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Glenbuchat Castle is a fine example of a Z-plan tower house, built in 1590. Glenbuchat Castle last laird, John Gordon, was a notable Jacobite....
Cullerlie Stone Circle is a circle of eight stones enclosing an area consecrated by fires on which eight small cairns were later built. The Cullerlie Stone Circle is about 4000 years old....
Culsh Earth House is a well-preserved underground passage, with roofing slabs intact over the large chamber and entrance. Culsh Earth House is about 2000 years old....
Corgarff Castle and Barracks Corgarff Castle is not as ordinary as the visitor might imagine on first seeing it in its lonely moorland setting. The unusual appearance of the little tower is confirmed as the visitor draws near and makes out mor...
The Picts and their symbols on Brandsbutt Symbol Stone The Picts were descendants of Iron-Age tribes who occupied the lands north of the Forth and Clyde estuaries in the first millennium AD. We know very little about them, but lasting reminder...
One castle and three dynasties For over 500 years, Balvenie Castle served as the formidable stronghold of the great lords who ruled over this part of north-east Scotland. The immensely powerful ‘Black’ Comyn earls of Buchan built it in the...
Cochrane’s Castle? Auchindoun Castle is believed to have been built by Thomas Cochrane (sometimes erroneously called Robert). This shadowy, late 15th-century figure was a favourite of King James III. It is said that Cochrane built the great ...
Easter Aquhorthies Stone Circle is a recumbent stone circle about 4000 years old....
Dyce Symbol Stones are two Pictish stones, one with the older type of incised symbols and the other with symbols accompanied by a cross and decoration....
Duff house is a magnificent early Georgian mansion, designed by William Adam for the Earl of Fife. Duff House is now open as a Country House Gallery of the National Galleries of Scotland....
Remarkable for its splendid architecture, Huntly Castle served as a baronial residence for five centuries. Many impressive features include a fine heraldic sculpture and inscribed stone friezes. The earliest stronghold on the site sheltered Robert...
The great castle of Kildrummy was the stronghold of the Earls of Mar. Although ruined, it remains a fine example of a 13th century castle with its curtain wall, four round towers, hall and chapel. Hitsory of Kildrummy Castle Noblest ...
Castle at the head of the point of land Kinnaird Head (cinn na h’airde in Gaelic) means ‘at the head of the point of land’. One look at the map is enough to show that this particular point of land beside Fraserburgh is no ordinary promon...
The Loanhead Stone Circle is best known of a group of recumbent stone circles, enclosing a ring cairn. Beside the Loanhead Stone Circle is a small burial enclosure....
The Maiden Stone is a Pictish cross slab that stands about 3 meters tall and probably dates to the 9th century AD. Its front is carved with a cross that has a human figure gripped by fish monsters at its top and its back has a range of Pictish symbol...
Memsie Cairn is a large stone-built cairn, possibly of Bronze Age date, but enlarged during field clearance during the last two centuries.
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Peel Ring Of Lumphanan is a great earthwork of 13th-century date was the site of a fortified residence, perhaps a hunting lodge of the Durward family.
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The nave and towers of St Machars Cathedral Transepts remain in use as a church, and the ruined transepts are in care. In the south transept is the fine tomb of Bishop Dunbar (1514-32).
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St Mary's Kirk, Auchindoir is one of the finest medieval parish churches in Scotland, roofless, but otherwise entire. There is a rich early Romanesque doorway and a beautiful early 14th-century sacrament house, comparable with those at Deskford and K...
Tarves Medieval Tomb is a fine altar tomb of William Forbes, the laird who enlarged Tolquhon Castle. The carving is a remarkable survival....
Tolquhon Castle is noted for its highly ornamented gatehouse, Tolquhon is one of the most picturesque of the castles in the Grampian countryside.The gatehouse is a real gem, built not to deter, but to impress which it still contrives to do. The ma...
The Aberlemno Sculptured Stones are a Magnificent range of Pictish sculptured stones - depicting a hunting scene, battle scene between an army of men with long hair and an army of men wearing helmets. Aberlemno Southern Roadside Stone This ...
Arbroath Abbey is a testament to the dynamic piety of Scotland’s medieval monarchs. It was founded in 1178 by King William I ‘the Lion’ as a memorial to his childhood friend Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in 1170. ...
An Iron-Age oddity Despite their name, earth houses were not dwellings but stone-lined underground passages. Where they have been excavated, as at Ardestie, associated buildings have been found at ground level. Earth houses are also known by t...
Brechin Cathedral Round Tower is one of the two remaining round towers of the Irish type in Scotland, built in the late 11th century with a remarkable carved doorway. Capped by a stone roof added in the 15th century. Visitors to Brechin Cathedral ...
Strong point on the Tay ‘Broughty’ probably means ‘strong point on the Tay’. We cannot be sure when the mouth of the Tay was first fortified, but the present castle was built at the end of the 15th century. In 1490, the 2nd Lord G...
The Caterthuns (Brown and White)are two spectacularly large hill forts. The Brown Caterthun is defended by four earth ramparts and ditches. The White has a massive stone rampart, a ditch and outer ramparts.
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An outstanding example of 16th-century Scottish architecture, which is both intact and hardly altered. The castle owes its striking appearance to asymmetrical square garrett chambers corbelled out over two circular towers at diagonally opposite corne...
Eassie Sculptured Stone is an elaborately sculptured Pictish cross-slab with an intricate cross, angels, animals, warrior, Pictish symbols and three hooded figures....
A Noble Residence Edzell Castle is enchanting. The red sandstone castle walls, set amid pleasing green parkland, conjure up an image of a noble bygone age. Medieval society was not all fighting and feuding. Everyday lordly life in late-medieva...
Lindsay Burial Aisle is a small burial Aisle is all that remains of the 14th-century Edzell Old Church. The Aisle was built by the Lindsays of Edzell as a chantry chapel in the 16th century and was later used as their burial vault....
