Event in March: Putting the Story Back into History
A celebration of writing and storytelling about history in Assynt will be held on Saturday 23 March 2019. This day will be a sequence of free events, open to all, to give local people a chance to hear writers who look back into our past and bring it to life in words. The morning is […]
Sparks flew in Assynt!
Assynt’s community sculpture to honour the Clachtoll broch project is well on the way to completion after a dramatic event at Glencanisp on Friday night. After dark, a furnace was set up in the pole barn by artist in residence Julia Cowie, who, with her assistant Uist, demonstrated Iron Age metal production with sparks flying! […]
Two public events coming up!
Historic Assynt’s 20th Anniversary Wednesday 14 November 7.30pm at Stoer Hall Broch Project update and more John Barber and Graeme Cavers of AOC Archaeology will review the whole of the Broch project to date, update us on the latest findings and also update us on the researches John has undertaken since the excavation of Loch […]
Our bronze community sculpture
The broch’s artist in residence, Julia Cowie, ran a fascinating session at Stoer Green last weekend, as part of the Highland Archaeology Festival, showing us her metal working process. She demonstrated how she smelts copper, by wrapping ore in ‘smelt balls’ made of clay, sand and horse dung fibre, and roasting it in a charcoal […]
Is it baffling? Or just baffling?
It’s well worth making your way to Clachtoll broch this week, as the archaeologists are back, exploring the entrance path at the front of the monument. There is some lovely paving just outside the entrance, and then the path seems to start bending and becoming more roughly built. You might expect the route towards such […]
SPARKS WILL FLY ON SATURDAY!
PUBLIC EVENT Traditional Metal Working and an Iron Age Story 2.30pm, Saturday 6 October 2018 at Clachtoll Broch or Stoer Village Hall if wet Author Mandy Haggith will talk and read from her novel, The Walrus Mutterer. Julia Cowie, artist in residence, will run a traditional copper smelt and demonstrate traditional bronze casting techniques. There […]
A Spell of Casting at Clachtoll
The broch has an artist in residence over the next few months, the amazing artist in metal, Julia Cowie. She’s not actually going to be living in the broch, which is a bit draughty these days! But she will be in Assynt to create some new work and inspire local people. Her activities will help […]
More questions than answers at Clachtoll broch
The current phase of excavation the broch is complete, with many unexpected results and, as usual, more questions have been raised by the finds. The excavation focused on the ‘guard cell’ within the walls, to the left of the entrance. It has a corbelled roof but the wall at the far end is clearly a […]
Time traveling for our tea
A throng of people of all ages from the local community, visitors, volunteers and archaeologists set off back in time for our dinners yesterday, with an iron age food tasting day at Stoer Green. The fire was lit at about 10am to heat stones while a pit was dug for roasting meat. We put up […]
Mysterious stones found at Clashnessie!
Archaeologists are often non-committal. When you ask them what they have unearthed on a dig you will often get a ‘well, on the one hand it could be… but on the other hand it might…’ Here in Assynt we have a situation where ‘your guess is as good as any’ prevails, at least for the […]
