Scheduled MonumentsScotlandWhitegate Broch

Whitegate Broch

Scotland
HES SM13621
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Whitegate Broch is a prehistoric circular stone tower located in Caithness in the far north of Scotland. The monument dates to the Iron Age, a period when broch construction was prevalent in northern Britain, typically between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD. The structure represents the characteristic architectural form of a broch, featuring a hollow-walled circular tower that would have served defensive and domestic purposes for the local population. Like many brochs in the region, Whitegate Broch provides evidence of Iron Age settlement patterns and architectural sophistication in the Scottish Highlands.

Whitegate Broch is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13621. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Whitegate Broch?

Whitegate Broch is a prehistoric circular stone tower located in Caithness in the far north of Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13621.

Who is responsible for protecting Whitegate Broch?

Whitegate Broch 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 SM13621.

What other scheduled monuments are near Whitegate Broch?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Keiss Broch (0.2 km), Keiss Castle,350m SSE of Square of Keiss (0.5 km), Kirk Tofts,broch,Keiss (0.6 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Whitegate Broch

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Whitegate Broch's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Whitegate Broch

Whitegate Broch stands on Middle Devonian sandstone, bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is major:{sandstone}, Minor{siltstone,marl}.