Inshlampie, Broch

Archaeological place

Explorer Tom

Inshlampie Broch keeps its Iron Age story low to the ground above Strathnaver, where grassy banks and rough grazing hide a surprisingly elaborate stronghold. If you came expecting a tall stone tower, Tom must warn you: the tower has gone, but the ring of its foundations and defensive earthworks still put up a sturdy argument. Historic Environment Scotland describes a broch, a dry-stone fortified dwelling, on a rocky edge above the valley. Its wall footings are about four metres thick around an interior roughly 8.3 metres across, giving a total diameter of about 16.5 metres. The walls have been reduced almost to ground level. Around them are traces of two ramparts and ditches, with an approach through the south-east side. One ditch reaches about 8.5 metres across and three metres deep in the official record. A later boulder-built enclosure intrudes into the inner ditch, hinting that people reused this place after the original plan had changed. Archaeologists treat Inshlampie as part of the 'mound-on-mound' broch group familiar in Caithness and Sutherland. I would have knocked before entering. This is a rough-land site, not a staffed monument. A detailed walker account describes a long, rough approach from Rhifail by a mapped track and warns against trying to follow the river; it does not confirm that the footbridge at Skail remains usable. Plan with a current map, weather and land conditions, and turn back if the route is uncertain. Leave the earthworks as you found them. The hillside keeps its walls without lifting a stone.

This does not grant access. Check current paths, opening conditions and ownership before entering.

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What is recorded here

Map note: Inshlampie, Broch, an ancient site, is mapped near Skail, Highland, Scotland. There is no need to invent a lost kingdom to make the name interesting.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w1386274175