Photos and the City

Category: Nature

Dun Carloway Broch – Dùn Chàrlabhaigh

It´s been a while since I visited a broch, but luckily there is one in Carloway on the Isle of Lewis. Dun Carloway has probably been constructed about 200 BC and used until about AD 1000. It is said that the members of the Morrison Clan used the broch in Carloway as a stronghold in the 1500s.

And there was another blackhouse.

The broch was closed and under renovations, while I was in Lewis, but it was possible to walk around the almost 9m tall tower.

Dun Carloway is a striking monument in the landscape. This impressive example of Iron Age architecture may have been designed to make a bold statement of status, wealth or power. It was also easily defended, sitting high on a rocky outcrop, with wide views for miles around. (Historic Enviroment Scotland)

The main features of the Dun Carolway are a double-skinned wall with two tiers of internal galleries, a low entrance on the ground level, a small room off the entrance passage (guard room?), a stairwell that led to the upper floors and a stone ledge on the wall that probably supported the upper floor.

Dalmore Beach

On the way home I made two more stops, the first one at Dalmore Beach for a little evening stroll along the waves.

And met a cute dog!

Lewis Gneiss – these stones are 1 to 3 million years old.

02/03/2023
Callanish II and III

After visiting the big stone circle at Callanish I decided to walk to two smaller ones – Callanish II and Callanish III. It is a quick and fun little walk, starting from the parking at the visitor centre.

Passing one of the typical bus shelters in Lewis I already could see the first stone circle, Callanish II, Cnoc Ceann a’ Gharraidh.

Callanish II

Callanish II has 7 stones set in an ellipse, five stones are standing, and two are fallen. The stone circle surrounds a cairn in the middle.

Callanish III

The path to the next one was a bit boggy but I made it to Callanish III, Cnoc Fhillibhir Bheag. This stone circle is pretty impressive, it has twenty stones in a double circle, and might be a welcome retreat from the crowds at Callanish I on a busy day.

The outer ellipse contains 13 stones, of which eight are still standing and five have fallen. The inner one has only 4 remaining stones. There is no visible sign of a mould or cairn in the middle of the rings.

28/02/2023
Callanish Standing Stones

Another highlight on the Isle of Lewis – the Standing Stones at Callanish, Calanais – there are actually a few circles close together and it is a lovely little walk to go from the biggest one to a few of the smaller circles.

View while walking towards Callanish No I – the big one. The visitor centre was closed on that day, so I walked right towards the standing stones.

The Calanais Standing Stones (or Callanish in its anglicised form) is a cruciform shaped stone circle, erected 5000 years and standing the elemental weather of the Outer Hebrides, there is much mystery surrounding their inception. (Visit Scotland)

The Callanish standing stones are a cross-shaped stone setting about 5000 years old, older than England’s Stonehenge monument. It was used at least for 2000 years for ritual activity, even though we don´t know the exact kind of activity.

It might have been a kind of astronomical observatory. Erected between 2900 and 2600 BC – then used for around 2000 years until the area inside the circle was levelled and the site gradually became covered with peat between 1000 and 500 BC.

Peat cutting around the site in 1857 revealed the true height of the stones. It’s possible that there’s plenty more archaeology sealed beneath the peat that covers much of the Western Isles.(Historic Enviroment)

The Callanish stones have some very unique features. A 4,8m tall monolith stands at the heart of the monument, lines of smaller stones lead out to the east, west and south, an 83m long avenue runs to the north and there is a small chambered tomb within the stone circle.

The stones are set in a prominent place, clearly visible from land and sea. They are surrounded by at least 11 smaller stone circles, some of them much younger than the nig one. The complex was used over many centuries.

The Western Isles would have been a lot warmer 5,000 years ago, and food and wildlife were plentiful. The extensive ritual landscape around of which Calanais is a part, speaks of a thriving and sophisticated society. (Historic Enviroment)

The form of the site and the artefacts found during excavation also show that this community was part of a wider culture which involved the construction of earthen enclosures known as henges and impressive circles of timber or stone. (Historic Enviroment)

23/02/2023