Bowermadden can be understood through two very different historical themes: archaeological monuments and the history of a 20th-century radio monitoring station. When choosing accommodation, this overview of local topics can help: you can distinguish archaeological forms and finds from more recent technological history. The archaeological topics include Earney Hillock and the Broch of Ha' of Bowermadden; Bowermadden No. 2 Station represents a different period and subject matter.
Earney Hillock and the ring of stones
Earney Hillock is a Neolithic chambered cairn in Bowermadden designated as a Scheduled Monument. Earlier archaeological investigations describe the cairn as an irregular, oval, grass-covered mound, with four stone slabs protruding from its surface. Five metres west of the cairn is a ring of stones lined with stone slabs. This spatial detail distinguishes the two archaeological features from one another. The cairn is characterised by its mound shape and the four protruding slabs, while the ring is characterised by its interior lined with stone slabs.
Bowermadden No. 2 Station: technological history
The history of Bowermadden No. 2 Station represents a more recent technological theme. The Bowermadden No. 2 site was an RDF outstation of the former Admiralty Radio Station and C.S.O.S.-GCHQ signal monitoring station. GCHQ (Cheltenham) took over operations in 1967; the station closed in 1978. The mast area is visible in vertical RAF aerial photographs dated 9 May 1946. Modern aerial photographs show the outline of a building and an antenna in a field opposite the road, southwest of Hunster Farm. By 2021, the known mast site had already been ploughed. The RAF photograph predates the takeover; modern aerial photographs offer a later perspective.
The Broch of Ha' of Bowermadden
No visible broch remains survive at the Broch of Ha' of Bowermadden. An earlier excavation described a well in the central area, with about a dozen steps leading down into it. Finds from the broch included a bronze pin dating from the 4th to 5th century AD. It had an open, projecting head. The well and the pin provide different kinds of detail: the well describes part of the structure, while the pin is a datable object with a distinctive shape. The pin dates from considerably later than the Neolithic cairn at Earney Hillock; Bowermadden's archaeological themes therefore span several different periods.
Roads and walks near Bower
The B876 from Wick (Reiss) to Castletown runs through Bower in the Bowermadden settlement area. In and around Bower, walks on paved roads are accessible and have no steep gradients. The Highland Council's 2014 Core Paths survey records just one Core Path in the Bowermadden settlement area: a footpath alongside the road at Bower. Check local path conditions before planning to use the footpath. When planning, the information answers two different questions: walks near Bower are characterised by paved surfaces and gentle gradients, while the Core Path is classified as a footpath alongside the road.
Discover more destinations: Polloch, Knockbain, Letterfearn, Croick, Kinlochewe, Inverkirkaig, Grantown On Spey, Plockton
For the main travel overview: Highland.
