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Watenan Broch, located 140 metres north of Ulbster in Caithness, is an Iron Age broch built upon Middle Old Red Sandstone bedrock. The underlying geology, consisting of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone deposited during the Middle Devonian period, provided the raw material for the broch's construction. This substantial stone tower represents the characteristic settlement form of Iron Age northern Scotland, when such structures served as defended homesteads for prosperous farming communities.
The broch's position on the Caithness landscape, with its solid foundation in the local red sandstone, exemplifies how Iron Age builders exploited geological resources to create monumentally durable structures. The surrounding terrain, typical of the far north with its exposed bedrock and marginal soils, would have supported pastoral farming activities. Such brochs functioned as power bases within their immediate territories, their imposing towers visible across considerable distances and reinforcing the status of their inhabitants.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under designation SM696, recognising its archaeological significance. As one of approximately 500 brochs surviving in Scotland, primarily concentrated in the Highlands and islands, Watenan represents an important surviving example of Iron Age architectural innovation and social organisation from the 1st centuries BC and AD.
Watenan,broch 140m N of,Ulbster is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM696. View the official record →
Watenan Broch, located 140 metres north of Ulbster in Caithness, is an Iron Age broch built upon Middle Old Red Sandstone bedrock. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM696.
Watenan,broch 140m N of,Ulbster dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a broch 140m n of,ulbster. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Watenan,broch 140m N of,Ulbster 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 SM696.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Watenan,fort 100m SSW of,Ulbster (0.3 km), Cairn of Get, chambered cairn, cairns and cists (0.6 km), Broughwhin, cairn and stone row 190m NW of Groat's Loch (0.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Watenan,broch 140m N of,Ulbster'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.
Watenan,broch 140m N of,Ulbster stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.