Brimside Tulloch broch

Another grassy mound right beside the road with just a few stones poking through the grass. There is a large stone on the site with what appears to be the fossil of a sea horse on it, or perhaps it was someone being artistic who carved it into the rock. The stone doesn't look like part of a broch so perhaps it has its own history.

I parked on the verge of the single track road and there was easy access to the site through gates.

For me my theory on line of sight communications extending from the East Coast to the North was proved beyond dispute with this broch. I'm convinced there was line of sight between brochs, cairns and forts all the way from Thurso to Latheronwheel and Lybster. From Crosskirk up on the North Coast you can track line of sight through Tulloch of Lybster and through an obvious missing site at Bridge of Forss to this broch. From here line of sight extends to Tullock of Stemster and Oust, and then to Knock Glass and inland to Loch Calder and Tulloch of Achavarn. From Loch Calder you can track line of sight through cairns to the fort on Beinn Freiceadain above Loch Shurrery and then across to Achingoul. A cairn on the banks of the River Thurso then extends this line to the brochs at Westerdale. Carn Na Mairg, Tulach Beag and Tulach Mor continue line of sight inland through Strath Beag, and I have no doubts this line extended to Greysteil Castle on Loch Rangag then to the brochs in Rumster Forest and then down to the coast at Latheronwheel and Lybster. I'm also convinced line of sight extended from Helmsdale up to the Suisgill broch and then across Sutherland to The Borg and down Strath Halladale to Melvich. Line of sight would also have extended along the North Coast to Wick and down the East Coast most likely to Inverness, which I believe was their southern border. There would have been no requirement for brochs along the Great Glen to Fort William as it would have been impossible for Roman Legions to march across the Cairngorms or the Grampian Mountains, and there isn't really anywhere on the West or North coasts the Romans could have landed to establish a beachhead from which to attack Inverness. Marching from Dundee to Aberdeen and then along the Moray coast would have been their only option, and that is another reason I believe the PIcts built the fort at Burghead and why I also believe that was where the battle of Mons Graupius was fought.

 

Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO. © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved.

Brimside Tulloch broch photographs

Brimside Tulloch 01

Brimside Tulloch 02

Brimside Tulloch 03

Brimside Tulloch 04

Brimside Tulloch 05

Brimside Tulloch 06

Brimside Tulloch 07

Brimside Tulloch 08

Brimside Tulloch 09

Brimside Tulloch 10

Brimside Tulloch 11

  Disclaimer: Some brochs were built with military defensive purpose, and as such can be situated in extremely dangerous areas, such as on the edge of cliffs and ravines. Additionally, these are Iron Age structures, most of them in ruins, and they are extremely hazardous, with crumbling stone walls and hidden chambers. Existing walls, lintels, and passages could collapse at any time. The information here is provided free but it is your responsibility to ensure its accuracy, ensure your own safety, and acquire permissions for access where necessary. Accessing brochs is done entirely at your own risk.