Maison Dieu Chapel is part of the south wall of a chapel, belonging to a medieval hospital founded in the 1260s with finely-detailed doors and windows....
St Orland's Stone is accessed via a stile approximately 2 miles down a farm track to the north of Glamis. The track is not signposted and is unsuitable for cars. There is no pedestrian access from the adjacent agricultural fields....
It is hard to believe that this sleepy Angus village of St Vigeans was once the centre of a royal estate and of huge religious importance, bustling with prayerful pilgrims and monks. Admittedly, this was more than 1,000 years ago, so visitors could b...
Tealing Dovecot and Earth House is an elegant dovecot of the late 16th century standing in a modern farmyard. A short walk leads to the remains of an earth house, or souterrain, of Iron Age date, a curving underground passage, now uncovered. Re-used ...
A Valliscaulian House Ardchattan Priory was established in 1230 or 1231 by an obscure order of monks from France, the Valliscaulians. They followed a strict form of monastic rule, with emphasis more on the ascetic religious life than on manua...
Blast from the past In 1753 a Cumbrian ironmaster opened a new works in Scotland, at Bonawe. The chief attraction was the extensive woodland of Argyll, guaranteeing him an almost endless supply of charcoal. Plenty of water for powering the hug...
A bishop’s residence In 1559, on the eve of the Protestant Reformation, the Earl of Argyll granted the lands of Carnasserie to his ‘familiar servant’, Master John Carswell, rector of Kilmartin. Following the Reformation, Master John bec...
Castle Sween is one of the earliest castles in Scotland, dating to the 12th century. Later towers were built to Castle Sween in addition to now vanished wooden structures....
A bulwark in the west Dunstaffnage Castle is one of the oldest stone castles in Scotland. It guards the seaward approach from the Firth of Lorn to the Pass of Brander – and thereby the heart of Scotland. The castle was built around 1220, pr...
Keills Chapel is a small West Highland chapel housing a collection of 12th-century grave slabs and early medieval sculpture, including the Keills Cross....
Kilberry Sculptured Stones is a collection of late-medieval sculptured stones gathered from the Kilberry estate....
Kilchurn has a four-storey tower built in the mid 15th century by Sir Colin Campbell, 1st of Glenorchy. Much enlarged in 1693, it incorporates the first purpose-built barracks in Scotland. The substantial ruins are some of the most picturesque in the...
Kildalton Cross is the finest intact high cross in Scotland carved in the late 8th century....
Mysterious marks Among the archaeological riches in Kilmartin Glen is an extraordinary array of prehistoric rock art. The designs take the form of cup-marks, cup-and-ring marks, spirals, stars and linear grooves, often densely covering large e...
Mysterious marks Among the archaeological riches in Kilmartin Glen is an extraordinary array of prehistoric rock art. The designs take the form of cup-marks, cup-and-ring marks, spirals, stars and linear grooves, often densely covering large e...
Mysterious marks Among the archaeological riches in Kilmartin Glen is an extraordinary array of prehistoric rock art. The designs take the form of cup-marks, cup-and-ring marks, spirals, stars and linear grooves, often densely covering large e...
Kilmartin Glen: Dunchraigaig Cairn is a Bronze Age cairn excavated in the last century....
Kilmartin Glen: Ri Cruin Cairn is a Bronze Age burial cairn with the covering removed to reveal three massive cists. There are axe heads carved on one of the cist slabs. The Ri Cruin Cairn is the southernmost cairn of the linear cemetery....
Kilmartin Glen: Temple Wood Stone Circles is a circle of upright stones, and the remains of an earlier circle. Dating to about 3000 BC and in use for at least 1000 years....
Mysterious marks Among the archaeological riches in Kilmartin Glen is an extraordinary array of prehistoric rock art. The designs take the form of cup-marks, cup-and-ring marks, spirals, stars and linear grooves, often densely covering large e...
This spectacular site has been occupied since the Iron Age. The well-preserved hill fort was a stronghold of Dalriada, the kingdom of the Scotti. On top of the hill a footprint, a boar and an ogham inscription have been carved into the natural rock....
Kilmartin Glen: Glebe Cairn is an early Bronze Age burial cairn, one element of the line of five large burial cairns along the valley floor, forming a linear cemetery....
At Kilmartin Glen: Kilmartin Sculptured Stones there are over two dozen carved West Highland grave slabs, now housed in a former mausoleum and the graveyard. Parish church contains early medieval and medieval crosses....
Kilmartin Glen: Nether Largie Cairns are of one Neolithic and two Bronze Age cairns. Access within the chamber of the north cairn, to see the axe carvings on a cist slab inside. These are all in the line of five large burial cairns along the valley f...
Kilmartin Glen: Kilmichael Glassary Cup And Ring Marks are of an early prehistoric cup and ring carvings on a natural rock outcrop....
A group of West Highland carved grave slabs exhibited in a burial aisle within Kilmodan churchyard. Surrounding woodlands support many ferns and mosses. Bats, red squirrels, otters and golden eagles can be spottted in the area....
Kilmory Knap Chapel is a small medieval chapel with a collection of typical West Highland grave slabs and some early medieval sculpture. In the church is Macmillan's Cross, a splendid piece of medieval carving....
Skipness Castle and Chapel is a tale of three nations and three families Skipness Castle was begun in the early 13th century, when Argyll was ruled not by Scotland but by Norway. The builder was probably either Suibhne (Sven) ‘the Red’, f...
Castle of the Stewarts Rothesay Castle is unique among Scottish castles, both for its early date and for its circular form. It is also famous for its long and close association with the Stewarts – hereditary high stewards until 1371, and the...
Auchagallon Stone Circle is An Ancient Burial Place This ancient burial place dates to about 4,000 years ago. Fifteen upright sandstone slabs lie at the edge of a large stone cairn. Antiquarians digging here in the 19th century found a burial ...
