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Torr Beag is a Neolithic chambered cairn located in Caithness, approximately 500 metres north-east of Beinn Freiceadain near Brawlbin. The monument sits on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a conglomerate and sandstone formation laid down in the Middle Devonian period, which would have provided accessible stone for the cairn's construction. The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under scheduling reference SM490.
Chambered cairns of this type date to the Neolithic period and typically served as communal burial monuments, their stone chambers designed to accommodate successive interments over generations. The exposed location on the Caithness uplands, with its abundant local stone resources, offered ideal conditions for monument construction and placed the site within the wider landscape of prehistoric ritual and settlement.
The survival of Torr Beag, despite its exposure to harsh upland weather and potential disturbance, testament to the substantial construction methods employed by Neolithic builders. The cairn remains an important archaeological record of funerary practices and social organisation in northern Scotland during the Neolithic, reflecting the long-established traditions of chambered tomb building that spread across much of Britain during this period.
Torr Beag, chambered cairn 500m NE of Beinn Freiceadain, Brawlbin is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM490. View the official record →
Torr Beag is a Neolithic chambered cairn located in Caithness, approximately 500 metres north-east of Beinn Freiceadain near Brawlbin. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM490.
Torr Beag, chambered cairn 500m NE of Beinn Freiceadain, Brawlbin dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a chambered cairn 500m ne of beinn freiceadain, brawlbin. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Torr Beag, chambered cairn 500m NE of Beinn Freiceadain, Brawlbin 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 SM490.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Torr Mor,cairn 500m NNE of Beinn Freiceadain,Brawlbin (0.2 km), Brawlbin,hut circle 550m NE of Beinn Freiceadain (0.2 km), Torr Phadruig,hut circle 730m NE of Beinn Freiceadain,Brawlbin (0.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Torr Beag, chambered cairn 500m NE of Beinn Freiceadain, Brawlbin'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.
Torr Beag, chambered cairn 500m NE of Beinn Freiceadain, Brawlbin stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.