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Broch of Mousa
It is about 2000 years old making it date from the Iron Age period which in Scotland and the Northern Isles coincides with the Pictish period, though in Shetland the influences have always been largely Norse or Scandinavian.
Although at 44'(13m) thought to be unusually tall, its diameter, and in particular, its inner diameter is unusually narrow, giving it great solidity and strength which have no doubt helped it endure. It is shaped as a narrowly tapering frustum of a cone with a slight widening again at the top. This makes it remarkably similar in shape to the cooling towers associated with electricity generating stations.
The visitor can enter the central chamber, and climb up a stone staircase between the inner and outer walls. This staircase allows views into the interior of the broch through several internal windows, though there are no external ones. The staircase eventually leads out to a wall walk along the circumference of the top of the tower, thankfully with tall enough external walls to prevent plummeting! There is a strong grille over the central opening to avoid any similar fate on the inside.
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- Mousa
By Rob Farrow. Used on 31 images
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