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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 would have provided readily available building stone in the form of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. The local geology made construction feasible, though the precise quarrying and construction methods employed here remain characteristic of the broch-building tradition across northern Scotland.
The broch form—a hollow-walled circular structure with internal galleries—provided defensive and communal functions for Iron Age communities. Green Hill's position in Caithness places it within the region's significant concentration of such monuments, reflecting the area's importance during the Iron Age.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM553, ensuring its preservation for future study and public understanding of Iron Age settlement patterns in northern Scotland.
Green Hill,broch 300m W of Mordwall is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM553. View the official record →
Green Hill Broch is an Iron Age broch located 300 metres west of Mordwall in Caithness, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM553.
Green Hill,broch 300m W of Mordwall dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a broch 300m w of mordwall. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Green Hill,broch 300m W of Mordwall 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 SM553.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Wick Airfield bomb stores, 315m and 400m SSE and 470m SE of Upper Ackergill (3.7 km), Stemster,broch 300m SSE of (4.3 km), The Pap,broch 350m E of Hillhead (5.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Green Hill,broch 300m W of Mordwall'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.
Green Hill,broch 300m W of Mordwall stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.