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Langwell House Cairn is a Bronze Age burial monument located 400 metres south-west of Berriedale in Caithness, north Scotland. The cairn sits upon Middle Old Red Sandstone bedrock, a foundation of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone dating to the Middle Devonian period. This geological base provides the context for the monument's position within a landscape shaped by ancient sedimentary deposits.
The cairn represents a form of funerary architecture common throughout Bronze Age Scotland, constructed as a mound of stone to mark the burial place of significant individuals or communities. The Caithness region contains numerous examples of such monuments, reflecting the widespread practice of monumental burial construction during this period. The site's location in the gently rolling terrain of this northernmost Scottish county is typical of Bronze Age settlement and ceremonial activity in the area.
The cairn is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM460, ensuring its preservation for future study and public understanding. Archaeological monuments of this age and type remain important sources of evidence for Bronze Age burial practices, social organisation and land use across northern Scotland. The monument contributes to our understanding of how ancient communities engaged with and marked their landscape.
Langwell House,cairn 400m SW of,Berriedale is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM460. View the official record →
Langwell House Cairn is a Bronze Age burial monument located 400 metres south-west of Berriedale in Caithness, north Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM460.
Langwell House,cairn 400m SW of,Berriedale 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 SM460.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Langwell Castle or Achastle,230m E of Langwell House (0.7 km), Langwell Plantation,souterrain 130m W of Kennels (0.9 km), Borgue Langwell, broch, outworks and later settlement, Berriedale (1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Langwell House,cairn 400m SW of,Berriedale'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.
Langwell House,cairn 400m SW of,Berriedale stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.