Midhowe Broch
Midhowe Broch
|
|
 Shown within Orkney Islands
|
|
| Location | Rousay |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 59°09′27″N 3°06′02″W / 59.157625°N 3.10046°W |
| Type | Broch |
| History | |
| Periods | Iron Age |
| Site notes | |
| Ownership | Historic Scotland |
| Public access | Yes |
Coordinates: 59°09′27″N 3°06′02″W / 59.157625°N 3.10046°W
Midhowe Broch is an iron-age broch located on the west coast of the island of Rousay in the Orkney Islands, in Scotland.
Midhowe Broch (grid reference HY37163061) is situated on a narrow promontory between two steep-sided creeks, on the north side of Eynhallow Sound. The broch is part of an ancient settlement, part of which has been lost to coastal erosion. The broch got its name from the fact that it's the middle of three similar structures that lie grouped within 500 metres of each other and Howe from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound or barrow.
The broch tower has an internal diameter of 9 metres within a wall 4.5 metres thick, which still stands to a height of over 4 metres. The broch interior is crowded with stone partitions, and there is a spring-fed water tank in the floor and a hearth with sockets which may have held a roasting spit.
The broch is surrounded by the remains of other lesser buildings, and a narrow entrance provides access into the defended settlement. The other buildings seem to have been built as adjacent houses, but later in the site’s history they were used as workshops, and one of these buildings still retains its iron-smelting hearth.
A short distance to the southeast is a large Neolithic chambered cairn known as Midhowe Chambered Cairn.
...
Wikipedia