caithness-1911/05_172

Transcription

[Page] 94 -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF REAY.

edge some 600 or 700 yards NNW. of the farm of Borrowston Mains
are the ruin of a broch. The walls seem to have gradually settled
down and disintegrated, so that the ruin is now in appearance a
penannular ring of slaty fragments some 12' high broadening to the
base, but with the interior comparatively free from debris. The ring
is incomplete by reason that on the NE. a narrow goe has eaten its
way so far into the rock as to have entirely undermined the broch
wall in that direction, and brought about its fall. Nor is the destruc-
tion of the wall the only evidence of erosion, for 35' out from the
inner end of the geo is exposed on the surface the ragged section of
a bank of earth and stone, which originally formed a defence to the
seaward of the broch some 22' distant from its base. The entrance
has been apparently through the portion of the wall which has
fallen on the NE. The thickness of the wall is some 14' to 15' and
the diameter of the interior about 43'. At several places the outer
and inner faces of the wall are visible beneath the debris. The tower
appears to have been surrounded at 2' 7" from its base by a wall,
visible at the edge of the geo, 4' 9" in thickness. Some 22' from the
tower are the remains of the encircling bank, a section of which is
visible on the side of the geo, and which appears to have been
surmounted by a wall, a small portion of which, displaced, is visible
on the E. In front of this rampart is a ditch some 18' in width, and
now, at most, about 4' in depth, with a low mound along the top of
the counterscarp.
The O.S. map indicates that a stone cist containing human remains
was found near the spot in 1871.
O.S.M., CAITH., ("Broughs"). Visited, 16th September 1910.

349. Broch, "Knock Urray," Lower Dounreay. - About 1/2 m. S. of
Dounreay farm-house is a grassy mound on the top of which are the
ruins of a broch. It is situated partially in two fields, the dyke
passing across the centre. The diameter over all is some 87' and of
the area containing the broch about 54'. The greatest elevation is
about 10'. Ruins are visible on the E. side but no wall face appears.
There are traces of a surrounding ditch.

350. Broch, "Achbuiligan Tulloch," Upper Dounreay. - In a field
about 100 yards NE. of Loch Achbuiligan and about  1/2 m. WSW. of
Upper Dounreay, is a grassy mound containing the ruins of a broch
situated towards its SW. end. The area covered by the broch
measures approximately 60' and the depression marking the interior
about 27', but no wall faces are exposed. On the SW. the slope is
steep and has an elevation of 13', while from the opposite direction
the ground rises gradually. On the N. the ruin has been pillaged to
some extent.
O.S.M., CAITH., x. Visited, 25th August 1910.

351. Broch, Achunabust. - About 100 yards NW. of Achunabust
farm-house is a grassy hillock containing the ruins of a broch.
The outline of the tower is visible at one or two points and
indicates a diameter over all of about 53'. On the W. a chamber
has been exposed by the falling in of the roof. The greatest height