caithness-1911/05_164

Transcription

INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS, ETC., IN COUNTY OF CAITHNESS. [Page] 87

PARISH OF OLRIG.

DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.

318. Broch, Thurdistoft. - In the middle of a cultivated field about
1/4 m. S. by W. of the farm of Thurdistoft, to the E. of Castletown, are
the remains of a broch. The outer face of the wall is exposed almost
all round to a height of from 2' to 3', but the exact position of the
entrance is obscured by vegetation. The diameter over all is 66'
and the greatest elevation about 6'. There is no indication that the
interior has been excavated.
O.S.M., CAITH,. vi., ('Mound"). Visited, 18th August 1910.

319 Broch, Murkle. - About 1/2 m. SSE. of West Murkle farm
buildings is a grassy hillock on the top of which are the remains of
a broch. The lower slope, which is steeply scarped, has an elevation
of about 8', and between its upper edge and the higher portion of the
hillock containing the broch is a level area measuring some 28' to 30'
in width. The upper mound has a diameter of about 60' and an eleva-
tion of about 8'. No part of the structure is visible. The hillock has
to some extent been ploughed down and broken into on the E. side.
The O.S. map indicates that human remains and querns were
found here.
O.S.M., CAITH., vi. ("Cairn'). Visited, 23rd August 1910.

320. Broch, Castlehill, Castletown. - At the edge of a field just
above the shore road, a short distance to the W. of Castlehill quarries,
Castletown, is a grassy mound which contains the ruins of a broch.
It has been pillaged to some extent from the S. side. The remaining
portion has a diameter of about 54' and an elevation of 7'.
On the top of this mound there was discovered in 1786 an un-
burnt burial beneath a flat stone and quite near the surface. With
the skeleton were two oval bowl-shaped brooches of brass, gilded
and surrounded by thin plaited silver cord. The convex surface is
ornamented with four figures with horses' heads in high relief and
with chased work characteristic of the Norse Viking period. With the
brooches were also a bracelet of coarse jet, and a bone pin 4" in length.
With the exception of one of the brooches, which is in the
Museum of Old Northern Antiquities at Copenhagen, the relics are
preserved in the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh.
See Anderson, The Iron Age, p. 43.
O.S.M., CAITH., vi. Visited 23rd August 1910.

321. Broch, Sibmister. - Immediately to the N. of Sibmister farm
is a high grassy hillock on the top of which there are evidently the
remains of a broch. The scarp of the hillock, which is steep, rises to
a height of about 18' on the W. and somewhat less on the other side,
and towards the top of it the face of a revetment is exposed. The
broch, which has an elevation of about 6', has been situated some
20' to 30' back from the top of the scarp. The outline of the ruin
is very indefinite, but the diameter appears to be about 56'. The top
of the hillock over all measures some 110' in diameter.
O.S.M., CAITH., vi. ("Cairn of Sibmister").
Visited, 31st August 1910.

322. Broch (supposed), Olrig Glebe. - About 180 yards S.W. of the
Manse of Olrig, in the cultivated land of the glebe, is a stony mound