Applecross broch Time Team Dig / Cladhach ‘Time Team’ air Dùn Bhoradail

In 2005, the Channel 4 Time Team visited Applecross to investigate a prominent mound at the Applecross campsite, which had long been thought to be the site of a former broch.

Brochs, which date from around 2,000 years ago (during the Iron Age), were large, thick walled, dry stone towers. They had double walls constructed entirely without cement, with stairs and galleries between the walls given access to upper levels.

One of the interesting and intriguing things about brochs is that they were erected mainly in the Highlands and Islands and their construction ended a millennium before the earliest mortared stone castles of mediaeval times appeared.

In early summer 2005 a team of around fifty people arrived in Applecross to excavate our broch site for an episode of the Time Team television programme.

The investigation (conducted in some of the worst weather the Time Team had ever encountered!) concluded that the Applecross structure was indeed a broch. Outer walls, inner walls and a stair were found, together with an entrance and evidence of an iron working hearth.

Further excavations were carried out through a series of community digs in future years and much more was discovered, including evidence of multiple phases of use over many years.