caithness-1911/05_213

Transcription

[Page] 128 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF WATTEN.

(pl. XLII.) on the sides and summit of which much shaley stone has
been exposed. The mound is somewhat oval on plan, with its longest
axis E. and W. At an elevation of some 8' or 9' on the N. and S.
sides, and gradually diminishing to 2' or 3' at the E. and W. ends, is
a terrace, or glacis, some 12' to 14' in width. Along the outer edge
of this terrace on the N. are visible the remains of a wall or stony
rampart now some 8' to 10' broad at base. The upper portion of the
hillock, which contains the ruins of the broch, measures in diameter
from E. to W. about 108' and from N. to S. about 78'. Its elevation
from the level of the terrace at the E. and W. ends is some 14', and
from the N. and S. about 9' 6". The lower part of the hillock as
well as the upper is to some extent artificial.

[Plan inserted.]
FIG. 30. - Broch, "Bail a' Chairn," Acharole (No. 466) ; Ground-plan.

This broch was almost completely excavated in 1904 by the
late Sir Francis Tress Barry. A plan made during the course of
the excavation is here reproduced. The entrance to the broch
was on the E. side. Outside the main building it passed through
what appeared to be an outer casing wall for a distance of some 22',
and was provided with a door at 5', and probably also with another
at 14', from the outside. On the right-hand side, some 5' in from
the outer door, was a guard chamber. The width of this portion of
the entrance was at its outer end 2', and where it joined the main
wall about 4'. The passage through the main wall was some 14' in
length and some 3' in width at its commencement. At [Scored out] 11' inwards
from the outer face was a rebate for a door, beyond which the passage
expanded to about 4' in width. The covering slabs remained in situ
over the greater part of the main passage, which measured some
5' 6" in height. The interior diameter of the broch was about [Scored out] 30'.
At 25', measured direct, from the inner end of the entrance passage