List Of Oldest Buildings In Scotland

Contents

1. Overview
2. Etymology
3. Cultural Impact

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	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	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