Geog. Coll., i. p. 180.
O.S.M., CAITH.,xxiii. Visited, 27th May 1910.

DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.

461. Broch, Old Hall of Dunn. - Some 200 yards S. of Old
Hall is a grass-covered stony mound, probably covering the ruins of
a broch. A few flat stones are visible on the surface, but there is no
accurate indication either of the extent of the ruin or of its character.
The mound at highest has an elevation of some 4'. The situation of
the mound is on the top of a high bank above a burn, and for a
distance of some 30' there remains a low segmental rampart along