Location: 2 miles north-east of Golspie, and beside the A9, between the road and the sea. (NC 871013)
The entrance to Cam Liath broch.
Many of the well-preserved brochs are relatively inaccessible, being on islands off the north and west coasts of Scotland, but there are also a few on the mainland, and Cam Liath broch is probably the easiest to reach, lying close to a main road, 'fhis fact of course tends to lessen the atmosphere of the place; nevertheless it is still well worth visiting. 'I'he walls still stand 12 feet high in places, and the entrance passage and lintelled doorway are impressive. Remains of the internal stair can still be seen, and there are two deep stone-lined pits in the floor, one of them 8 feet deep and thought to have been a well. Ruins of buildings outside the broch suggest that a settlement grew up once it was no longer necessary to maintain a defended fort.
Other notable brochs on the Scottish mainland include Dmw Dornadilla, Loch Hope, Sutherland (NC 457451), still 20 feet high at the entrance; Dun Telve, Inverness (SG 829172) and, close by. Dun Troddan, with surviving walls up to 32 feet high. Dun Carlouay broch on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides/Western Isles (NB 190413) should also be mentioned, for its location as well as its considerable remains. Details of other brochs worth visiting can be found in Euan W. MacKie’s An Archaeological Guide.
.Anyone interested in the down-to-earth practicalities of life in earlier times should pay a visit to those places where prehistorie and later settlements have been reconstructed. These include:
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