Scottish Brochs Buildings: Ancient Architecture
post updated 10 August 2026
Clava Cairns
The Clava cairn is a type of Bronze Age circular chamber tomb cairn, named after the group of three cairns at Balnuaran of Clava, to the east of Inverness in Scotland. There are about 50 cairns of this type in an area round about Inverness.
photographs © Adrian Welch
Clava Cairns is one of Scotland’s most evocative prehistoric sites, an extraordinary ancient cemetery occupying a terrace above the River Nairn. Dating back around 4,000 years, the complex was built as a place for the dead and remained a sacred presence in the landscape for millennia, offering rare insights into the beliefs and rituals of Bronze Age society.
photos © Adrian Welch
The monuments that survive today represent only part of a much larger prehistoric complex. At Balnuaran of Clava and Milton of Clava, visitors can encounter a remarkable concentration of burial monuments alongside the remains of a medieval chapel. Cairns, standing stones and other traces of prehistoric activity reveal a carefully structured landscape in which architecture, ritual and the natural setting were closely intertwined.
photo © Adrian Welch
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Photos of Ancient Architecture in Scotland: Circular Historic Structures Information
Scottish Brochs buildings pictures, Architecture book, Locations, Borders, Glenelg, Abbey St Bathans photos
Broch of Gurness
Orkney, northern Scotland
Photos © Isabelle Lomholt
22 August 2024
The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village on the northeast coast of Mainland Orkney in Scotland overlooking Eynhallow Sound, about 15 miles north-west of Kirkwall. It once housed a substantial community.
Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs.
The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor.
The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it (resembling the set-up at Mine Howe). It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.
Photography: Isabelle Lomholt
More information about this Iron Age broch village on the Historic Environment Scotland website.
Address: Aikerness, Evie, Orkney KW17 2NH, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1856 751414
Scottish Broch
Dun Edin Broch
Abbey St Bathans, near Duns, Borders, southeast Scotland, UK
Dun Edin Broch photos © Adrian Welch
Scottish Brochs Books – a useful resource, this publication provides a national perspective on these fascinating ancient circular structures.
More images of Dun Edin Broch:
photos © Adrian Welch
Edin’s Hall Broch (also Edinshall Broch; Odin’s Hall Broch) is a 2nd-century broch near Duns in the Borders of Scotland. It is one of very few brochs found in southern Scotland. It is roughly 28 metres in diameter.
In the late 18th century this site was called “Wooden’s Hall or Castle” (Woden the chief god from Anglo-Saxon mythology). Its later name change apparently recalls the legend of the three-headed giant The Red Ettin known in tales and ballads.
Photographs of Glenelg Broch, northwest Scotland near Skye:
West Coast Broch photos © Adrian J Welch
More Brochs in Scotland are welcome – please send information and credited photos
Dun Edin Broch – no larger photo © Adrian J Welch
Location: Scotland
Architecture in Scotland
Scottish Architecture Designs – chronological list
Historic Scottish Houses – key historical residential architecture around Scotland
Scottish Borders Building Design Awards
Contemporary Architecture in Scotland – architectural selection below:
Architect: McKenzie Strickland Associates
photograph : Keith Hunter
Loch Tay Boat House
A cave created beneath the Boathouse allows a speedboat to be driven in and tethered to the ceiling before an electric winch hoists it into mooring position. The living space above includes a kitchenette, shower room and a fold-away bed.
Design: Moxon Architects
image courtesy of architects office
Scottish Highlands Studios
Architects: Brown + Brown
image : Touch 3D
Contemporary Property in Cairngorms National Park
Traquair, Scottish Borders
Traquair House
Best Building in Scotland
Best Building in Scotland Award
Buildings / photos for the Scottish Brochs Builldings – historic settlement structures across Scotland page welcome.
