Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn
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Wideford Hill chambered cairn is a Neolithic
chambered cairn A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable (usually stone) chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are fo ...
on
Mainland, Orkney The Mainland, also known as Hrossey and Pomona, is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections. Seventy-five per cent of ...
in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. The tomb dates to around 2000 BC, and is similar in design to the
Maeshowe Maeshowe (or Maes Howe; non, Orkhaugr) is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland Orkney, Scotland. It was probably built around . In the archaeology of Scotland, it gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered ca ...
chambered cairn on Orkney.
Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
established the site as a
scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
in 1994.


Description

The chambered cairn is located near
Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...
on Mainland, Orkney in Scotland. The monument is situated on a steep west facing hill northwest of Wideford Hill and faces the Bays of
Firth Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to ''fj ...
and Kirkwall. It is similar in design to the Maeshowe burial monument, also located on Mainland, Orkney. The visible masonry shows the different construction stages of the Neolithic cairn with its three concentric walls built on an earthen platform. The monument has a stepped facade, but the original shape was probably rounded or conical, with the stonework covered in clay and turf. The monument was constructed on a steep slope and its entrance is on the west side. The entrance passage is low and narrow and takes up one third of the entire passage and is somewhat curved. The inner passage, which is cut into the hill, is covered with lintel slabs and leads to a rectangular stone-lined chamber and three side chambers. The side chambers are corbelled. Entry to the tomb now is through a reconstructed concrete roof, completed during the 20th century.


History

The tomb dates from the Neolithic era, approximately 2,000 BC. The site was excavated in the 1840s by
Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Flinders Petrie, was a British Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egypt ...
. He did not uncover any human remains or other finds at the time and suggested that the burial monument had been filled with rubble and abandoned. The main chamber had been previously filled with rubble. Historic Environment Scotland established the site as a scheduled monument in 1994.


See also

*
Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn () is a Neolithic chambered cairn on Mainland, Orkney, Mainland, the main island of Orkney, Scotland, about 6 miles west of Kirkwall. It dates to around 3,000 BCE, and is similar in design to Maeshowe, but on a smalle ...
* Huntersquoy chambered cairn * Vinquoy chambered cairn


References

{{Reflist Archaeological sites in Orkney Prehistoric Orkney Scheduled monuments in Scotland Chambered cairns in Scotland