A daughter of Cluny Crossraguel Abbey stands silent and ruined today. Yet because of its completeness it still conveys much of the peace and spiritual glory of the monks who served here through four centuries. It was founded early in the 13th ...
Kilwinning Abbey is the much-reduced remains of a Tironensian-Benedictine abbey, established from Kelso. The surviving fragments of Kilwinning Abbey include parts of the abbey church and chapter house. Most of the remains date back to the 13th centur...
Loch Doon Castle has been transplanted in the mid-1930s from an island in the middle of Loch Doon due to a hydro electric scheme, the castle consists of an eleven-sided curtain wall, of fine masonry, dating from 1300. Loch Doon has a unique populatio...
Lochranza Castle is a fine tower house, a 16th-century reconstruction of a late 12th-century hall house. The mountains to the south of Lochranza Castle are home to many birds. Lochranza Castle offers a good vantage point for watching seals....
At the Maybole Collegiate Church the chapel of St Mary was founded by John Kennedy of Dunure in 1371 and the associated college 11 years later. Its function was to allow prayers to be said for the founder and his family.
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Set in rolling Ayrshire parkland, Rowallan Castle is a hidden gem. The castle is an extraordinary Renaissance house and within it is the evidence of its development from the 13th century to the 18th century. It was the home of an important Ayrshire f...
Skelmorlie Aisle is a jewel-like monument which was erected in 1636 for Sir Robert Montgomerie of Skelmorlie. The Skelmorlie Aisle monument contains an elaborate carved stone tomb in Renaissance style and a painted timber ceiling featuring lively ...
Antonine Wall: Rough Castle is the best-preserved length of rampart and ditch, together with the earthworks of a fort ' the most complete on the Wall ' and a short length of military way with quarry pits. This is the best site to gain an impressio...
Antonine Wall: Watling Lodge are two sections on each side of the house known as Watling Lodge (there is no entry to the house or grounds) The eastern section is one of the deepest and steepest stretches of the ditch visible....
Argyll's Lodging is Scotland's most splendid and complete example of a 17th century townhouse. Situated on the upper approaches to Stirling Castle, its fine architecture marks it out as a property intended for a great nobleman serving the royal court...
A house of canons Cambuskenneth Abbey was founded around 1140 by canons of the Arrouaisian order, but subsequently passed to the Augustinians. The founder was David I. Cambuskenneth served Stirling Castle, one of David’s favoured residences,...
A Lowland stronghold for a Highland chief Everyone is awestruck by Castle Campbell. The imposing ruin stands in solemn isolation upon a narrow ridge, overlooked by a crescent of the Ochil Hills. Two precipitous ravines hem it on either side, t...
Clackmannan Tower is a fine 14th-century keep enlarged in the 15th century. You can only view the exterior of Clackmannan Tower....
Island sanctuary The enchanting ruins of Inchmahome Priory grace the largest of three islands in the Lake of Menteith. The priory was established around 1238 by a small community of Augustinian canons. Their founder and patron was Walter Comyn...
King's Knot are the earthworks of a splendid formal garden, possibly made in 1628 for Charles I....
Mar's Wark is a remarkable Renaissance mansion built by The Earl of Mar, Regent for James VI in 1570 and later used as the town workhouse. Mar's Wark was never completed and now only the fa'ade can be seen....
The 'Old Bridge' is a handsome bridge built in the 15th or early 16th century. The southern arch was rebuilt in 1749 after it had been blown up during 'The '45' to prevent the Jacobite army entering the town....
Westquarter Dovecot is a handsome rectangular dovecot with a heraldic panel dated 1647 over the entrance doorway....
An Iron-Age farmstead Barsalloch Fort has never been archaeologically investigated, but it was most probably a defended farmstead, occupied around 2,000 years ago. Galloway at that time was inhabited by a tribe the Roman invaders called the No...
Cairn Holy Chambered Cairns are two remarkably complete Neolithic burial cairns, of a type characteristic of Galloway. The cairns are situated on a hill offering fine views over Wigtown Bay....
A house of the McCullochs Cardoness Castle is a fine example of a Scottish tower-house castle. It was built in the later 15th century as the fortified residence of the McCullochs. They were a prominent Galloway family, who rubbed shoulders wit...
A 16th-century residence Carsluith Castle is a lightly-defended tower house. It is typical of the many L-planned tower houses built by the landed gentry throughout Scotland after the Protestant Reformation of 1560. Carsluith, though, has a mor...
Chapel Finian are now the foundation remains of a small chapel in an enclosure, built in the Irish style, probably as a chapel for pilgrims on their way to Whithorn, having landed at the nearby shore....
Druchtag Motte is a fine example of a motte castle in a part of Scotland where this type of early timber castle proliferated in the 12th and 13th centuries....
Drumcoltran Tower is a well-preserved tower of mid16th-century simply planned and built, sitting within a busy modern farmyard....
Drumtroddan Cup and Ring Marked Rocks are three groups of well-defined cup and ring marks on bedrock probably carved in the Bronze Age....
Drumtroddan Standing Stones are an alignment of three stones, one of which has fallen. Together with Drumtroddan Cup and Ring Marked Rocks, they are part of an important prehistoric landscape....
A Cistercian house Dundrennan Abbey was founded in 1142 by Fergus, Lord of Galloway, with the help of King David I of Scotland. The white-robed Cistercian monks came from Rievaulx Abbey, in North Yorkshire. After establishing the abbey at Dund...
A Cistercian retreat Glenluce Abbey was founded around 1192 by Roland, Lord of Galloway. The white-clad Cistercian monks who settled in this secluded valley of the Water of Luce most probably came from Dundrennan Abbey, near Kirkcudbright. The...
Kirkmadrine Early Christian Stones are three of the earliest Christian memorial stones in Britain, dating from the 5th or early 6th century, displayed in the porch of a former chapel....
The remains of a collegiate church and the accommodation for its canons founded in 1389 by Archibald the Grim, 3rd Earl of Douglas on the site of an earlier nunnery. The splendid chancel was probably added by his son Archibald, the 4th Earl, and h...
