The Broch of Borwick in a few fascinating facts

One of the loveliest things to do in Orkney on a summer evening is to walk along the cliffs of Yesnaby as the sun is setting. You’ll feel just a whisper of wind as seabirds flit here and there amongst the exposed rocks and seapinks. Occasionally there is a surge of sea music, and then the sky, the crags, and you, all turn orange as the sun dips below the horizon.

This is an ancient monument in a very exposed position, uncomfortably close to the cliff edge, and though the eastern part of the broch and its entrance are well preserved, much of the western half, on the seaward side, has collapsed.

Before that happens though, in the last glimmering light, we’d recommend walking ¾ mile north of Yesnaby’s car park to explore the Broch of Borwick (found at 59.031096, -3.352658).

This Iron Age building is a little bit mysterious, and as it has no visitor’s centre or even an interpretation board to make sense of it, we’ve pieced together a few interesting notes!

1. The Broch of Borwick is located in a very dramatic place

Usually, as I descend the hillside towards the broch, I take care, as the path is scattered with tiny wildflowers. In the distance, there’s a line of cliffs all the way to Skaill, bravely facing the Atlantic waves, like a frontline of soldiers in a medieval battle. At the foot of the slope, I stop to admire the quiet little rocky bay with a precarious-looking rockstack and then carry on to the circular ruin of the Broch of Borwick, which is perched on top of a 30m high headland.

This is an ancient monument in a very exposed position, uncomfortably close to the cliff edge, and though the eastern part of the broch and its entrance are well preserved, much of the western half, on the seaward side, has collapsed.

The Broch of Borwick is surrounded on nearly every side by a sharp drop to jagged rocks and the wild sea below. So, though it’s possible to do so, we wouldn’t recommend walking around the outside walls! It’s much safer to make your way inside through the entrance tunnel, which is well preserved, being careful not to bump your head as you go…

2. It was excavated almost 150 years ago

The name Borwick is from the Old Norse ‘Borg’ meaning fort, and ‘Vik’ meaning Bay – clearly islanders were aware of it during Orkney’s Norse period. However, by the 19th century, like many other ancient sites in Orkney, the Broch of Borwick was a turf-covered mound, around 6m high.

In 1881, the Broch of Borwick was excavated by William G. T. Watt (1849-1909) of Kierfiold. This was not the same William Graham Watt (1776-1866), the 7th Laird of Breckness, who lived in Skaill House and discovered Skara Brae, but his grandson. Confusingly, another William Watt, known as ‘Black Willie’ (on account of his bushy black beard), and a distant relative, undertook a great deal of excavation work at Skara Brae. However, William G. T. Watt, the 9th Laird and the excavator at Borwick, was born in Tasmania and came to Orkney in 1876.

William G. T. Watt removed the earth built up around the broch’s sides and cleared the interior of fallen masonry. His article ‘Notice of the broch known as Burwick or Borwick, in the township of Yescanabee and parish of Sandwick, Orkney’ published in 1882 in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland makes for fascinating reading.

3. The Broch has deteriorated in the years since

The excavation was disastrous for the Broch of Borwick. Antiquarians of the day had a reputation for despoiling archaeological sites as they rifled around for interesting finds, but William G. T. Watt was careful in his work.

The damage happened afterwards. The excavation exposed the Broch of Borwick to the elements and also provided local people with a supply of building material for houses, byres and dry-stone dykes.

So, between crofters removing stones, and the wind and the waves displacing others, the broch has shrunk over the years. When it was excavated, the structure measured between 4.9m and 3.4m high – however these days you’ll find a broch that is only 2.6m high, and much of the interior is rubble, having fallen in on itself.

4. Borwick is very similar to other brochs, but very different also!

In the Iron Age, around 300 BC, the chiefs began to build their round towers along the island shores. In Orkney there are over 100 brochs (there are 700 in the whole of Scotland), and these monumental buildings would have brooded over the surrounding area. Each were built with a single entrance – possibly to control who entered – and was covered by a thatched roof.

Brochs always had a double wall, between which, in many examples, a spiral stair wound up to the top of the tower. This was not the case at the Broch of Borwick though. It is very small compared to other brochs (just 16m in diameter) and though there is an inner and an outer wall, there was no sign of stairs between the walls, leading to another floor.

