Baile Mhargaite

Nearest town:
Thurso (43km ENE)
OS reference:
NC69736097
OS sheet:
10
Latitude:
58° 31' 3.09 N
Longitude:
4° 14' 12.19 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Baile Mhargaite (Broch) by LesHamilton

The steep crag bearing Baile Mhargaite as viewed from the shore below.

Image credit: Les Hamilton
LesHamilton
LesHamilton Jun 6, 2017
Image of Baile Mhargaite (Broch) by LesHamilton

A stretch of neat interior walling courses at Baile Mhargaite.

Image credit: Les Hamilton
LesHamilton
LesHamilton Jun 6, 2017
Image of Baile Mhargaite (Broch) by LesHamilton

Stitched panorama of the interior of Bale Mhargaite broch. The true height of the walls is concealed by up to 2 metres of wind-blown sand.

Image credit: Les Hamilton
LesHamilton
LesHamilton Jun 6, 2017

Articles

Baile Mhargaite

LesHamilton
LesHamilton Jun 6, 2017

Visited: June 5, 2017

Across the estuary of the River Naver from Bettyhill stands a steep 80 metre tall hill bearing the broch Baile Mhargaite on its summit.

It’s a walk of around 1.5 kilometres from the bridge over the River Naver at Invernaver, across grass then sand to the broch, following a rough path to the south of Baile Mhargaite beside a steep stream. It is best to continue a little past the broch as the easiest ascent is from the west.

From the outside, this broch is little more than a tumbled mass of stones, but the interior wall is well preserved all the way round the structure, to a visible height approaching two metres. In reality, the true height of these walls is probably as great as five metres as the interior of the broch is deeply infilled by blown sand (hence this sometimes being dubbed the ‘Sandy Broch‘).

You can read more about this site at Canmore, who also provide an aerial colour photograph of the area.

Folklore

Baile Mhargaite
Broch
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Oct 28, 2009

[There is a tradition] regarding the Sandy dun at Bettyhill, where an old woman hid a croc of cold previous to the dun being attacked, and measured the distance from it with a clew of thread.

A disappointingly brief mention in ‘Notes of Cromlechs, Duns, Hut-Circles, Chambered Cairns and other remains, in the County of Sutherland’ by James Horsburgh, in PSAS v7 (1866-8).

Information about the broch can be found here.

Sites within 20km of Baile Mhargaite

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