[3] It stands on the flat rock surface of a low promontory near the shore overlooking Mousa Sound.

[4] There is a low stone bench around the base of the inside wall, which was part of an early alteration to the interior.

In its original condition it may or may not have contained a wooden roundhouse resting on the scarcement ledges and presumably on a ring of posts set into the primary floor.

[citation needed]) At a later date, if the wooden building existed, it was demolished to make way for a small wheelhouse (with three projecting stone piers) in the interior.

Egil's Saga tells of a couple eloping from Norway to Iceland who were shipwrecked and used the broch as a temporary refuge.

[8] The site was visited by the antiquarian George Low during his tour of 1774, and he provided the first drawings of the broch.

[4] Mousa was cleared of debris and repaired in 1861 and great quantities of animal bones, especially of otters (which probably inhabited the deserted ruin) were found.

In January 2005 it was announced that archaeologists had used 3D laser scanning to investigate the structure in detail for further possible repairs.

[10] Mousa Broch is well known among birders for its breeding European storm petrels, which are best seen after dark on partly or on completely overcast summer nights.