caithness-1911/05_203

Transcription

INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS, ETC., IN COUNTY OF CAITHNESS. [Page] 119

PARISH OF THURSO.

so that there is now no definite indication of its character. This is
possibly the "Pict's House" referred to by Bishop Pococke in 1760.
See Pococke's Tours, p. 133.
O.S.M., CAITH., xi. Visited, 13th August 1910.

431. Broch, "Bell Mount," Scrabster. - On the top of an eminence
in a grass park about 1/2 m. NW. of Scrabster House, are the remains
of a broch now of slight elevation and overgrown with turf. The
diameter seems to be about 54', but no part of the structure is
visible.
O.S.M., CAITH., v. Visited, 13th August 1910.

432. Broch, "Thing's Va" Scrabster. - At the edge of the moorland
towards the S. end of Scrabster Hill is situated the broch of "Thing's
Va," which has been partially excavated. It has stood on a mound
cut off from the higher level to the N. by a ditch some 30' in width,
8' in depth below the top of the scarp, and about 4' below the top
of the bank above the counterscarp. The broch has occupied the
centre of the mound some 18' to 20' back from the edge of the ditch.
The entrance-passage has been from the SE., and appears to have
been 15' in length and 3' 6" in width at the outer end. At 3' 10"
inwards on either side the passage expands to 4' 3", forming checks
for a door, faced with slabs set edgewise into the wall, constricting the
passage-way between them to 2' 10". On the right of the passage
behind the door checks there has evidently been the entrance to a
guard chamber, the inner edge of which is visible, but neither passage
nor chamber are cleared of debris. At 8' inwards from the first
door checks are another pair of slabs, opposite to each other, set
edgewise into the walls. Beyond this the left wall is concealed by
a secondary wall curving round to the right into the interior of the
broch, which has not been cleared out. The left wall of the passage
exists to a height of about 4', and the right to about 3', and it is
roofless throughout. The inner face of the main wall of the broch
is exposed at several points, indicating an interior diameter of about
30'. The exterior is not laid bare. In addition to the secondary
wall at the end of the passage another is visible some 9' to the left
of it in the interior. The diameter of the mound across the top of
the broch is about 110'.
The name given to this broch is a corruption of the old Norse
term "Thing-völlr," meaning the site of the "thing" or local assembly,
or court of laws.

433. Broch, Scrabster. - Some 60 yards E. of Thing's Va broch is a
low grassy mound, with a diameter over all of about 70' and an
elevation of about 6', which has to some extent been quarried into
from the N. side. It has the appearance of a broch.
O.S.M., CAITH., v. Visited, 17th August 1910.

434. Broch, "Brimside Tulloch," Lythemore. - About 1/2 m. NNW.
of Lythemore, at the upper end of a field which lies between the
Forss Water and the road from Milton to Forss, are the ruins of a
broch. The outer face of the wall is at several places exposed,
indicating a diameter over all of some 58'. The greatest elevation
is 4' to 5'. A considerable amount of stone is exposed on the surface,