Historic Sites in Scotland
Encyclopedia
There are thousands of historic sites and attractions in Scotland
. These include Neolithic
Standing stone
s and Stone Circles, Bronze Age
settlements, Iron Age
Broch
s and Crannog
s, Pictish
stones, Roman
forts and camps, Viking
settlements, Mediaeval castles, and early Christian
settlements. Scotland also played an important role in the development of the modern world, and there are many industrial heritage sites and museums. A few of the best known are listed below:
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. These include Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
Standing stone
Standing stone
Standing stones, orthostats, liths, or more commonly megaliths are solitary stones set vertically in the ground and come in many different varieties....
s and Stone Circles, Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
settlements, Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
Broch
Broch
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs include some of the most sophisticated examples of drystone architecture ever created, and belong to the classification "complex Atlantic Roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s....
s and Crannog
Crannog
A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia from the European Neolithic Period, to as late as the 17th/early 18th century although in Scotland,...
s, Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
stones, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
forts and camps, Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
settlements, Mediaeval castles, and early Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
settlements. Scotland also played an important role in the development of the modern world, and there are many industrial heritage sites and museums. A few of the best known are listed below:
Neolithic sites
- CallanishCallanishCallanish is a village on the West Side of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides , Scotland. A linear settlement with a jetty, it is situated on a headland jutting into Loch Roag, a sea loch...
, LewisLewisLewis is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is .... - CorrimonyCorrimonyCorrimony is a remote village in Glenurquhart in Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland.Corrimony is famous for Mony's Stone and the chambered cairn, part of the Clava group of cairns, which date from the 3rd century BC...
, Glen UrquhartGlen UrquhartThis page refers to the geographical area of "Glen Urquhart"For other meanings of the term, see Glen Urquhart Glenurquhart or Glen Urquhart is a glen running to the west of the village of Drumnadrochit in the Highland council area of Scotland-Location:Glenurquhart runs from Loch Ness at Urquhart...
(Glenurquhart) - Croftmoraig, PerthshirePerthshirePerthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
- Kilmartin GlenKilmartin GlenKilmartin Glen is an area in Argyll not far from Kintyre, which has one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Scotland. The glen is located between Oban and Lochgilphead, surrounding the village of Kilmartin....
, Argyll - Machrie Moor, ArranIsle of ArranArran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058...
- MaeshoweMaeshoweMaeshowe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. The monuments around Maeshowe, including Skara Brae, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. It gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn, which is limited to Orkney...
, Orkney - Ring of BrodgarRing of BrodgarThe Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland...
, Orkney - Skara BraeSkara BraeSkara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BCE–2500 BCE...
, Orkney - Standing Stones of Stenness, Orkney
Roman sites
- Antonine WallAntonine WallThe Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 39 miles and was about ten feet ...
, Scottish LowlandsScottish LowlandsThe Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands .... - Trimontium, Scottish BordersScottish BordersThe Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
Monuments
- Wallace MonumentWallace MonumentThe National Wallace Monument is a tower standing on the summit of Abbey Craig, a hilltop near Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, the 13th century Scottish hero....
, StirlingStirlingStirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth... - National Monument, EdinburghNational Monument, EdinburghThe National Monument of Scotland, popularly referred to as Scotland's Disgrace, the Pride and Poverty of Scotland or Edinburgh's Shame, is an unfinished building on Calton Hill in Edinburgh...
- Nelson Monument, Edinburgh
- Scott MonumentScott MonumentThe Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott . It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opposite the Jenners department store on Princes Street and near to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station.The tower is high, and has a series of viewing decks...
, Edinburgh
Historic sites and battles
- Stirling BridgeBattle of Stirling BridgeThe Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham near Stirling, on the River Forth.-The main...
, 1297 - BannockburnBattle of BannockburnThe Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
1314 - KilliecrankieBattle of Killiecrankie-References:*Reid, Stuart, The Battle of Kiellliecrankkie -External links:* *...
, 1689 - GlenfinnanGlenfinnanGlenfinnan is a village in Lochaber area of the Highlands of Scotland. It is located at the northern end of Loch Shiel, at the foot of Glenfinnan.- Glenfinnan Monument :...
, (Raising of Standard in 1745, see JacobitismJacobitismJacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
) - CullodenBattle of CullodenThe Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...
, 1746