Lochmaben Castle is the much reduced remains of a royal castle originally built by the English in the 14th century. Lochmaben Castle was extensively rebuilt during the reign of James IV (1488-1513). Largely dismantled after its capture by James VI...
A family home MacLellan’s Castle is named after Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie (d. 1597). Sir Thomas was provost of Kirkcudbright and a powerful man in local politics. Following the Protestant Reformation in 1560, he acquired the site and b...
Merkland Cross is a fine carved wayside cross of the 15th century. Located at Woodhouse Farm....
Morton Castle is a fine late 13th-century hall house, a stronghold of the Douglases....
The old mill by the stream Beside the Pow Burn in the pretty village of New Abbey stands a three-storey whitewashed mill building. It was built around the end of the 18th century by the Stewarts of nearby Shambellie House. But the site probabl...
Orchardton Tower is a charming little tower house of the mid-15th-century. The property is, uniquely, circular in plan....
Ruthwell Cross is an Anglian Cross which dates from the end of the 7th century AD and is considered one of the major monuments of early medieval Europe....
St Ninian's Cave is traditionally associated with St Ninian. Early crosses found at the site are housed at Whithorn Museum. Weathered crosses carved on the walls of St Ninian's Cave are still visible....
Restored ruins of a 13th-century chapel, probably used by pilgrims on their way to Whithorn.
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A place of personal devotion In 1268, Lord John Balliol died. His grieving widow, Lady Dervorgilla of Galloway, had his heart embalmed and placed in an ivory casket. She carried it with her everywhere. She undertook many charitable acts in...
An island fastness Legend tells that Threave Island was the home of the ancient rulers of Galloway a thousand years ago. Today there is no trace of their fortress. The tall, forbidding tower that now dominates the island was built for Sir Arch...
Torhouse Stone Circle is a Bronze Age stone circle consisting of 19 boulders. This type of stone circle is most commonly found in north east Scotland and is therefore unusual for this area....
Wanlockhead Beam Engine is an early 19th-century wooden water-balance pump for draining a lead mine, with the track of a horse engine beside it. Nearby is the privately operated museum of Scottish lead mining....
Whithorn Priory and Museum is set on one of the earliest Christian sites in Scotland, Whithorn was traditionally held to be founded by St Ninian in the 5th or 6th century. In the 12th century a priory for Premonstratensians was built here and became ...
The port of Linlithgow Blackness Castle stands beside the Firth of Forth, at the seaport which in medieval times served the royal burgh of Linlithgow. The castle was built in the 15th century by one of Scotland’s more powerful families, the ...
A unique holy place Cairnpapple Hill is one of the most important prehistoric sites in mainland Scotland. When Professor Piggott of Edinburgh University excavated there in 1947–8, he discovered the summit of the hill crowned with ceremonial ...
Castlelaw Hill Fort is an Iron Age hill fort with a souterrain built in one of the ditches....
Chesters Hill Fort is one of the best-preserved examples in Scotland of an Iron Age fort defended by an elaborate system of ramparts and ditches....
Corstorphine Dovecot is a large circular 'beehive' dovecot in a good state of preservation with nesting boxes complete....
A well preserved medieval castle, Craigmillar has a tower house, courtyard and gardens. Craigmillar's story is linked with that of Mary Queen of Scots. Superb views from tower house....
A hidden gem Crichton Castle stands tucked away out of sight, on a terrace overlooking the River Tyne in Midlothian. It was a noble residence for some 200 years, from the late 14th century through to the close of the 16th century. It was seldo...
A residence of three noble families Dirleton Castle has graced the heart of Dirleton since the 13th century. For the first 400 years, it served as the residence of three noble families – the de Vauxes, Haliburtons and Ruthvens. The subsequen...
The Doonhill Homestead site is marked out in the grass, of a wooden hall of a 6th-century British chief, and of an Anglian chief's hall, which superseded it in the 7th century, revealed by aerial photography followed by excavation in the 1960s. A ra...
The Dunglass Collegiate Church was founded in 1450 for a college of canons by Sir Alexander Hume. The handsome cross-shaped building contains a vaulted nave, choir and transepts, all with stone slab roofs....
Eagle Rock: Cramond is a much-defaced carving on natural rock said to represent an eagle. Near the Drum Sands within the Firth of Forth, an internationally important site for feeding and roosting waders and winterfowl....
Hailes Castle is a beautifully sited ruin incorporating a fortified manor of 13th century date, extended in the 14th and 15th centuries. There are two vaulted pit-prisons....
Holyrood Abbey is the ruined nave of the 12th and 13th century abbey church. The church was built for Augustinian canons. The abbey and palace administered by the Lord Chamberlain. Access to Holyrood Abbey is through the Palace of Holyroodhouse,...
Within Holyrood Park is a wealth of history and archaeology spanning thousands of years. Arthur's Seat is one of four hill forts dating from around 2000 years ago. Holyrood Park is a scheduled ancient monument and a site of special scientific int...
Kinneil House and Kinneil Museum are set in a public park, the oldest part of the house is a 15th century tower remodelled by the Earl of Arran between 1546 and 1550 and transformed into a stately home for the Dukes of Hamilton in the 1660s. The g...
Lauderdale Aisle, St Mary's Church is the former sacristy of the great 15th-century parish church, with a splendid monument of early 17th-century date, in marble, with alabaster effigies....
Ormiston Market Cross is a symbol of the right of the inhabitants to hold a market, this is a fine free-standing 15th-century cross on a modern base....
Preston Market Cross is the only surviving example of a market cross of its type on its original site. A beautiful piece of early 17th-century design, with a cylindrical base surmounted by a cross-shaft headed by a unicorn....
Serving the Setons Seton is one of the finest medieval collegiate churches surviving in Scotland. Its story begins in the 12th century, when the site was chosen for a new church serving the parishioners of Seton. In the 15th century, the churc...
