@thistleandtime.bsky.social
Exploring Scotland's historical places
Today, little remains of Mangerton Towerโonly a section of the basement and some wall fragments.Yet, it holds nearly legendary status because of one family: the Armstrongs, infamous and powerful border reivers, who made it their main seat.
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Drone shot of the ruined Tower, red sandstone curved wall on left rising in height. Wall on right missing. No roof. Trees behind.
Littledean Tower, built in the 16th century, was attacked by an English Army during the โRough Wooingโ. It was also home to notorious Border Reivers and a ghost. It features in the podcast series โHidden Histories of the Scottish Bordersโ available on all main platforms. #scotland #castle #history
21.11.2025 17:37 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Ruthven Barracks (pronounced Riven), overlooking the small town of Kingussie in Badenoch, is a striking ruin with a rich history. It was one of four Highland barracks built by the British government following the Jacobite Rising of 1715.
thistleandtime.scot/2025/10/23/t...
A dramatic clifftop setting and a turbulent history make Dunnottar Castle one of Scotlandโs most captivating castles. Located on a rocky headland about a mile and a half (2.4 km) south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, it is one of Scotlandโs most visited castles.
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Perched on a hillside plateau high above the River Tweed, the ruins of Elibank Castle are a reminder of the Scottish Bordersโ unsettled history.
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Flora MacDonald's birthplace and monument. The image shows an enclosure made of large stones in the foreground enclosing a circular cairn with a plaque on it. Thereโs a gate in the bottom right of the frame with a welcome sign on it. The landscape in the background is very flat. The sky is blue.
Flora MacDonald's birthplace and monument on beautiful South Uist in the Western Isles. She was born on an apparently unknown date in 1722 and would later become famous for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie cross "over the sea to Skye". More pics and info: www.undiscoveredscot...
#Scotland #SouthUist
Photo of a beach with low cloud reflected in the water
Heading to a market this weekend? You may be living like a 10th-century Viking ๐งบ
Established beach markets, like at Culbin Sands in Moray, were important seasonal events where locals gathered on beaches to meet ships carrying exotic goods, trade and socialise: www.digitscotland.com/who-were-the...
Castlehill Tower is a late 15th-century tower house in the Scottish Borders. Its architecture and strategic locationโguarding a vital fordโreflect the widespread conflict and lawlessness of the turbulent Border Reivers era.
thistleandtime.scot/2025/09/17/c...
Nether Largie South Cairn at Kilmartin Glen in Argyll. The cairn dates to the late Neolithic and Bronze Age, and is one of many impressive prehistoric monuments in the area. ๐ธ My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #Kilmartin #Argyll
16.09.2025 06:24 โ ๐ 70 ๐ 7 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
Dryhope Tower is a significant ruined peel or tower house located in the valley of the Yarrow Water near St Maryโs Loch in the Scottish Borders. thistleandtime.scot/2025/09/08/e...
09.09.2025 16:34 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
When it comes to dramatic locations, Fast Castle takes some beating. There may not be much remaining today, but getting there, and experiencing its extreme position, will take your breath away. #castles #scotland
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Smailholm Tower stands on a rocky outcrop 7 miles (11 km) west of Kelso in the Scottish Borders.
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A few photos of Tantallon Castle, situated east of Edinburgh (near Dunbar). Built around 1350, it has seen many battles and several sieges. It's in a lovely location and is worth visiting if you're in the area.
#Travel #Scotland #History
Round stone building with 3 small windows. Ruined out buildings.
Orchardton Tower is an unusual free-standing round tower, the only one of its type in Scotland. It operated as a fortified residence for a nobleman named John Cairns, who may have acquired the land after James II's overthrow of the Douglases in 1455.
25.08.2025 20:21 โ ๐ 3 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Neidpath Castle is an impressive medieval L-plan tower house, dramatically positioned on a cliff overlooking the River Tweed, about a mile (1.6 km) west of Peebles. It has witnessed some 800 years of Scottish history.
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Whitslaid Tower is a ruined 16th-century tower house on a strategic site high above the eastern bank of the Leader Water, approximately two miles (3.2 km) south of Lauder in the Scottish Borders. thistleandtime.scot/2025/08/01/w...
03.08.2025 21:27 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
In the heart of picturesque Braemar village in the Scottish Highlands, next to Clunie Water, are the ruins of Kindrochit Castle.
