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Vementry

Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)

Site Name Vementry

Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic)

Alternative Name(s) Muckle Ward

Canmore ID 458

Site Number HU26SE 1

NGR HU 29567 60957

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/458

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Shetland Islands
  • Parish Sandsting
  • Former Region Shetland Islands Area
  • Former District Shetland
  • Former County Shetland

Archaeology Notes

HU26SE 1 2956 6096.

(HU 2955 6094) Watch Tower (OE)

OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed. (1903)

A heel-shaped, chambered cairn consisting of a platform, heel-shaped in plan and measuring 33' from back to front, within which rises a circular cairn, 26' in diameter and now existing to a height of 5' to 6'. A well preserved and impressive facade 36' across forms the SSE side of the platform. The entrance is from behind the centre of the facade which shows no break.

A S Henshall 1963, (ZET 45).

As described and planned by Henshall.

Visited by OS(WDJ) 10 June 1968

Activities

Field Visit (19 June 1931)

Heel-shaped Cairn, Vementry.

The island of Vementry is a detached portion of the greatly eroded N coast of the Walls-Sandsting peninsula. It consists of a stretch of rocky, heathery moorland with lochs in the hollows, but on the N. it rises to a height of 298 ft. above the sea, in a hill named Muckle Ward. On the summit of this is a burial cairn which, though unique in some particulars, belongs to the ‘heel-shaped’ type of chambered cairn that is peculiar to Shetland (1), and is indeed the best preserved example of the class. The characteristic slightly curved facade is complete and the cairn is less dilapidated than that at Punds Water (No. 1367).

The Vementry monument consists of a burial chamber with a stone-built foundation. The foundation, which, in the present state of the structure, has the appearance of a platform, shows the plan that is typical of this class of structure; but here the outline is less triangular than at Punds Water (No. 1367), having more the shape of a bell seen in profile. The chamber is circular in outline and was perhaps originally domical in shape; it has a very thick wall, still standing about 5 ft. above the foundation, * which shows a carefully built wall-face all round the circumference. On the N.W. side the lowest course of the chamber wall is set back about 2 ft. from the edge of the foundation and is concentric with it; this relation between the two is maintained for about half the circumference, but towards the SE the sides of the foundation, instead of continuing to follow the curvature of the wall-face, diverge from it and. ~incline outwards on each side to meet the ends of the frontal facade. The effect of the inclination is that, while on the axial line the facade is only 4 ft. 6 in. distant from the nearest part of the wall-face, at the ends of the facade the corresponding distances have increased to more than 15 ft. It follows that in front and on each side of the carefully built wall face there is a considerable area which is occupied by loose stones lacking any orderly arrangement. These are heaped up round the base of the exposed wall-face but are more scattered on the flanks. It is to be noticed particularly that on the back or N. side there is only a narrow ledge between the outer edge of the foundation and the lowest course of the wall face, so that there is no accumulation of loose material here nor is there any talus of fallen debris (Fig. 627). It should be added that the foundation occupies the whole breadth of the ridge on which the monument stands, the ground sloping steeply to both NW and SE.

The concave front (Figs. 629 and 630) measures 38 ft. along the masonry or about 36 ft. direct from tip to tip; it is faced in great part with large but low slabs set on end or on edge and closely fitted to one another where they adjoin. It is unbroken by any gap. Its extremities, which abut against small rocky outcrops, form sharp angles with the NE and SW sides of the foundation. The individual slabs used in its construction have all been brought to approximately the same level, and the whole is only from 18 in. to 2 ft. high.

The passage (Fig. 625), which is 12 ft. long, 2 ft. wide, and up to 2 ft. high above the present level of the floor, has the three innermost of its lintels still in place. It opens on the SE side of the cairn, but its outer end has been ruined and the exact position of the entrance cannot be stated. Nevertheless, the arrangement of the stones forming the surface of the foundation immediately outside the outer end of the passage suggests that the passage originally extended beyond the wall-face towards the facade, in which, however, as already mentioned, there is no corresponding opening. The chamber (Fig. 626) is built of large stones, and has the trefoil form characteristic of this type of tomb in Shetland. It is encumbered by fallen material, from the character of which it may be surmised that its roof was constructed of heavy flags. The dimensions are 9 ft. by10 ft. 6 in. at most, and the inner wall-face survives to a height of from 4 ft. 6 in. to5 ft.

RCAHMS 1946, visited 19 June 1931

OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed., (1903) xxxvi ("Watch Tower").

(1) Vol. 1, Introduction, pp.20-1

*It is to be noted that, on the N.W. side, the wall of the chamber appears to rest on the foundation, while on the S.E. it is sunk below the present level of the foundation to a depth of between 2 and 3 ft., the loose stones which form the surface of the foundation being piled against its face.

Measured Survey (1931)

RCAHMS surveyed the heel-shaped cairn at Vementry c.1931. The plan and section were redrawn in ink and published at a reduced size (RCAHMS 1946, fig. 625).

Publication Account (1997)

Its remote situation has ensured that this tomb survives in excellent condition; it was built on the top of Muckle Ward at 90m OD, and the stiff climb to reach it is rewarded in clear weather by superb view over a beautiful area of Shetland. This is a heelshaped cairn with a smoothly curving facade of excellent dry stone walling, including very large stones at the base, which survives to a height of 1.2m. There is no entrance through the facade, and this outer part of the cairn appears to have been built as a platform round a circular, originally domed cairn enclosing the burial chamber. A passage aligned on the centre of the facade leads into a roughly trefoil-shaped chamber, now unroofed and ruinous, although its walling is visible.

The island is also remarkable for the First World War gun emplacements on Swarbacks Head (no. 1). At Vementry farm on the mainland there is a well preserved horizontal mill (HU 311597) .

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Shetland’, (1997).

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