St Martin's Kirk is the ruined nave of a once splendid Romanesque church, altered in the 13th century. St Martin's Kirk is associated with the Cistercian nunnery St Mary's, founded in Haddington before 1159....
The lower part of a chapel built by James III, housing the shrine of St Triduana, a Pictish saint. The hexagonal vaulted chamber is unique...
Stronghold of the Douglases Mighty Tantallon Castle was built in the 1350s by a nobleman at the height of his power. In 1354, William Douglas came into possession of all his father’s lands, as well as those of his uncle, ‘the Good Sir Jame...
The tower and transepts of a church built by the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in the 13th century, much altered....
Five centuries of noble living Aberdour Castle served as a residence for three noble families over a period of 500 years – the Mortimers, Randolphs and Douglases. The present complex of roofed buildings and ruined structures perfectly illus...
A vaulted side apse survives of this church of Dominican friars, Blackfriars Chapel was built in about 1516....
The remains of a Cistercian monastery founded in 1217. The eastern parts of the Abbey Church are the present parish church. There are ruins of the nave, cellars and domestic buildings. At the head of the village of Culross off the A985. Access by ...
Dogton Stone was once a splendid free-standing cross probably of 9th-century date. All that now remains of Dogton Stone is a much weathered fragment, best appreciated when appropriate lighting conditions highlight the surviving decoration....
A royal foundation Dunfermline Abbey has a history stretching back to the 11th century – the time of King Malcolm III and Queen Margaret. In the 12th century, their son, David I, raised the little priory to the lofty status of abbey. He endo...
Columba’s Isle Inchcolm means ‘Columba’s Isle’, though the ‘Iona of the east’ has no known link with St Columba. The island is dominated by its dramatically located abbey complex, comprising the best-preserved group of monastic bui...
Begun for James II in 1460, Ravenscraig Castle consists of two round towers linked by a cross range. The west tower of Ravenscraig Castle was the residence of James II's widow, Queen Mary of Gueldres....
Scotstarvit Tower was probably built in the 15th century, and re-modelled between 1550 and 1579. Renowned as the home of Sir John Scot, author of 'Scot of Scotstarvit's Staggering State of the Scots Statesmen'. It is a particularly handsome and w...
St Bridget's Kirk is now the shell of a medieval church, much altered in the 17th century for Protestant worship. On the west end is a burial vault with laird's loft above, built for the Earl of Dunfermline....
St Mary's Church, Kirkheugh is the scanty foundations of a small cruciform church on the edge of the cliff behind the cathedral. It was the earliest collegiate church in Scotland. Destroyed at the Reformation....
West Port is one of the few surviving city gates in Scotland, built in 1589 and renovated in 1843. Only the exterior of West Port can be viewed....
The highest fort on the Antonine Wall containing the foundations of the headquarters building and bath-house. To the east sits a small Iron Age fort. The wall ditch runs past both. This is the best site to appreciate the strategic significance of ...
Antonine Wall: Bearsden Bath House is the well-preserved remains of a bath-house and latrine, built in the 2nd century AD to serve a small fort....
Though the fort is not visible, the wall ditch survives and there are two beacon platforms. Here the Romans had to cut through solid rock to create the ditch....
Antonine Wall: Dullatur is a well preserved section of ditch. To the north is Dullatur Marsh, an important habitat for birds, including water rail, teal, snipe, grasshopper warbler, whinchat and mute swan....
Antonine Wall: Seabegs Wood is a stretch of rampart and ditch with the military way behind....
Antonine Wall: Westerwood to Castlecary is a well preserved historic section of ditch....
A rare survival The Barochan Cross is one of only three complete free-standing crosses surviving from the early-medieval kingdom of Strathclyde. The other two are the so-called ‘Sun Cross’ at Govan and the Netherton Cross, in Hamilton. The...
Creating a stink For upwards of 130 years – from 1839 to 1973 – Biggar Gasworks made coal-gas for the town and surrounding district. It was one of the first small-town gasworks to open in Scotland, and among the last to close. Not long aft...
One of Scotland’s greatest castles Bothwell Castle is one of the outstanding monuments of medieval Scotland. It owes its origins to Walter of Moray, a northern aristocratic family who acquired Bothwell in 1242. He (or his son William, kn...
Constructed between 1500 and 1550, Cadzow Castle was known as the castle in the woods of Hamilton. The castle was built by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart for his half brother, the second Earl of Arran. The property overlooks a parkland known as ...
A late Gothic church, with a three-sided east end with windows of unusual style. The church is located next to Castle Semple and Barr lochs, both important for their plants and birds. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds RSPB has a visitor c...
Coulter Motte is a good example of a Norman castle mound, which would have been surmounted by a palisade and timber tower....
A hidden gem Hidden away in the rolling hills of Clydesdale, Craignethan Castle is the last great private stronghold constructed in Scotland. It was without parallel, comprising an exceptional residential tower protected by a most unusual arti...
The altered ruin of an unusual 15th-century castle. The property consists of a central tower with four square corner towers, set within 12th-century earthworks. Affords excellent views of south-west Glasgow. Strong footwear recommended....
Defender of the realm Dumbarton Castle guards the point where the River Leven joins the River Clyde. Its recorded history reaches back 1,500 years. At that time the place was known as Alt Clut, ‘Rock of the Clyde’. Later it became known by...
Head church of the diocese of Glasgow Glasgow Cathedral stands majestically in the heart of Scotland’s largest city. It is the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the Protestant Reformation of 1560 virtually int...
Sand dunes seal and protect Links Of Noltland which are significant prehistoric remains in a fragile environment requiring careful management. Little can be seen of the remains of Links Of Noltland....
The choir and south side of the nave of a late 14th-century parish church. The choir contains three canopied monuments to the Douglas family, including the tomb of Good Sir James who famously carried Bruce's heart on Crusade....