Like other brochs, Borwick was dry built, with large well-placed and faced stones. However, unlike the Broch of Midhowe in Rousay, and the Broch of Mousa in Shetland, which both have an entrance that faces the sea, the Broch of Borwick’s entrance is landward-facing.

Numerous buildings surrounded the broch, just like at the Broch of Gurness in Evie, though there’s only a few sections of masonry and walls left now. It is likely the Broch of Borwick was a house for a powerful family or individual – perhaps even a ‘King’? (Read on to find out more!) Recent discoveries at the Cairns in South Ronaldsay showed that those who lived within a broch enjoyed a richer diet than those who lived in the houses outside.

5. Items found at Borwick offer clues about the Broch dwellers’ lives

Those people who built the Broch of Borwick lived on the land, and they fished and tilled the soil. Many items were found at Borwick which tell us more.

Cattle, pigs, and sheep were reared for food, and for other resources, such as wool – combs for weaving were found at Borwick. Oxen or horses would have been used to transport goods, including the stone used to build the immense tower. These animal’s bones were discovered in the broch, along with those of the wild deer that lived in the hills of Orkney and were hunted back then.

They would have grown a surging golden harvest of cereal crops every summer. Rotary querns for grinding bere to flour first appeared in the Iron Age, and a fragment was found at Borwick. Also – in the fields inland, evidence of ancient fertiliser called plaggen, which is made with animal bedding, can be found underneath medieval runrigs. This makes these fields some of the oldest examples of rich earth in Europe.

There’s a stream nearby which would have served as a source of fresh water and the bay down the slope would have been an excellent place for fishing using nets, or using lines with snivverii – ancient fishhooks made of horse bones. The bay would have also served the community as a place to land boats, and for foraging in rockpools rich with whelks and limpets. These shells, along with periwinkles, razor shells, and even whale bones were discovered during the excavation.

The people who lived at the Broch of Borwick came from a community with the time and strength to construct a large building made of heavy blocks of stone. They had tools such as stone knives, an iron rod, a bone hammer, and cooked using fire-baked pottery and pots (round stone discs – pot lids – were found). Looking good was important – deer horn combs were unearthed – for brushing long hair streaming out in the wind at Yesnaby.

The Broch of Borwick was inhabited over many generations, and William G. T. Watt speculated that it may have had two phases of use. After first going out of use, a second building was possibly raised later, within the interior of the older one. The Broch of Borwick was finally abandoned between 500AD and 600AD, after being occupied for 1,000 years.

6. Local tales offer some clues also – but must be treated with caution!

We’ll end this with a couple of tales which should be taken with a pinch of salt. Folklore from Yesnaby suggests that there was a ‘King’ who lived at the Broch of Borwick who had a quarrel with the ‘King’ of Verran (an area north of Skaill). Whether there is truth to this remains to be seen, but a steatite urn containing human bones and ashes was discovered nearby in 1907, in a mound known as the ‘Righ Knowe’, which means ‘King knoll’.

Master storyteller George Marwick lived in Yesnaby from 1836 to 1912, and described items taken by local folk from the Broch of Borwick. These included a lamp of stone, which provided a flickering light by burning fish oil. George Marwick was very proud to find one and get it working – but he was also well known for telling a tall tale or two!

Finally, we should mention the deep cave known as Hell’s Mouth found in the cliffs below the Broch of Borwick. This striking name probably comes from the Old Norse ‘hellir’ meaning ‘cave’. Some have speculated that there may have been a connection between the broch and the cave, but, as Yesnaby is littered with sea caves, I think the cave being there is a coincidence.

Maybe one day I might stop at Borwick when the tide is low enough to safely explore the cave and discover an elusive passageway!

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The Broch of Borwick has always been one of my favourite places to visit – I enjoy the drama of the location and the solitude I find there. In an air threatening rain, I make my way back, up the grassy track towards the car, home, and busy modern life.

By Magnus Dixon
Orkney and Shetland enthusiast, family man, loves walks, likes animals, terrible at sports, dire taste in music, adores audiobooks and films, eats a little too much for his own good.

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