Broch

 

BROCH – a PREHISTORIC CIRCULAR TOWER FOUND IN north Scotand and adjacent islands. At least 700 once existed.

 

Last week on our first trip out since lockdown we visited Dun Telve broch, near the village of Glenelg. It is one of the best preserved iron-age brochs in Scotland.

Brochs like this one consisted of a drystone tower with 4.3 metre thick walls at the base tapering to 1.2 metres at the top. There are two layers of wall leading to a large ground floor area. Inside the walls there are steps leading up to other rooms, alcoves and to other floors. The top floor would have been around 9 metres above ground level.

There is no agreement on what brochs were used for but most likely they were structures designed to impress other Scottish clans and were the homes of important chiefs or warriors and would have been cosy, warm and dry. They could also have been places of refuge for the community and their livestock during attack.

 

 

 

                   

 

 

Source:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broch

 

Contribution

 

Linda Clark  July 2020