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View Full Version : Two Broch’s – Feb 09



Mole Man
19-09-2009, 01:58 PM
The massive Iron Age structures known as brochs are unique to north and west of Scotland. Huge, drystone towers, brochs are concentrated mainly in the northern tip of the Scottish mainland and the Northern Isles. A typical broch stood from five to 13 metres high. It was a circular two-storey, drystone, structure, accessed by a single door at ground level. Inside was a main inner "chamber" from which smaller cells - either built into, or up against, the wall - branched off. A winding stone staircase, housed within the broch's double walls, led upwards to elevated floors and finally the top of the structure.

Glen Elg is a few miles south of the bridge to Skye. Some way up the glen are the magnificent remains of two brochs. Dun Troddan, the second best preserved broch in Scotland still stands up to 25 feet tall for about a third of its circumference. The walls are a double shell with a three foot gap between them. This makes them both lighter and stronger than a single thick wall. Large slabs form the floors of galleries within the wall cavity, with steps spiralling up from one gallery to the next. There is a large void above the entrance to the wall cavity - this was probably to reduce the weight above a weak point rather than to allow light into the galleries. The wall cavity could only be reached from the inside of the broch. Down the glen, it is possible to see the neighbouring Dun Telve, the third best preserved broch in Scotland. Around the internal wall of the brochs are narrow shelves at two levels. These would probably have supported wooden floors within the inner space of the broch. Its wall reaches a maximum height of 7.6m. In the thickness of the broch wall (4.1m) three galleries survive along with a stone stair that rises to a level passage.

Pictures of the Two Broch’s.

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss66/MoleMan6/IMG_0499.jpg

The entrance is about 5 foot, to give you a guide as to how tall the walls are:

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss66/MoleMan6/IMG_0500.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss66/MoleMan6/IMG_0505.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss66/MoleMan6/IMG_0509.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss66/MoleMan6/IMG_0512.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss66/MoleMan6/DSCN0015.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss66/MoleMan6/P2100883.jpg

boxfrenzy
19-09-2009, 02:13 PM
Nice one mate, looks very cold, but good. I do like the first stairs shot :thumb