Everything is ancient: Lego broch completed

An Iron Age broch recreated in Lego goes on public display this week.

At a height of 40cm and covering an area of about 1.2 m sq, the roundhouse and a surrounding landscape are made of 10,000 pieces.

Brick to the Past, a team specialising in historically-themed Lego models, built it for the Caithness Broch Project.

The model and the Lego landscape it is set in goes on display at Thurso's Caithness Horizons Museum on Friday. It will be exhibited until 16 October.

Caithness Broch Project's Kenneth McElroy said: "This is a fantastic piece of work, and it's been very hard to resist playing with it.

"We hope that the Lego broch will encourage people to learn more and enjoy Caithness' fascinating and under-investigated archaeological past."

He added: "We'd also like to thank Santander's Discovery Foundation for making this broch possible."

The ruins of what were some of Scotland's oldest and most formidable structures can be found in the Highlands and Orkney.

Caithness has more broch sites than anywhere else in Scotland. Caithness Broch Project was set up to raise awareness of the remains of more than 180 of the ancient buildings in the area.

There are also impressive ruins of brochs in Glenelg in the north west Highlands, while evidence of what is thought to be a rare example of a broch in an urban setting has been uncovered in Stirling.

The stone-built houses have been excavated by archaeologists at Thrumster, near Wick, and near Dunning in Perthshire.

Dan Harris, of Brick the Past, said: "We love history and believe that Lego offers a great way of engaging both young and old in the subject.

"So when Caithness Broch Project approached us we jumped at the chance to work with them.

"Because of the broch's round but tapered shape, this is undoubtedly the most challenging model I have ever built, but it's been a fascinating subject and great fun to make."

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