Broch Of Gurness - Geograph
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Broch Of Gurness - Geograph
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Their origin is a matter of some controversy. Origin and definition The word ''broch'' is derived from Lowland Scots 'brough', meaning (among other things) fort. In the mid-19th century Scottish antiquaries called brochs 'burgs', after Old Norse ', with the same meaning. Place names in Scandinavian Scotland such as Burgawater and Burgan show that Old Norse ' is the older word used for these structures in the north. Brochs are often referred to as ''duns'' in the west. Antiquarians began to use the spelling ''broch'' in the 1870s. A precise definition for the word has proved elusive. Brochs are the most spectacular of a complex class of roundhouse buildings found throughout Atlantic Scotland. The Shetland Amenity Trust lists about 120 sites in Shetland as candidate brochs, while the Royal Co ...
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Dun Carloway
Dun Carloway ( gd, Dùn Chàrlabhaigh) is a broch situated in the district of Carloway, on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland (). It is a remarkably well preserved broch – on the east side parts of the old wall still reach to 9 metres tall. History Most brochs were built in the period from 100 BC to 100 AD. Dun Carloway was probably built in the 1st century AD.I. Armit & N. Fojut, ''Dun Charlabhaigh and the Hebridean Iron Age'' (1998). P. 10 It probably got its current name from the Norse ''Karlavagr'' ("Karl's bay"), a relic of its time as part of the Kingdom of the Isles. Through the centuries Dun Carloway remained in use until the floor level was too high due to build-up of the occupation layers.C. Tabraham''Excavations at Dun Carloway broch, Isle of Lewis'' Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 108 ( 1976-7) 156-167. The broch was occasionally used in later times as a stronghold. The Morrisons of Ness put Dun Carloway into use in 1601. The story goes that they had stolen catt ...
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Crosskirk Broch
Crosskirk Broch was a fortification near the present day hamlet of Crosskirk near Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. After thorough archaeological exploration it was destroyed in 1972 since the site had become unsafe due to sea erosion. The site was unusual in having a broch, a large circular fortification, built within an older promontory fortification with a ring wall and blockhouse. History Crosskirk was occupied at the end of the Bronze Age. From the early Iron Age that followed there is carinated pottery that appears to be locally made but is similar to pottery of the same period in southern and eastern England. A few samples are black-burnished. Uncorrected radiocarbon dates for this pottery are in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. There seems to be a discontinuity in the middle Iron Age when the buildings were reconstructed and new types of pottery and artifacts were introduced, although variants of some of the older styles continued. This may be interpreted as being due to the ...
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Stately Home
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who ruled rural Britain until the Reform Act 1832. Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses. With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s, the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifesty ...
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Picts
The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from early medieval texts and Pictish stones. Their Latin name, , appears in written records from the 3rd to the 10th century. Early medieval sources report the existence of a distinct Pictish language, which today is believed to have been an Insular Celtic language, closely related to the Common Brittonic, Brittonic spoken by the Celtic Britons, Britons who lived to the south. Picts are assumed to have been the descendants of the Caledonians, Caledonii and other British Iron Age, Iron Age tribes that were mentioned by Roman historians or on the Ptolemy's world map, world map of Ptolemy. The Pictish kingdom, often called Pictland in modern sources, achieved a large degree of political unity in the late 7th and early 8th centuries through the expa ...
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Kilphedir Broch
Kilphedir ()Gaelic and Norse in the Landscape: Placenames in Caithness and Sutherland
. Scottish National Heritage. is a small remote settlement, which sits in the Strath Ullie valley (known also as Strath of Kildonan) in , , east coast of the and is in the
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Annan Castle
Annan Castle, was a castle that was located on the banks of the River Annan, in Annan, Scotland. A motte and bailey castle was built in the early 12th century by the de Brus family, Lords of Annandale. A flood in the mid-12th century changed the course of the River Annan, which caused the castle mound to be partially eroded. The castle was abandoned as the main seat of the de Brus family, who moved to Lochmaben Castle. In February 1552 a master mason David Dog was sent by Regent Arran to hire stonemasons to work "at the tour of Annand". The site of the castle is designated a scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d .... External linksThe Mote of Annan and Annan Castle Citations Castles in Dumfries and Galloway Buildings and structures in ...
