Caisteal Grugaig

Caisteal Grugaig is an Iron Age broch on a small rocky knoll above Loch Alsh in the Scottish Highlands. It stands nine kilometres northwest of Shiel Bridge in the district of Lochalsh. Two other brochs, Dun Telve and Dun Troddan, lie a few miles to the south. The broch is sometimes confused with Dun Grugaig, another nearby structure. Its name comes from the Gaelic for ‘fort of the Grugaig’. The broch’s walls rise from uneven ground, giving the interior floor a slope. The entrance on the northeast side has a massive triangular lintel over the doorway. Inside, a guard cell and two intramural rooms can be seen at ground level. One room is a small oval cell, the other a long mural cell with a blocked doorway. Above the entrance, traces of an upper room remain, and a mural stair leads up to a landing and a second flight of steps. Visitors find the broch’s compact stone structure striking against the grassy slope. The steep interior walls show the craft of Iron Age builders. A decorated steatite cup from the site is now in the National Museum of Scotland. The broch offers a quiet view over Loch Alsh and the surrounding hills. Its modest scale and solid stonework make it a clear example of this ancient building type.