How to Build a Crannog?

To build a Crannog, round timber poles were used for the flooring as well as to form the structure of the roundhouse. With a thatched roof, made from reeds sourced from the loch, the enclosing walls of the house would be made from hundreds of hazel stems, woven together.

How was a crannog built?

Here in Highland Perthshire the prehistoric crannogs were originally timber-built roundhouses supported on piles or stilts driven into the loch bed. In more barren environments, tons of rock were piled onto the loch bed to make an island on which to build a stone house.

What is a Celtic crannog?

A crannog is an artificial island, built out of robust timbers screwed into the bed of the loch. These long posts form a circle, and function like stilts to support a walled wooden dwelling above the water, accessed either by a bridge or by coracles and dugout canoes.