Place by place
What Historic Environment Scotland and our other sources say about each one.
Jump to: Mousa | Gurness | Midhowe | Dun Carloway | Glenelg | Dun Dornaigil | Carn Liath | Dun Beag | Edin’s Hall | Clickimin | Jarlshof
Mousa, Shetland
Mousa Broch is the tallest and best-preserved Iron Age tower in Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland: Mousa Broch Historic Environment Scotland’s Mousa page says it stands 13 m tall. Historic Environment Scotland: Mousa Broch
The Statement of Significance measures it at 13.2 m tall, with an outside diameter of 15.3 m and an inside space 6.1 m across. Historic Environment Scotland: Statement of Significance, Mousa Broch (last reviewed 2018)
Mousa has the smallest diameter of any broch tower, but much thicker walls. Historic Environment Scotland: Mousa Broch, history and stories UNESCO’s Tentative List entry says Mousa’s walls are 5 m thick at the base. UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Tentative List, Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof: the Zenith of Iron Age Shetland
Historic Environment Scotland’s Mousa page says it is thought to have been built in about 300 BC. Historic Environment Scotland: Mousa Broch The Statement of Significance says Mousa’s building date has not been directly established: theories place it as early as 400 BC or as late as the 1st century AD. Historic Environment Scotland: Statement of Significance, Mousa Broch (last reviewed 2018)
In the sagas Mousa is called Moseyarborg, which means “the fort of the mossy island”. Historic Environment Scotland: Statement of Significance, Mousa Broch (last reviewed 2018)
Small seabirds called petrels nest in gaps in the broch’s stonework; the whole island is an RSPB nature reserve. Historic Environment Scotland: Statement of Significance, Mousa Broch (last reviewed 2018)
Mousa was one of the first monuments taken into State care, in 1885. Historic Environment Scotland: Statement of Significance, Mousa Broch (last reviewed 2018) Rubble was cleared from Mousa in 1861, and again in 1919. Historic Environment Scotland: Statement of Significance, Mousa Broch (last reviewed 2018)
Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof together are on the UK’s Tentative List for World Heritage, as “the Zenith of Iron Age Shetland”. UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Tentative List, Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof: the Zenith of Iron Age Shetland
Our sources give slightly different heights: see when sources disagree.
Broch of Gurness, Orkney
Gurness is the best-preserved broch village in Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland: Broch of Gurness Gurness is one of at least 10 brochs along Eynhallow Sound in Orkney. Historic Environment Scotland: Broch of Gurness
Excavations showed the Gurness village began between 500 BC and 200 BC; the broch was left sometime after AD 100. Historic Environment Scotland: Broch of Gurness, history and stories
The Broch of Gurness was probably home to the chief family of the community. Historic Environment Scotland: Broch of Gurness, history and stories People at Gurness ate cod, whale and seal. Historic Environment Scotland: Broch of Gurness, history and stories
In the 9th century a Viking woman was buried at Gurness with a sickle blade and a pair of “tortoise” brooches. Historic Environment Scotland: Broch of Gurness, history and stories
Midhowe Broch, Orkney
Historic Environment Scotland’s Midhowe page says it is one of at least nine brochs on Eynhallow Sound. Historic Environment Scotland: Midhowe Broch Midhowe stands 4.3 m high today, but could have been twice that. Historic Environment Scotland: Midhowe Broch, history and stories
Inside Midhowe you can still see stone partitions, a spring-fed water tank and a hearth. Historic Environment Scotland: Midhowe Broch, history and stories
One Midhowe building still has an iron-smelting hearth. Historic Environment Scotland: Midhowe Broch, history and stories Yet the 1930s finds showed bronze-working, “but rather oddly not iron working”. Historic Environment Scotland: Midhowe Broch, history and stories
A fragment of a Roman bronze vessel was found at Midhowe. Historic Environment Scotland: Midhowe Broch, history and stories The Roman historian Eutropius, writing in the AD 300s, boasted that the king of Orkney had submitted to Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Historic Environment Scotland: Midhowe Broch, history and stories
Two pages count the brochs on Eynhallow Sound differently: see when sources disagree.
