Hillock of Breakna Broch 300m SE of Swanbister House Orphir, Scotland
Scheduled Monument Data
Hillock of Breakna Broch 300m SE of Swanbister House has been designated a scheduled monument in Scotland with the following information. Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since scheduling.
- Historic Scotland ID
- SM0
- Name
- Hillock of Breakna, broch 300m SE of Swanbister House
- Parish
- Orphir
- County
- Orkney Islands
- Easting
- 335330
- Northing
- 1005080
- Categories
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: broch
- Date Listed
- 10 January 1938
- Date Amended
- 24 February 2014
- Date Updated
- 24 February 2014
Scheduled Monument Description
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
The monument is a substantial broch mound dating probably from the Iron Age (between about 600 BC and AD 400). The broch mound is roughly oval in shape, measuring approximately 30m E-W by 25m transversely, and standing up to 2m high. The mound appears slightly truncated on its NW side, probably as a result of past ploughing. A trench dug E-W across the centre of the mound in antiquity reportedly revealed a section of curved drystone walling, which is no longer visible; a small turf-covered mound immediately NE of the broch mound may represent spoil from this trench. Several large stones with attached iron fixings on the mound surface may be associated with use of the site in World War I, when a flag pole or mast is reported to have been erected. The broch mound is located on level ground some 35m from the cliff edge, at 10m above sea level. It has extensive views over Swanbister Sound and beyond to Scapa Flow. The monument was first scheduled in 1938, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.
The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction and use is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.
Scheduled Monument Statement of Significance
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
This monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to our understanding of the past, in particular of Iron Age society in Orkney and the function, use and development of brochs. This is an impressive example of a large broch mound in an exceptionally rich archaeological landscape. Although the monument has seen some disturbance in antiquity, it is likely to retain its structural integrity and to preserve much of its original fabric. By analogy with excavated Orcadian brochs such as Howe of Howe, the Hillock of Breakna is expected to have a complex development sequence and to be rich in artefacts and other occupation debris. Its importance is enhanced because of its position in the landscape, which is undoubtedly significant. It could further our understanding of the function and siting of broch towers, the relationship between brochs, and the significance of these monuments to the societies that built and used them. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our ability to appreciate and understand the development, use and re-use of brochs, and the nature of Iron Age society, economy and social hierarchy, both in Orkney and further afield.
Scheduled Monument References
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
RCAHMS record the site as HY30NE 13.
References
Ballin Smith, B (ed) 1994, Howe, Four Millennia of Orkney Prehistory, Edinburgh, Soc Antiq Scot Monogr Ser 9.
Ballin Smith, B 2005, 'Orcadian brochs - complex settlements with complex origins'. In Turner, V E, Dockrill, S J, Nicholson, R A and Bond, J M (eds) 2005, Tall Stories? Two Millennia of Brochs, Shetland Amenity Trust: Lerwick, 66-77.
Mackie, E W 2002, The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c. 700 BC - AD 500: Architecture and Material Culture, Part 1: The Orkney and Shetland Isles, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser, 224.
RCAHMS, 1946 The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Twelfth Report with an Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Orkney and Shetland, 3v, Edinburgh, no 486, 175-6.
