caithness-1911/05_086

Transcription

[Page] 22 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF DUNNET.

the whole exterior of church and tower obscures the style of masonry
and evidence of the alterations, which have probably been effected in
the windows and doors, as well as its few architectural details. The
W. doorway in the N. wall has escaped alteration, except that it is
built up. It is round-arched, with a broad splay continued down the
jambs, and from its position and character it undoubtedly dates from
pre-Reformation times. In width it measures 2' 3", but its height
is unascertainable owing to the raising of the churchyard level.
The tower in the centre of the W. front measures 19' 4" from E. to
W. by 20' 4" from N. to S., with walls 3' 6" to 4' in thickness, and
is finished with a saddle-back roof alignment with the church roof.
It has square-headed windows in the gable of the bell chamber,
with a few other small windows partly lighting the staircase, which
projects into the tower at one corner. This staircase is an unaltered
feature, and its construction and the style of its splayed doorways
closely resemble those frequently found in castles and churches of
the 16th and earlier centuries. It is an interesting fact that Timothy
Pont, the well-known early geographer of Scotland, was the minister
of this church during the first decade of the 17th century.
See Origines, ii., pt. ii. p. 789.
O.S.M., CAITH., vi. Visited, 18th August 1910.

DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.

62. Broch, Scarfskerry. - On a short promontory rock, about 1/2 m.
to the W. of Scarfskerry Post Office, are the fragmentary remains of a
structure, probably a broch. The building has occupied the whole of
the outer end of the promontory now some 30' in breadth, but the
crumbling away of the rock has considerably curtailed its dimensions.
The whole is overgrown with grass and no part of the structure is
visible. Across the landward end of the promontory a trench has
been dug.
O.S.M., CAITH., ii. Visited, 14th September 1910.

63. Broch, Murza. - About 1/2 m. ESE. of Murza farm, in a field, is
a mound which contains the ruins of a broch. (The ground being
under crop at the date of visit no details were obtainable.)
O.S.M., CAITH., xiii. Visited, 19th September 1910.

64. Broch (supposed), Ha' of Greenland. - About 1/3 m. SE. of
the farm of Ha' of Greenland, situated in the middle of a cultivated
field, is an artificial mound much reduced by ploughing. There is no
definite indication of its character, but it probably covers the remains
of a broch.
O.S.M., CAITH., vi. ("Mound"). Visited, 19th September 1910.

EARTH-HOUSE.

[Margin] Ch. [Chambered] Cairn
65. [Scored out] Earth-house, Ham. - On the E. side of a small geo about 1/2 m.
NW. of Ham harbour is an earth-house or chambered mound (fig. 7).
A grassy mound some 62' in diameter and 6' in elevation is situated at
the edge of the cliffs. At several places small excavations have been
made in it disclosing its artificial character. Entering from S. by W.