Dun Carloway, Lewis
Dun Carloway on Lewis stands 9 m tall and was probably built about 200 BC. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Carloway Excavations suggest Dun Carloway may have been used until about AD 1000. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Carloway
Dun Carloway has also been a pottery kiln, a shelter for the Morrisons of Ness in the 1500s (according to tradition) and a family home as late as the 1870s. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Carloway, history and stories
Dun Telve and Dun Troddan, Glenelg
Dun Telve and Dun Troddan stand only about 500 m apart, which is very unusual. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, history and stories In 1885 the Glenelg brochs were among the earliest monuments passed into State care. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, history and stories
Dun Telve is more than 20 m across and part of it still stands 10 m high. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, history and stories At Dun Telve, large flat slabs tie the two walls together and also form the floors of narrow galleries between them. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, history and stories
Historic Environment Scotland’s Glenelg overview gives Dun Troddan as 7.6 m tall. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, Dun Telve and Dun Troddan Its history page gives 7.4 m. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, history and stories
A broken quern-stone for grinding corn is built into Dun Troddan’s hearth. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, history and stories Dun Troddan’s ground floor may once have held livestock, with people living on the upper floors. Historic Environment Scotland: Glenelg Brochs, history and stories
Two pages give different heights for Dun Troddan: see when sources disagree.
Dun Dornaigil, Sutherland
Dun Dornaigil is also called Dun Dornadilla. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Dornaigil Broch
Part of Dun Dornaigil still stands 7 m high; its triangular lintel stone is the best surviving example in Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Dornaigil Broch, history and stories
Dun Dornaigil’s interior has never been dug by archaeologists. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Dornaigil Broch, history and stories
Carn Liath, Sutherland
Carn Liath stands 3 m tall today, but could once have been at least three times that. Historic Environment Scotland: Carn Liath, history and stories
Carn Liath has very thick walls, settings for two wooden door-frames and a small chamber that might have been a guard lodge. Historic Environment Scotland: Carn Liath, history and stories
Finds at Carn Liath include a copper-alloy ingot and a silver brooch from the AD 300s or 400s, based on Roman types. Historic Environment Scotland: Carn Liath, history and stories
Dun Beag, Skye
At Dun Beag on Skye, 20 steps of the stone stair survive. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Beag Broch, history and stories Nobody knows how tall Dun Beag was; comparing with other brochs, about 10 m seems likely. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Beag Broch, history and stories
At Dun Beag the entrance is a narrow passage, and door-checks show it was once closed by a timber door. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Beag Broch, history and stories
Medieval and later coins were found at Dun Beag in the 1910s, though no firm conclusions can be drawn from them. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Beag Broch, history and stories The Dun Beag overview page says the coins were reportedly found in the early 1900s. Historic Environment Scotland: Dun Beag Broch
Edin’s Hall, Borders
Edin’s Hall, one of very few Lowland brochs, is 22 m across, much larger than a typical Highland broch. Historic Environment Scotland: Edin’s Hall Broch, history and stories
Edin’s Hall broch was probably built in the first two centuries AD. Historic Environment Scotland: Edin’s Hall Broch, history and stories
Historic Environment Scotland says Edin’s Hall may be closer to a big Iron Age roundhouse than a broch. Historic Environment Scotland: Edin’s Hall Broch, history and stories
Clickimin, Shetland
People lived on the Clickimin promontory from at least the Bronze Age, about 1000 BC, until about AD 500. Historic Environment Scotland: Clickimin Broch, history and stories
At Clickimin, near Lerwick, a stone carved with a pair of feet may be linked to kingship ceremonies. Historic Environment Scotland: Clickimin Broch
We don’t know who built Clickimin, or whether it was a stronghold or a sign of status; it may have been both. Historic Environment Scotland: Clickimin Broch, history and stories
The water level of the Loch of Clickimin was lowered in 1874. Historic Environment Scotland: Clickimin Broch, history and stories
Jarlshof, Shetland
People first settled at Jarlshof around 2700 BC, and it stayed in use until the AD 1600s. Historic Environment Scotland: Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement The Jarlshof broch now stands 2.4 m high. Historic Environment Scotland: Jarlshof, history and stories
Wheelhouses are named for roofs held up by walls that spread out like the spokes of a wheel. Historic Environment Scotland: Jarlshof, history and stories
Vikings from Norway settled at Jarlshof in the 800s. Historic Environment Scotland: Jarlshof, history and stories Shetland passed from Norway to Scotland in 1469. Historic Environment Scotland: Jarlshof, history and stories
Walter Scott named Jarlshof (“earl’s house”) in his novel The Pirate; its proper name is Sumburgh. Historic Environment Scotland: Jarlshof, history and stories
Some of these places are dated or measured differently by different sources. More on when sources disagree.
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