Breachacha crannog facts for kids
The Breachacha crannog is an ancient, man-made island found in what used to be Loch Breachacha. It's located on Coll, an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. A crannog is like a small, artificial island often built in lakes or rivers, used as a home or fort long ago. This special crannog is officially protected in the United Kingdom as a Scheduled monument. This means it's a really important historical or archaeological site that gets legal protection to make sure it isn't damaged. There are about 8,000 such protected sites across Scotland!
What is the Breachacha Crannog?
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The crannog is found about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) south of Breachacha Castle. It sits in what was once a loch called Poll nam Broig. The loch was drained in 1875, so today the crannog is in a field used for farming. The ground around it is quite wet and can only be reached from the east side.
How Big is the Crannog?
The Breachacha crannog is shaped like an oval. It's made of a mound of stones and earth with a flat top. The mound stands about 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) high. At its base, it measures 26 by 21 meters (85 by 69 feet). The top is smaller, measuring 16 by 11 meters (52 by 36 feet).
The highest part of the mound is about 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) above the old loch-bed. An expert named Mark W. Holley studied the site in 1995. He figured out that this height matched the deepest water level of the old loch. When the loch was full, the crannog would have been about 30 meters (98 feet) from the shore.
What Did Experts Find?
During his survey, Mark W. Holley noticed five half-circle pits dug into the ground. These pits were on the east, south, and south-west sides of the crannog. He thought these holes were dug fairly recently, after the early 1900s. This is because an old expert named Erskine Beveridge didn't mention them or any digging when he visited.
There are no signs of a path or bridge (called a causeway or jetty) that would have connected the crannog to the shore. There are also no traces of walls or wooden posts sticking out. Holley noted that the stones used to build the crannog seem to be from the local area. There are no other man-made features close to the site.