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Devil's Clawmarks. The image shows the top of a brownish-grey stone wall slightly angled from lower left to top right of the frame. There are six deep grooves carved out of on the stone on the left of the frame, filled with water. A personโs had extends into the frame from the right and is placed on the top of the wall to give a sense of scale. It is much smaller than the six grooves.
The slightly creepy "Devil's Clawmarks" at the ruined Lady Kirk on the island of Sanday in Orkney. It would have taken a fairly large being with at least six claws to have made the marks in question: or perhaps some sort of erosion? More pics and info: www.undiscoveredscot...
#Scotland #Orkney
Govan 2 and Govan 3, two of our five Viking-Age carved stone memorials, known as hogbacks.
Our Viking-Age hogbacks ๐
๐ท @hornesupremacy.bsky.social
Cardrona Tower sits in a small clearing among the dense trees of Cardona Forest, high above the River Tweed.
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Set against the Lowther Hills, Morton Castle is a remote ruin stood on a triangular hill overlooking Loch Morton in Dumfries and Galloway.
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Kilnsike Tower is a ruined but excellent example of a 16th-century bastle house (a fortified farmhouse). It was built for protection during the tumultuous period when cross-border raiders, known as reivers, operated along the Anglo-Scottish border
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Ardvreck Castle. The image shows the stump of a castle in the centre of the frame, with part of a circular turret on the left and other remains attached to its right. In the foreground is a dry-stone wall and a beach this side of it, with a group of people on the beach and the field beyond the wall. There are other people by the castle. The sky is blue.
The fragmentary ruins of Ardvreck Castle, overlooking Loch Assynt in the heart of Sutherland. Dating back to around 1490, the castle is best known for a notorious betrayal of Highland hospitality that took place here in 1650. More pics and info: www.undiscoveredscot...
#Scotland #Sutherland
A large mound of stones in a circle with a stone circle around the outside. Set in a grass field with trees behind
A passage way into a stone cairn with larger stones either side of the entrance
A stone on the edge of a cairn covered in moss with a series of cup marks carved into the surface
A round stone cairn on the left with a large vertical rectangular standing stone to the right and more prehistoric stone remains in the distance
Finally made it to the Clava Cairns last weekend on the way back from the Highlands! Have meant to drop by many times on the way up or down the A9 and missed the @scarf-scot.bsky.social rock art workshop there in May so made a special stop this time.
#TombTuesday
Hackness Martello Tower. The image shows a circular stone structure in the right middle of the frame. It is accessed by external metal stairs on its left and surmounted by a flagpole with a light blue flag. The foreground is grassy and there are some buildings and the sea in the background. The sky is blue.
Hackness Martello Tower on the island of South Walls in Orkney. It was built in 1814 to guard Longhope Sound, part of Scapa Flow, from attack by the French and by US privateers. More pics and info: www.undiscoveredscot...
#Scotland #HacknessMartelloTower #SouthWalls #Orkney #Longhope #ScapaFlow
Johnston โringing stoneโ in Aberdeenshire #StandingStoneSunday
More pics of this 2 metre high granite stane with cup marks on @megalithic.bsky.social here www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?...
Located on the south slope of Mervins Law near Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, Mervinslaw Tower illustrates the practical defensive structures built by Border families to protect themselves and their livestock during the Border Reivers era.
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The main tower on the left with a round turret-like edition on the right, viewed on a warm sunny day.
Burleigh Castle, near Milnathort in Perth and Kinross, is a well-preserved late15th-century tower house with a 16th-century addition. It served as the seat of the Balfours until the early 18th century, when the family supported the Jacobite cause, leading to the forfeiture of their estates in 1716.
03.07.2025 21:56 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Historic ruin with round turrets, set in park with trees.
The Bishopโs Palace in Kirkwall, Orkney, was originally built in the mid 1100s but fell into disrepair during the 1300s. It was remodelled as a Renaissance palace by Robert Reid, who was appointed Bishop by James V.
03.07.2025 07:13 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
This restored, historic 16th-century tower house looks out over Teviotdale from its lofty position atop Minto Crags in the Scottish Borders. It has survived centuries of conflicts, multiple owners, periods of neglect, and two major renovations.
thistleandtime.scot/2025/06/24/t...
