Back By Popular Demand – Scottish Historian, Carol Knott

Over the years our Scottish historian, Carol Knott, as entertained our passengers with exciting tales of Scotlands rich and colourful history.

From the stone circles that are scattered across Scotland’s islands, which are thought to date back 5,000 years, to the mysterious ruins and iconic castles, we explore Scotland’s isles and uncover stories of heroes, villains, fallen monarchs and bloody battles. We come across Neolithic settlements, Roman frontiers and hundreds more fascinating historical sites.

As we cross the Norwegian Sea we follow the story of the Vikings that sailed the European waters as warriors, traders and adminstrators.

Join Carol in 2013 as she takes us on a historical journey, unlocking secrets at almost every turn.

Meet Carol Knott

Carol discovered archaeology in her teens, becoming immersed in a succession of rescue projects on medieval English towns, ports, churches and castles. After receiving a masters degree in Archaeology and History from the University of Glasgow, she continued this work with excavations at some of the great medieval abbeys, Tudor and Jacobean palaces and historic gardens of England, such as Hill Hall and Audley End in Essex.

In 1988 she returned to her native Scotland, and since then has lived and worked in the Outer Hebrides. In 2000, Carol carried out a survey of the Teampull Rubha Chirc a 13th century chapel site on the Hebrides. In 2007, Carol also provided her insight on television favorite Time Team, assisting the excavation team in uncovering a Bronze Age cemetery on the Hebridean island of Barra.

Her researches as a field archaeologist have focused on the history and archaeology of remote communities and deserted offshore islands, and of understanding the lives of the resilient people who have made their homes there from earliest times. She has a particular interest in the vernacular buildings that have evolved in this distinctive environment, and in the connections between Scotland, Scandinavia and the North Atlantic in the Middle Ages.

In recent years Carol has developed the public interpretation of archaeological sites in her home islands, through a series of websites, publications, interpretative materials and site access, and delivers youth and adult educational courses.