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Berriedale Water cairn 250 metres north-north-west of Millery is a prehistoric burial monument situated in the far north of Caithness, Scotland. The cairn occupies the Moine psammite bedrock that underlies this windswept northern landscape, a metamorphic geology dating to the Neoproterozoic and typical of the Sutherland and Caithness highlands. The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland and registered under reference SM422.
The cairn represents the funerary practice of northern Scotland's prehistoric populations, constructed from stones gathered across ground that would have been open moorland since the clearance of the post-glacial woodlands. The Moine psammite substrate, a metamorphosed sandy sediment, would have provided workable stone for the cairn's construction and would have influenced the character of the surrounding landscape visible to its builders.
The monument survives as evidence of Bronze Age or Iron Age settlement patterns in Caithness, a region marked by scattered cairns and domestic sites. Its location near Berriedale Water, in this remote corner of the Scottish Highlands, reflects the distribution of prehistoric communities across terrain that remains sparsely populated today. The cairn's survival has allowed it to remain a significant archaeological asset for understanding the burial customs and territorial organisation of far northern Scotland.
Berriedale Water, cairn 250m NNW of Millery is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM422. View the official record →
Berriedale Water cairn 250 metres north-north-west of Millery is a prehistoric burial monument situated in the far north of Caithness, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM422.
Berriedale Water, cairn 250m NNW of Millery is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM422.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Langwell Castle or Achastle,230m E of Langwell House (3 km), Langwell House,cairn 400m SW of,Berriedale (3.2 km), Langwell Plantation,souterrain 130m W of Kennels (3.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Berriedale Water, cairn 250m NNW of Millery's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Berriedale Water, cairn 250m NNW of Millery stands on Moine Supergroup, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite.