The Abernethy Round Tower, a solitary sentinel dating back to 1100 AD, stands as a testament to Scotland's enduring past. This article, however, is not merely a registry of old stones. It enumerates the oldest freestanding buildings in Scotland, structures that have weathered the relentless march of centuries. To qualify for inclusion, a structure must meet specific, rather exacting, criteria: it must be a recognizable edifice, defined by its human-made nature, intended for support, shelter, or continuous human occupation. Furthermore, it must retain original building features to a height of at least 1.5 meters (approximately 4.9 feet) or be officially designated as a listed building. This deliberate exclusion of mere ruins, roads, and statues is not arbitrary; it serves to preserve the integrity of what constitutes a building in its most robust sense. Bridges, if they manage to meet these formidable requirements, may find their way onto this hallowed list. The dates provided for these ancient structures are often the product of radiocarbon dating, a science that, while precise, still imbues these temporal markers with an inherent approximation.
The primary chronological compilation within this discourse focuses on buildings constructed no later than 1199 AD. While the Neolithic farmhouse at Knap of Howar claims the title of the oldest building on the list, the earliest periods are overwhelmingly dominated by chambered cairns. These monumental tombs, scattered across the landscape, represent a significant portion of Scotland's ancient architectural heritage, with numerous examples tracing their origins back to the 4th millennium BC and extending into the early Bronze Age.
Estimates regarding the number of broch sites across Scotland, structures hailing from the Iron Age, vary wildly, ranging from a modest hundred to an overwhelming five hundred. However, the harsh reality of preservation means that only a fraction of these enigmatic stone towers are sufficiently intact to warrant inclusion here. And even among those that could be considered, some remain stubbornly undated, their secrets locked away by the passage of time.
The scarcity of surviving structures from the latter half of the first millennium AD, juxtaposed with a surprisingly robust collection from the 12th century, has led to the latter group being segregated into a dedicated sub-list. For periods subsequent to 1200 AD, the sheer volume of qualifying extant structures necessitates separate compilations, with specific lists for 13th-century castles and religious edifices already provided. Furthermore, acknowledging the temporal stratification of urban development, where the oldest buildings in many of the more densely populated council areas of the Central Belt date from after the 14th century, a distinct list categorizing the oldest buildings by council area has been implemented.
A supplementary register includes qualifying structures for which no confirmed construction date can be reliably established, alongside a brief enumeration of substantial prehistoric constructions that fall outside the defined parameters of a "building."
Main list
This compilation, it must be stated, is a work in progress. It is incomplete, a living document that welcomes contributions. (July 2012)
Neolithic and Bronze Age
| Building | Image | Location | Council area | First built | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knap of Howar | Papa Westray | Orkney | 3700 BC | House | Oldest preserved stone house in north west Europe. [3] [4] [5] | |
| Midhowe Chambered Cairn | Rousay | Orkney | 3500 BC | Tomb | A well-preserved example of the Orkney-Cromarty type on the island of Rousay. [6] | |
| Unstan Chambered Cairn | Stenness | Orkney | 3450 BC | Tomb | Excavated in 1884, when grave goods were found, giving their name to Unstan ware. [7] [8] [9] | |
| Knowe of Yarso chambered cairn | Rousay | Orkney | 3350 BC | Tomb | One of several Rousay tombs. It contained numerous deer skeletons when excavated in the 1930s. [7] [10] [11] | |