An architectural oddity Ardclach Bell Tower is an architectural oddity. It is very small – about 4.3m2 overall – and has only two storeys. The ground floor may well have been a prison, judging by its small door and lack of windows. The flo...
A feature in the landscape This burial tomb has been a feature of the landscape for 5,000 years. It is surrounded by prehistoric remains spanning thousands of years of human activity. The original tomb was a small, round cairn with a central b...
Uniquely Scottish Carn Liath is a fine example of a broch – a type of fortification found only in Scotland. There are well over 500 of them across the country, the majority in northern and western Scotland and the islands. Brochs emerged in ...
One of Scotland’s oldest castles The Castle of Old Wick was probably built by an earl of Caithness in the 1100s, making it one of the oldest castles in Scotland. It was built at a time when the kings of Norway held sway over Caithness and Su...
Cnoc Freiceadain Long Cairns are two unexcavated long-horned burial cairns of Neolithic date, set at right angles to each other....
Homes of the dead The two Grey Cairns of Camster are among the oldest stone monuments in Scotland. They were built over 5,000 years ago. Even before their excavation and restoration by Historic Scotland in the later 20th century they were two ...
Hill O' Many Stanes has more than 22 rows of low slabs arranged in a slightly fan-shaped pattern, which may have been a prehistoric astronomical observatory....
Inverlochy Castle is a fine well-preserved 13th-century castle of the Comyn family; in the form of a square, with round towers at the corners. The largest tower of Inverlochy Castle was the donjon or keep. Inverlochy Castle is one of Scotland,...
St Mary's Chapel, Crosskirk is a simple dry-stone chapel, probably of 12th-century date. Access to St Mary's Chapel, Crosskirk can be muddy....
From Burgundy to Beauly Beauly Priory was founded around 1230 by monks of the Valliscaulian order. They came from their mother house in Burgundy, in France, and settled beside the Beauly River, at the place where it enters the Beauly Firth. T...
James Dredge designed the Bridge Of Oich which is a splendid suspension bridge in 1854. Bridge Of Oich was built using a sophisticated patented design of double cantilevered chain construction with massive granite pylon arches at either end....
Burghead Well is a rock-cut well, identified by some as an early Christian baptistry associated with the local cult of St Ethan....
Clava Cairns is the site of an exceptionally well preserved group of prehistoric burial cairns that were built about 4,000 years ago. The Bronze Age cemetery complex comprises of passage graves, ring cairns, kerb cairn, standing stones in a beautiful...
Corrimony Chambered Cairn is an excavated passage grave of probable Bronze Age date, defined by a stone kerb and surrounded by a circle of 11 standing stones....
Uisge beatha – the water of life Whisky is Scotland’s national drink. It has evolved out of our landscape and our history. The landscape has given us water and peat, and the history has given us barley, a grain suited to our cooler climate...
Duffus Castle is one of the finest examples of a motte and bailey castle in Scotland with a later, very fine, stone hall house and curtain wall....
Dun Beag is a fine example of a Hebridean broch, apparently occupied to the 18th century....
Dun Dornaigil is also known as Dun Dornadilla, a well-preserved broch with a distinctive enterance, standing to a height of up to 6.7 metres. The road to Dun Dornaigil is not suitable for caravans, trailers, etc...
Spiritual heart of Moray Elgin Cathedral is one of Scotland’s most beautiful medieval buildings, and the inspiration for many an artist. The imposing yellow sandstone ruin is also one of the most important architectural legacies from that by...
The south aisle of the nave and chapter house survive at this beautiful red sandstone cathedral at Fortrose. The cathedral was built in the first half of the 13th century, though it was extended and altered in the 14th and 15th centuries. Earl...
Hilton Of Cadboll Chapel are the foundations of a small rectangular chapel and, nearby, a modern carved reconstruction of the famous Pictish cross-slab found on the site and now in the National Museums of Scotland....
Knocknagael Boar Stone is a rough slab incised with the Pictish symbols of a mirror-case and a wild boar....
Ruthven Barracks is an infantry barracks erected in 1719 following the Jacobite rising of 1715, with two ranges of quarters and a stable block. Captured and burnt by Prince Charles Edward Stuar's army in 1746....
Seat of the bishops of Moray Spynie Palace was for five centuries the residence of the bishops of Moray. During that time, the palace stood on the edge of Spynie Loch, a sea-loch giving safe anchorage for fishing boats and merchant vessels. A ...
St Peter's Kirk and Parish Cross roofless remains of the kirk include the base of a 14th-century western tower, a 16th-century vaulted porch and some interesting tombstones. St Peter's Kirk and Parish Cross cross is of 14th-century date....
Sueno's Stone is the most remarkable sculptured monument in Britain, probably a cenotaph, standing over 20 feet high and dating to the end of the first millennium AD. Sueno's Stone is covered by a protective glass enclosure....
Residence spiritual and temporal Kirkwall is the capital of Orkney. For centuries it was the capital of the Norse-held Nordreyjar – the Northern Isles. But that ended in 1469 when Christian I of Norway failed to pay the dowry promised to his...
The Blackhammer Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic burial cairn, similar in general shape and subdivisions to the contemporary Neolithic houses at Knap of Howar....
A uniquely Scottish monument Brochs are unique to Scotland. There are over 500 of them, the vast majority spread throughout the northern and western Highlands and the islands. Many of these tall circular towers stood alone, but in Orkney they ...
A settlement of Picts and Vikings A tidal island off the north coast of the Orkney mainland, the Brough of Birsay was intensively settled from the 7th to the 13th centuries AD. The physical remains comprise a 9th-century Viking-Age settlement ...
Click Mill is the last surviving horizontal water mill in Orkney, of a type well represented in Shetland and Lewis. Click Mill is in working order....
Cubbie Row's Castle and St Mary's Chapel is probably one of the earliest stone castles to survive in Scotland, built in about 1145 by the Norseman Kolbein Hruga. It is a small rectangular tower enclosed in a circular ditch. The ruined chapel is of la...
Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn is a low mound covering a Neolithic chambered tomb with four cells. Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn contained the bones of men, dogs and oxen when discovered....
Dwarfie Stane is a huge block of sandstone in which a Neolithic burial chamber has been cut....
The Earl's Bu is the name for the foundations of ancient buildings, which may be an Earl's residence of the Viking period. The church is of the 12th-century, and consists of the chancel and part of the nave of the only medieval round church in Sc...
The gaunt remains of the residence of Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney, was constructed in the late 16th-century round a courtyard....
Eynhallow Church is a ruined 12th-century monastic church and post-medieval domestic buildings. The island of Eynhallow. Can only be reached by private hire boat from mainland Orkney or Rousay....
Grain Earth House is a well-built Iron Age earth house of underground chamber supported on stone pillars....
Monuments of war Hackness Battery and Martello Tower were built in 1813–14, at the height of the Napoleonic War. French and American warships were wreaking havoc on British and Scandinavian merchant shipping going ‘north about’ through t...
Holm of Papa Westray Chambered Cairn is a massive tomb with a long, narrow chamber divided into three, with 14 beehive cells opening into the walls. There are engravings on the walls. Access to chamber. Access to Holm of Papa Westray Chambered Cai...
Knap of Howar is probably the oldest standing stone houses in north-west Europe, dating from the early Neolithic period. Two houses, approximately rectangular, with stone cupboards and stalls. Contemporary with the chambered tombs of Orkney....
Knowe of Yarso Chambered Cairn is an oval cairn with concentric walls enclosing a Neolithic chambered tomb divided into three compartments....
A monumental landscape The monumental chambered tomb of Maeshowe is simply the finest Neolithic building in NW Europe. Built around 5,000 years ago, it is a masterpiece of Neolithic design and stonework construction, not least for its use of m...
Midhowe Broch is a well-preserved broch, with remains of later buildings round it. Impressive evidence for the internal appearance of houses survives. Very steep access, follow the black and white poles....
Midhowe Chambered Cairn is a huge and impressive megalithic chambered tomb of Neolithic date in an oval mound, with 25 stalls. Midhowe Chambered Cairn is now protected by a modern building. Very steep access, follow the black and white poles....
Noltland Castle is a fine, ruined Z-plan tower, built between 1560 and 1573 but never completed. Remarkable for its large number of gun loops and impressive staircase. Noltland Castle is on the island of Westray, 1m West of Pierowall village. Reac...
Pierowall Church are now the ruins of a medieval church with some finely lettered tombstones....
Quoyness Chambered Cairn is a megalithic tomb with triple retaining walls, containing a passage and main chamber, with six subsidiary cells. Quoyness Chambered Cairnis of Neolithic date. Quoyness Chambered Cairn is reached via Orkney Ferries Lt...
Orkney Ferries give you easy access to the archaeolocial sites, the stunning. You can view our up-to-date Online Timetables by visiting Orkney Ferries website by clicking on the website link below the address on this page...
Rennibister Earth House is a good example of an Orkney earth house, like that of Grain Earth House....
The Ring Of Brodgar Stone Circle And Henge, which is part of The Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, is a spectacular stone. The ring is surrounded by a large circular ditch or henge. It was one of the first sites to be scheduled in the Br...
Stone rings The Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar are two of Britain’s best-preserved prehistoric monuments. They were built between 5,400 and 4,500 years ago. Our best guess as to their function is that they were involved in activi...
Northern Europe’s best-preserved Neolithic village The Neolithic village of Skara Brae was discovered in the winter of 1850. Wild storms ripped the grass from a high dune known as Skara Brae, beside the Bay of Skaill, and exposed an immense ...
St Magnus Church is the complete but roofless ruin of a 12th-century church with a round tower, dramatically sited. Access to St Magnus Church is on the island of Egilsay 0.5m from pier. Reached using Orkney Ferries Ltd from Tingwall Terminal....
Taversöe Tuick Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic chambered cairn with unusual arrangement of two burial chambers, one above the other. Access is to Taversöe Tuick Chambered Cairn is via the island of Rousay 0.5m West of pier. Reached using Orkney F...
Tormiston Mill is an excellent late example of a Scottish watermill. Tormiston Mill was probably built in the 1880s. The waterwheel and most of the machinery have been retained. Now forms a reception centre for visitors to Maeshowe....
Unstan Chambered Cairn is a mound covering a stone burial chamber divided by slabs into five compartments. Unstan Chambered Cairn is of Neolithic date....
Westside Church, Tuquoy is a small and elegant 12th-century nave-and-chancel church, later the parish church, now roofless. Westside Church, Tuquoy was built by a wealthy Norse chieftain, the remains of whose farm can be seen in the adjacent cliff...
Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn is a fine Neolithic chambered cairn with three concentric walls and a burial chamber with three large cells....
A residence for newly-weds Balvaird offers a fine illustration of the way in which a 16th-century landowner’s fortified house could provide a good degree of security for its occupants while at the same time affording them a high level of com...
Kintail and Morvich is one of the last few areas of wild land in Scotland, this rugged, remote estate in the West Highlands offers a true wilderness experience. The dramatic landscape encompasses the Five Sisters – a mountain ridge incorporating th...
Cradle of Christianity Iona is a holy isle, an enduring symbol of Christianity in Scotland. St Columba and his followers came here from Ireland in AD 563 and founded a monastery that became the heart of the early Scottish Church. St. Columbaâ€...
Maxwell’s house Newark Castle is a rediscovered treasure. For too long it lurked behind the giant cranes and sheds of the Clyde’s great shipyards. Only recently has it re-emerged to take its rightful place in the townscape of Port Glasgow....
Slains Castle is a large imposing ruin fronting directly onto south facing cliffs about a kilometer east of Cruden Bay. You can walk to it from the village itself. There are, confusingly, two Slains Castles on this stretch of coast. The original l...