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Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its merchants and tradesmen, the Old Bridge and the port. Located on the River Forth, Stirling is the administrative centre for the Stirling council area, and is traditionally the county town of Stirlingshire. Proverbially it is the strategically important "Gateway to the Highlands". It has been said that "Stirling, like a huge brooch clasps Highlands and Lowlands together". Similarly "he who holds Stirling, holds Scotland" is often quoted. Stirling's key position as the lowest bridging point of the River Forth before it broadens towards the Firth of Forth made it a focal point for travel north or south. When Stirling was temporarily under Anglo-Saxon sway, according to a 9th-century legend, it was attacked by Danish invaders. The sound of a ...
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Dumfries And Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, the latter two of which are collectively known as Galloway. The administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Dumfries. The second largest town is Stranraer, on the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel coast, some to the west of Dumfries. Following the 1975 reorganisation of local government in Scotland, the three counties were joined to form a single regions and districts of Scotland, region of Dumfries and Galloway, with four districts within it. The districts were abolished in 1996, since when Dumfries and Galloway has been a unitary local authority. For lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy purposes, the area is divided into three lieutenancy a ...
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Bow Castle Broch
Bow Castle is the remains of an iron-age broch near the Gala Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the parish of Stow. It is a scheduled monument. Description Bow Castle () stands on level ground on the edge of a steep slope southwest of the valley of the Gala Water. The broch has a wall 4.1 metres thick, enclosing an area 9.7 metres in diameter. The broch is one of only three remaining in the Borders; the other two are Torwoodlee Broch, and Edin's Hall Broch. Excavations It was excavated in 1890 when pottery, including some 2nd-century Roman amphora fragments, were found. In 1922 a 2nd-century Roman enamelled bronze brooch in the form of a cockerel was found among the ruins of the wall. Information concerning the dating and use of the broch is limited due to the lack of modern excavations. However, Torwoodlee Broch Torwoodlee Broch is the remains of an iron-age broch located near the town of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sc ...
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Edin's Hall Broch
Edin's Hall Broch (also Edinshall Broch; Odin's Hall Broch) is a 2nd-century broch near Duns, Scottish Borders, Duns in the Scottish Borders, Borders of Scotland. It is one of very few brochs found in southern Scotland. It is roughly 28 metres in diameter. Name In the late 18th century this site was called "Wooden's Hall or Castle" (Woden the chief god from Anglo-Saxon mythology).John R. Baldwin (1985) ''Lothian and the Borders'', page 132. RCAHMS. Its later name change apparently recalls the legend of the three-headed giant The Red Ettin known in tales and ballads. Location Edin's Hall Broch is one of the most southerly broch survivals, which are more typically associated with Northern Scotland. It is 4 miles north of the town of Duns, Scottish Borders, Duns. It stands on the northeast slope of Cockburn Law just above a fairly steep slope down to the Whiteadder Water. The broch stands in the northwest corner an Iron Age hillfort which presumably pre-dates the broch. The hillfo ...
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Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian and, to the south-west, south and east, the English counties of Cumbria and Northumberland. The administrative centre of the area is Newtown St Boswells. The term Scottish Borders, or normally just "the Borders", is also used to designate the areas of southern Scotland and northern England that bound the Anglo-Scottish border. Geography The Scottish Borders are in the eastern part of the Southern Uplands. The region is hilly and largely rural, with the River Tweed flowing west to east through it. The highest hill in the region is Broad Law in the Manor Hills. In the east of the region, the area that borders the River Tweed is flat and is known as 'The Merse'. The Tweed and its tributaries drain the entire region with the river flowi ...
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Hebrides
The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation (dating back to the Mesolithic period), and the culture of the inhabitants has been successively influenced by the cultures of Celtic-speaking, Norse-speaking, and English-speaking peoples. This diversity is reflected in the various names given to the islands, which are derived from the different languages that have been spoken there at various points in their history. The Hebrides are where much of Scottish Gaelic literature and Gaelic music has historically originated. Today, the economy of the islands is dependent on crofting, fishing, tourism, the oil industry, and renewable energy. The Hebrides have less biodiversity than mainland Scotland, but a significant number of seals an ...
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