The ‘Little Barnhouse’ mound

Monday, September 28, 2020 (7:30 AM)

The structure was altogether a singularly complete one and, being circular, would stand considerable pressure on all sides. The one weak point was the wide roof, which may have been brought down partly by its own weight.

Aerial view of the Little Barnhouse mound in 2023. (Tom O'Brien) — Aerial view of the Little Barnhouse mound in 2023. (📷 Tom O’Brien)

By Sigurd Towrie

For many years, any large mound in Orkney was assumed to be one of two things – a broch or a chambered cairn.

When that mound sits about a mile to the west of Maeshowe, on the outskirts of what is now the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, the chambered cairn designation was inevitable.

Just outside Stenness village, and opposite the Standing Stones Hotel, is a large oval mound. The tumulus was given scheduled monument status in 2002 and assigned the name “Little Barnhouse”.

Measurements in 1946 put the mound’s diameter at 50.3m and by 42.1m, making it larger than Maeshowe, although it was acknowledged that the construction of the modern road had cut into its northern side.

Strangely, the nature of the mound was the subject of debate for decades, with some saying it was artificial while others were adamant it was natural.

The location of the 'Little Barnhouse' mound, Stenness. — The location of the ‘Little Barnhouse’ mound, Stenness. (http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1137023)

Why strange?

Because the mound was “excavated” in the early 1890s and found to contain a three-metre-diameter chamber with a flagstone roof.

This was accessed via a 3.2-metre-long, paved entrance passage (0.76m high and wide) [1] on the eastern side [2]:

“The chamber is circular in shape and ten feet in diameter. Its walls are built with stone and are a good specimen of mason work. The roof was composed of large flagstones, one of them being two feet thick (the main beam, as it were, of the roof) and these were supported by the side walls and by stone pillars in addition, and over the flagstones there were placed safe stones for additional support of the earth above them.

“The flagstones, however, had given way and the roof fallen in, but the height of the chamber had been probably seven feet or thereby.

“The passage leading into the chamber from without was 10 feet 6 inches in length and 2 feet 6 inches in width and in height, so that entrance could only be obtained by creeping upon the hands and knees. The passage was paved with stones and the floor of the chamber was composed of two courses of mason work.

“The structure was altogether a singularly complete one and, being circular, would stand considerable pressure on all sides. The one weak point was the wide roof, which may have been brought down partly by its own weight.”

Henry Learmonth, landowner, Stenness [1]

A few years later, in 1899, outlining the ancient monuments of Stenness to a visiting group of Irish antiquarians, James Cursiter, a native of the county, wrote:

“[A]lmost opposite the Stennis (sic) Hotel, there is a glacial moraine, in which was discovered, about four years ago, a single-chamber burial-place, constructed of heavy stones, and having a drain-like entrance.” [3]

Although the available details are scant, elements are certainly suggestive of a chambered cairn, e.g., the long, low, and narrow entrance passage. But a circular chamber is not something you would expect in any known type of Neolithic chambered cairn.

The only information available on the mound’s opening comes from the 1891 and 1893 newspaper reports and Cursiter’s brief comment. As a result, the 19^th century excavation seems to have been forgotten about.

In 1946, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) recorded that the mound was “apparently artificial” but that “so far as is known no discoveries have been recorded”.

The Little Barnhouse mound by the side of the main Kirkwall-Stromness road. (Sigurd Towrie) — The Little Barnhouse mound by the side of the main Kirkwall-Stromness road. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Based on the size, the RCAHMS considered “it may be chambered”.

By 1966, 75 years after the “excavation”, the mound was described as “probably natural”. [4]

Geophysics scans in 2001 showed that around a third of the mound had been lost due to the 19th century road improvements beside it.

Despite the damage, however, a complex series of archaeological features remained. [5]

A two-metre-wide ditch – perhaps partially revetted – may have surrounded the mound while other linear features noted outside may represent secondary ditches or banks.

The survey results suggested a chamber/passage in the north-eastern quadrant and possibly a second in the south.

High magnetic responses from the top of the mound suggested repeated episodes of burning – either bonfires or perhaps a formalised fire setting – surrounded by a circular bank. [5]

Little Barnhouse mound. (Sigurd Towrie) — Little Barnhouse mound. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

The 1891 Orkney Herald report’s references to depressions on top of the mound may relate to this. [2]

While the survey report did not discount the possibility that the structure represented a chambered cairn, it was considered unlikely given the burning activity noted around the mound.

The aforementioned circular inner chamber also casts doubt on this interpretation.

Instead, the geophysics results favoured an Iron Age date, although the nature of the site remained unclear.

However, it must be remembered that we could be looking at a multi-period site – perhaps the Iron Age reuse or remodelling of a much-earlier structure.

At the Ness we don’t have to look far to see an example, with the revetted ditch cut into the Trench T midden mound and which enclosed a circular stone construction on top.

An early 20th century account of the Ness mound also stated that ash and burnt stone covered its surface – perhaps echoing the burning activity suggested by geophysics at Little Barnhouse.

But, as always, only excavation holds the answers.

Notes

[1] The Orkney Herald. November 8, 1893.
[2] The Orkney Herald. March 4, 1891.
[3] Journal of the Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1899). University Press: Dublin. Pg 282.
[4] https://canmore.org.uk/site/2110/standing-stones-hotel
[5] Challands, A. (2001) Report on the Geophysical Survey at Little Barnhouse, Stenness, Orkney (Archaeological Geophysics Rep No. AC/01/03).