Tag Archives: ancient

Dun Carloway Broch – 3

A path leads up the hillside, giving views of the broch and the surrounding countryside. The side facing you is built above steep rock, and most of it remains as originally designed. As you round the broch to the entrance, on the north side, you are presented with a different picture. From here you canContinue reading “Dun Carloway Broch – 3”

Dun Carloway Broch – 2

The broch is next mentioned in a report by the local Minister in 1797. By this time, brochs were believed to be watchtowers used as defense against, or by, Vikings. Dun Carloway featured prominently in reports on Western Isles brochs in the latter part of the 1800s, and as a result it was one ofContinue reading “Dun Carloway Broch – 2”

Dun Carloway Broch – 1

Dun Carloway, or Dun Charlabhaigh, is a remarkably well preserved broch in a stunning location overlooking Loch Roag on the west coast of Lewis. Dun Carloway was probably built some time in the last century BC. It would have served as an occasionally defensible residence for an extended family complete with accommodation for animals atContinue reading “Dun Carloway Broch – 1”

Callanish Stone Circle – 1

After I visit places such as Callanish I am always bewildered, as I am sure that I can’t satisfactorily answer any of the obvious questions – why was it built, how was it built, who built it, what was the reason for building it here rather than on any other hillock in the area? EvenContinue reading “Callanish Stone Circle – 1”

Discovering Dartmoor: on patrol with the landscape detective

Relics of ancient Britain surround us, from bronze age burial mounds to stone rows older than the Pyramids. They may be easy to miss but look closely and you can read the story of the past in today’s countryside