English: Tappoch Broch - northern side. The main features of this broch are summarized in a note at the end of this article.

For links to other images of the broch, see the main description: 1024921.

The present photo shows the northern part of the circular wall, as seen from the southern side. When walking the portion of the wall-head shown in this photograph, one noticeable feature is an oval stone-lined pit, which I measured to be about 2.7m by 2.2m, set between the outer and inner walls of the broch. The pit is more noticeable from the adjacent parts of the wall-head, but its position can be seen in this photo as a green patch on top of the wall, near the right-hand edge of the photo. The pit is not mentioned in the account of the 1864 excavation of the broch, and so seems to have been the result of later interference with the remains, rather than being an original feature.

In this connection, the book "Archaeology Around Glasgow" (Susan Hothersall), in its article on Torwood Broch, comments: "In 1964, Dr Euan MacKie, an archaeologist with a special interest in the Iron Age, investigated what appeared to be an internal chamber within the north-east section of the broch wall, but concluded that it was a relatively recent structure built into the ruins".