| Quanterness chambered cairn | St Ola | Orkney | 3250 BC | Tomb | The remains of 157 individuals were found inside when excavated in the 1970s. [7] [12] | |
| Skara Brae | Sandwick, Orkney | Orkney | 3180 BC | Settlement | Northern Europe's best preserved Neolithic village. [13] [14] | |
| Tomb of the Eagles | South Ronaldsay | Orkney | 3150 BC | Tomb | In use for 800 years or more. Numerous bird bones were found here, predominantly white-tailed sea eagle. [15] [16] | |
| Grey Cairns of Camster | Upper Camster | Highland | 3000 BC or older | Tomb | A group of three cairns. [17] [18] | |
| Blackhammer Chambered Cairn | Rousay | Orkney | 3000 BC | Tomb | An Orkney–Cromarty chambered cairn, characterized by stalled burial compartments. [19] | |
| Taversoe Tuick_chambered cairn | Rousay | Orkney | 3000 BC | Tomb | Unusually, there is an upper and lower chamber. [20] | |
| Holm of Papa_chambered cairn | Holm of Papa | Orkney | 3000 BC | Tomb | The central chamber is over 20 metres long. [21] [22] | |
| Barpa Langass | North Uist | Na h-Eileanan Siar | 3000 BC | Tomb | The best preserved chambered cairn in the Hebrides. [23] [24] | |
| Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn | Finstown | Orkney | 3000 BC | Tomb | Excavated in 1901, when it was found to contain the bones of men, dogs and oxen. [25] [26] | |
| Cairnpapple Henge | Bathgate | West Lothian | 3000 BC | Tomb | A Class II henge constructed around 3000 BC. It is designated a scheduled ancient monument with a small visitor centre. | |
| Quoyness_cairn | Sanday, Orkney | Orkney | 2900 BC | Tomb | An arc of Bronze Age mounds surrounds this cairn. [27] | |
| Maeshowe | Stenness | Orkney | 2800 BC | Tomb | The entrance passage is 36 feet (11 m) long and leads to the central chamber measuring about 15 feet (4.6 m) on each side. [28] [29] | |
| Stanydale Temple | Mainland, Shetland | Shetland | 2500–2000 BC | Possibly a residence | The only surviving megalithic structure from prehistoric Shetland. [30] | |
| Crantit cairn | Kirkwall | Orkney | 2130 BC | Tomb | Discovered in 1998 near Kirkwall. [31] [32] | |
| Rubha an Dùnain_passage grave | Skye | Highland | 2000 BC or older | Tomb | On a now uninhabited peninsula to the south of the Cuillin hills. [33] [34] [35] | |
| Wideford Hill chambered cairn | Kirkwall | Orkney | 2000 BC | Tomb | Similar to Maeshowe in design. The tomb was excavated in the 1840s by Flinders Petrie. [36] | |
| Corrimony chambered cairn | Drumnadrochit | Highland | 2000 BC or older | Tomb | A Clava-type passage grave surrounded by a circle of 11 standing stones. [37] [38] | |
| Balnuaran of Clava | Nairn | Highland | 2000 BC | Tomb | The largest of three is the north-east cairn, which was partially reconstructed in the 19th century. The central cairn may have been used as a funeral pyre. [35] [39] [40] | |
| Vinquoy chambered cairn | Eday | Orkney | 2000 BC | Tomb | At an elevated location on the north end of the island. [41] | |
| Glebe cairn | Kilmartin Glen | Argyll and Bute | 1700 BC | Tomb | An early Bronze Age structure with two stone cists. [42] [43] |
Iron Age
| Building | Image | Location | Council area | First built | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dun Ringill | Strathaird, Skye, Skye | Highland | 1st millennium BC | Semi-broch | Known to have been occupied in the medieval period by Clan Mackinnon. The ground floor living space is only 47 square metres. [44] [45] | |
| Old Scatness | Sumburgh | Shetland | 400–200 BC | Broch and wheelhouse | Like Jarlshof the site was occupied by Iron Age peoples, Picts, and Vikings. [46] | |
| Dun Troddan | Glenelg, Highland | Highland | 4th century BC to 1st century AD | Broch | One of the best-preserved brochs, the dry-stone walls surviving to over 7 m in height in places. [47] [48] | |
| Dun Telve | Glenelg, Highland | Highland | 4th century BC to 1st century AD | Broch | The best preserved mainland broch, with walls surviving to 10 m, located only 500 metres from Dun Troddan. [47] [48] | |
