BattlefieldsBattle of Skitten
Early Medieval

Battle of Skitten

944
Caithness, Scotland
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Caithness, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Earl MacBeth, Mormaer of Moray (Scots)
VS
Victor
Ljot Thorfinnsson, Earl of Orkney
Outcome
The Orkneyinga Saga records a short battle in which the surviving Scots fled, most of them wounded; Ljot was himself mortally wounded and later died of the wound.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Skitten was an early medieval pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought in the area of Caithness, Scotland in 944. Ljot Thorfinnsson, Earl of Orkney prevailed over Earl MacBeth, Mormaer of Moray (Scots). The Orkneyinga Saga records a short battle in which the surviving Scots fled, most of them wounded; Ljot was himself mortally wounded and later died of the wound.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Skitten lies on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Skitten

This page covers Battle of Skitten. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Skitten

Green Hill,broch 300m W of Mordwall
Green Hill,broch 300m W of Mordwall
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1.7 mi

Green Hill Broch is an Iron Age broch located 300 metres west of Mordwall in Caithness, Scotland. Brochs are distinctive circular stone towers unique to northern Britain, typically dating from the Iron Age. This example stands upon Middle Old Red Sandstone bedrock of Middle Devonian age, which wo…

Tannach Mains,broch 275m N of
Tannach Mains,broch 275m N of
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~2.8 mi

Tannach Mains is a Iron Age broch situated in Caithness, northern Scotland. The monument stands on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a mixed sequence of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone laid down during the Middle Devonian period. This local geology of relatively soft sedimentar…

Hempriggs, broch 200m S of
Hempriggs, broch 200m S of
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~3.1 mi

Hempriggs is a broch located 200 metres south of the settlement of Hempriggs in Caithness, Scotland. Brochs were Iron Age defensive structures built across northern Scotland between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. These distinctive round stone towers typically stood between 10 and 15 metre…

Castle Girnigoe and Castle Sinclair
Castle Girnigoe and Castle Sinclair
Scheduled monument · ~3.3 mi

Castle Girnigoe is a ruined late medieval and early modern fortress located on a headland near Wick in Caithness, northern Scotland. The castle was developed from the late 15th century onwards by the Sinclair family, earls of Caithness, with significant construction and modification continuing in…

North Bilbster, standing stone 120m W of
North Bilbster, standing stone 120m W of
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~3.5 mi

North Bilbster is a Bronze Age standing stone situated in Caithness, Scotland, standing 120 metres west of the settlement from which it takes its name. The monument rises from bedrock composed of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a formation of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone dating to th…

Thrumster Little,broch,Thrumster
Thrumster Little,broch,Thrumster
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~3.7 mi

Thrumster Little is a broch situated in Caithness, northern Scotland, and is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. Brochs are distinctive Iron Age stone towers that flourished in Scotland between roughly 100 BC and AD 100, characterised by their hollow-walled circula…

Ewen Rennie / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Stemster,broch 300m SSE of
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1 miles
Wick Airfield bomb stores, 315m and 400m SSE and 470m SE of Upper Ackergill
Scheduled monument · ~1.8 miles
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