Sunnybrae Cottage is a modest cottage which is possibly the oldest house in Pitlochry. Sunnybrae Cottage is a rare survival of a type of house that was once very common in the Highlands. Remarkably, it still has the remains of a cruck framed ro...
Deer Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Buchan, Scotland.[1] It was founded by 1219 AD with the patronage William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan,[2] who is also buried there. There was an earlier community of Scottish monks or priests. The not...
Deskford Church is the ruin of a small late medieval church with a richly carved sacrament house of a type characteristic of north-east Scotland....
Visit Dunnottar Castle for an unforgettable experience. A dramatic and evocative ruined cliff top fortress in a truly stunning setting. As you wander around the extensive buildings - from the keep through the barracks, lodgings, stables and storeh...
Kinkell Church are now the ruins of a 16th-century parish church, with fine sacrament house dated 1524, and the grave slab of Gilbert de Greenlaw, killed in battle in 1411.
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The ancient priory church at Restenneth, by Forfar, is believed to have been founded by Nechtan, king of the Picts about 715. He sent to the Abbot of Wearmouth, near Corbridge, to ask for instruction in the Christian faith, and also for builders who ...
The Verdant Works are the only dedicated jute museum in the United Kingdom. As a museum, the Verdant Works tell the story of Dundee's textile industries, focusing primarily on the jute and linen industries. The production of textiles was the dominant...
A tranquil green oasis nestling on the west coast, Arduaine surprises and delights garden enthusiasts all year round. This south-facing garden on the Sound of Jura benefits from the warming effect of the Gulf Stream and encourages some spectacular di...
Rising from the east shore of Loch Lomond to a height of 974m (3,193ft), Ben Lomond offers exhilarating walking and spectacular views across Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. Details of walking routes are available from the Information Ce...
Castle Stalker – in the Gaelic, Stalcaire, meaning Hunter or Falconer – is believed originally to have been the site of a Fortalice (a small fortified building) belonging to the MacDougalls when they were Lords of Lorn, and built around 1320. The...
Near the banks of Loch Fyne, on the west coast, immerse yourself in Britain's finest example of an exotic Himalayan-style woodland garden. The informal hillside layout of mature woody plants radiating out from the burn creates a wonderful natural ...
The Centre provides a focus for the work of Dunbeath Preservation Trust: a research base; a repository for research data, manuscripts, photographs and items of local material culture; an exhibition and interpretation space; a venue for lectures, stor...
The most famous Scottish glen is also one of its most dramatic, with forbidding mountains, thundering waterfalls and sparkling lochs. The drama is also reflected in Glencoe’s history, both real and imagined – myths, massacre and movies are all no...
Tucked away from view, just off the A82, is the ‘family friendly’ Glencoe Visitor Centre, with exciting interactive displays and activities for both adults and children. ‘Living on The Edge’ explores the landscape, wildlife and history of thi...
Inveraray Castle is a remarkable and unique piece of architecture incorporating Baroque, Palladian and Gothic. Featuring four imposing French influenced conical spires surmounting the stone castelated towers, this unmistakably Scottish Castle was ...
Since opening in 1989 Inveraray Jail has established itself as one of Scotland's most exciting heritage attractions. Visit the magnificently restored 1820 Courtroom where you can sit and listen to excerpts from trials of the past. Then pass on to ...
Network Carradale Heritage Centre provides an introduction to the historical and social background of a Highland Village, where the main industries are fishing, farming and forestry. Network Carradale Heritage Centre states this is great for child...
St Mary's Chapel is a late-medieval remains of the chancel of the Parish Church of St Mary. The property has been re-roofed to protect its fine tombs....
The Old Byre is a Heritage Centre in the beautiful Glen Bellart close to the picturesque village of Dervaig on the Isle of Mull. The Old Byre is a must for anyone who would like to absorb the history of Mull in an effortless 'armchair' manner! Wit...
Torosay Castle - NOW CLOSED to the Public Positioned in the most spectacular setting imaginable, Torosay Castle was completed in 1858 by the eminent Architect David Bryce in the Scottish Baronial style. Bryce also designed the Bank of Scotl...
Under the thatched roof of this humble-looking, 17th-century house in Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland’s national bard, Robert Burns, learned to dance, founded a debating club and became a Freemason. Just a few years later Burns made his name with ...
For 200 years the beautiful scenery of Alloway and its special connection with the life and works of Robert Burns have drawn visitors to this stunning Ayrshire village. Burns National Heritage Park offers visitors a chance to experience the rich h...
With its dramatic clifftop setting, Robert Adam architecture, fascinating history and beautiful surroundings, it's easy to see why Culzean Castle is one of Scotland’s most popular visitor attractions. Surrounded by Culzean Country Park, a 242 he...
The Country Park, covering over 200 acres, boasts beautiful woodland walks, adventure playground, pets corner, visitor centre, tearoom, shop and a fantastic 14th century castle housing world class collections including historic weapons, armour and mu...
Dunaskin Heritage Centre is NOW CLOSED. An open air, living museum set amidst the beautiful, rolling Ayrshire hills. Two audiovisual presentations, interactive computer quiz, 2 wand walks using electronic hand held wands, tallest play tower in Bri...
A secret forest, a crocodile swamp and an amazing adventure course makes Kelburn Country Centre one of Scotland's most thrilling days out for kids. Based around a 13th Century castle that's had an amazing makeover courtesy of a team of Brazilian ...
Dates seem to be uncertain for the earliest parts of Sorn Castle, but the original tower seems to have been of late 14th century origin, or perhaps even earlier. The Castle occupiers an admirable defensive position poised on a cliff above the Rive...
Award winning, action packed historical Vikingar! where you can meet real live Vikings and hear about their exploits, adventures and battles in Scotland. Visit Vikingar! located in the beautiful coastal resort of Largs in Ayrshire, and be e...
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. Standing at 1,344 metres (4,409 ft) above sea level, it is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William....
