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Olrig House Broch is an Iron Age stone tower situated in Caithness, northern Scotland, standing approximately 300 metres east of Olrig House. Built upon bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone formed during the Middle Devonian period, the broch occupies a landscape of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone typical of this region. The local geology would have provided ready sources of stone for construction, though the builder's choice of materials and building technique reflects the distinctive broch tradition of northern Scotland.
Brochs are circular drystone towers characteristic of the Scottish Iron Age, concentrated particularly in the north and west. These structures typically measure between 10 and 15 metres in external diameter, with hollow-walled construction incorporating chambers and galleries within the thickness of the walls. The Olrig House broch represents one of numerous examples distributed across Caithness and the Northern Isles, a region where such monuments are especially prevalent.
The broch is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM571, recognising its significance as a scheduled monument. These Iron Age structures remain among the most imposing and enigmatic monuments of Scotland's prehistoric past, their precise functions—whether defensive, domestic, ceremonial or a combination—continuing to engage archaeological interpretation and study.
Olrig House,broch 300m E of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM571. View the official record →
Olrig House Broch is an Iron Age stone tower situated in Caithness, northern Scotland, standing approximately 300 metres east of Olrig House. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM571.
Olrig House,broch 300m E of dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a broch. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Olrig House,broch 300m E of 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 SM571.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Stemster, long cairn 790m NNW of Roadside (4 km), Sinclair's Sithean,long cairn 1300m NW of Stemster (4.5 km), Sordale Hill,Cnoc na Ciste,chambered cairn (5.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Olrig House,broch 300m E of'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.
Olrig House,broch 300m E of stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.