| Jarlshof | Sumburgh | Shetland | 200 BC | Various | A complex of preserved wheelhouses, amongst the remains of a variety of much older and more recent buildings. [49] [50] | |
| Yarrows broch | Wick, Highland | Highland | 200 BC | Broch | Situated on the edge of a loch, underwater stonework may indicate a docking area. [51] [52] | |
| Dun Vulan | Bornais | Na h-Eileanan Siar | 150 BC | Broch | Originally 10 metres (33 ft) in height, now reduced to walls of 1.52 metres (5.0 ft). A Pictish house was later built within the walls. [53] [54] | |
| Dun Ardtreck | Minginish, Skye, Skye | Highland | 115 BC | Semi-broch | Initial occupation appears to have been brief and to have "ended in violence and destruction". [55] [Note 1] | |
| Broch of Mousa | Mousa, Shetland | Shetland | 100 BC | Broch | Amongst the best-preserved prehistoric buildings in Europe. [56] [57] | |
| Ness of Burgi fort | Sumburgh | Shetland | 100 BC | Blockhouse fort | Surviving to only 1.5 m in height, the blockhouse was once 22m long, but has suffered from cliff erosion. [58] [59] | |
| Midhowe Broch | Rousay | Orkney | 1st century BC or older | Settlement | Lies opposite the Broch of Gurness overlooking Eynhallow Sound. [60] | |
| Broch of Burrian | North Ronaldsay | Orkney | 1st century BC | Broch | May have had three distinct phases of occupation. [61] [62] | |
| Dun Beag | Bracadale, Skye, Skye | Highland | Late 1st millennium BC | Broch | Visited by Boswell and Johnson in the 18th century. [63] [64] | |
| Mine Howe | Tankerness | Orkney | 100BC - 110AD | Souterrain | Once thought to be a broch, it was used for metal working and may have had a religious purpose. [65] | |
| Broch of Gurness | Evie, Orkney | Orkney | 60 AD or older | Settlement | Oldest confirmed dates are Roman pottery from 60 AD and radiocarbon dates for the late first century. [66] [67] | |
| Dun Mor Vaul | Tiree | Argyll and Bute | 60 AD | Dun | The original structure dates to c. 445 BC. A fragment of a Roman glass bowl made in the Rhineland between AD 160 and 250 was discovered in the interior. [68] [Note 2] | |
| Broch of West Burrafirth | East of Sandness | Shetland | 100 AD or older | Broch | The stone stands eight or nine courses high for much of the circumference. [69] [70] | |
| Antonine Wall | Central Lowlands | Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, and Renfrewshire | 142 AD | Defensive Fortification | A defensive Wall built by the Roman Empire to mark the north-west frontier of the empire and to protect Britannia from the Caledonian tribes. The wall was abandoned in 162 AD. | |
| Dun Fiadhairt | Duirinish, Skye, Skye | Highland | 200 AD or older | Broch | A terracotta model of a bale of wool found at the site may reflect trade between the area and Romanised Britain. [71] [72] | |
| Edin's Hall Broch | Abbey St Bathans | Scottish Borders | 100-140AD | Broch | Broch believed to have been constructed between the two Roman occupations of southern Scotland, on the site of a much earlier fort. [73] | |
| Dun Fiadhairt | Duirinish, Skye, Skye | Highland | 200 AD or older | Broch | A clay model of a bale of wool, believed to be Roman, may reflect trade between the two cultures although a Roman fleet is known to have circumnavigated Scotland in the 1st century AD. [71] [72] | |
| Broch of Borwick | Yesnaby | Orkney | 200 AD? | Broch | On a cliff promontory, the seaward wall is badly eroded. [74] [75] | |
| Tappoch Broch | Torwood | Falkirk | 3rd century AD? | Broch | Dating evidence is sparse, with no finds to link the broch to Roman occupation of nearby Antonine Wall resulting in the suggestion the broch either pre- or post- dates Roman occupation. [76] [77] | |
| Dun Cuier | Barra | Na h-Eileanan Siar | 4th century AD | Galleried dun | A complex and controversial site, with two periods of occupation in the 4th and 7th centuries. [78] |
Early Historic period
| Building | Image | Location | Council area | First built | Use | Notes