Torrylin Cairn is the remains of a Neolithic chambered tomb. The cairn has been interfered with by stone robbing and later dumping of field stones and its original shape and size are uncertain. The chamber is 6.7 metres long by about 1.2 metres wide with each compartment about 1.4 metres long. Torrylin Cairn is of a type found across south-west Scotland known as a Clyde cairn, of which a better preserved example can be found at Carn Ban, about 3 miles to the northeast. The tomb would probably have had a crescent-shaped forecourt, framed by a façade of slender upright stones.

Antiquarian excavations in the 19th century uncovered an elongated burial chamber, divided into four compartments. Only the innermost compartment was intact. It contained the remains of six adults, a child and an infant. Beside them lay a flint tool and a fragment of pottery.

References:

Comments

Your name



User Reviews

Alice Krausova (7 years ago)
Remains of prehistoric burial mount. Nice views. Open all year round, free entry.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Visby Cathedral

Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.