Torwoodlee Broch

Torwoodlee Broch stands on a ridge above Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. It is the remains of an Iron Age drystone tower built soon after the Romans left Scotland around AD 100. The broch once formed part of a hillfort that measured about 137 by 136 metres across its oval earthworks. Its outer wall was over five metres thick at the base, enclosing a central court about twelve metres wide. Two concentric stone walls created hollow chambers and stairways within the thickness of the structure. The entrance was a narrow stone passage controlled by lintels, typical of broch design. The site is worth visiting because it shows how Iron Age people built strong, lasting towers. Excavations in 1891 by James Curle found Roman pottery, glass and a first-century coin inside the broch. In 1950 Stuart Piggott dug again and found more Roman material beneath the walls. The finds suggest the broch was built after the Romans withdrew and destroyed soon after AD 140, perhaps during a brief Roman campaign. Nearby Bow Castle Broch, about three kilometres away, hints at a network of fortified settlements in the valleys. Visitors today see a low circular mound of fallen stones within the old hillfort’s banks. The foundations still mark where the tower once stood high above the ridge. The surrounding landscape of the Scottish Borders stretches out in rolling hills and valleys. The broch’s position on the ridge would have let its builders watch over movement through the land. The remains give a sense of the Iron Age world and the later Roman presence in the area.