Clachtoll Broch – Iron Age Assynt by the Sea
A few hours.
The route
Clachtoll Broch is an Iron Age stone roundhouse on a rocky knoll above the Bay of Stoer, home to a farming family over 2,000 years ago until a great fire brought it down and sealed what they left inside.
The local heritage group Historic Assynt dug it out and made it safe, work named Rescue Project of the Year in 2021, and you can now walk in through its original entrance passage. It's a short walk on a rough coast path from Clachtoll's beach, an hour or two for anyone who loves old places and wild shores.
Before you go
The day
Clachtoll
Along the shore from Clachtoll's beach to the broch on its knoll, then back the same way with the bay in front of you.
About an hour and a halfAbout 1 mile on foot
Clachtoll Broch
Park in the Clachtoll Beach car park, signposted from the B869 between Lochinver and Stoer. A coastal path leads north from the beach along the shore to the broch, on its rocky knoll above the Bay of Stoer. The walking is rough, so wear sturdy shoes. The broch is free and always open, with no staff on site. Its thick drystone walls still stand above the rubble, and you go in through the original entrance passage; panels on site tell its story. The dig found pottery linked to the Hebrides, storage cells and a massive hearth, all sealed under the rubble when the broch burned. It's a key stop on the Coigach and Assynt Heritage Trail. Keep children close on the walls and the rocks, and dogs under close control. Allow an hour or two for the beach and the broch together. Go in daylight, which goes by about half past three in December, and keep off the rocks in a big sea.
If it rains
There's no shelter at the broch or on the path; on a wet, windy day keep to the beach end and leave the rocks for a calmer one.
Where to stay
Photograph by David Cameron via Google