The Celts: Ten places to experience Celtic history and culture in the UK

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

As The British Museum and National Museums Scotland reveal a major exhibition of Celtic artefacts, we take a look at ten locations to explore Celtic culture - both ancient and modern
Groam House Museum, Ross-shire

The traditions of Celtic art are celebrated at this museum. It houses many examples of Pictish sculpture such as a fine selection of stones smothered in relief crosses, Pictish symbols and other ornamental patterns. The museum also houses modern Celtic art including works by George Bain, the father of the traditional Celtic art revival and author of the classic Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction.

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Culloden Battlefield Visitors Centre, Inverness

The Battle of Culloden changed Celtic Scottish culture forever as the defeat of the Jacobites allowed the Hanoverians to destroy the Highland clan structure. The Culloden Battlefield Visitors Centre uses personal accounts, authentic weapons and artefacts and interactive exhibits to tell the tale of one of Britain’s bloodiest battles.

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The High Crosses, Iona Abbey, Iona

The High Crosses on Iona are both fabulous examples of Celtic art, covered in interlacing, biblical scenes and other patterns, and testaments to early Celtic Christianity. Only St Martin’s cross, carved from a single piece of rock, remains in situ. The others are housed in the museum dedicated to the island’s rich history and the monastery founded there by Irish monk St Columba in 563 AD.

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The Stone of Destiny, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh

Supposedly the pillow Jacob lay on when he dreamt of Jacob’s Ladder, The Stone of Destiny was used in the coronation of Scotland’s Kings until Edward I plundered it. It was returned to Scotland in 1996 on the condition that it will briefly return down south whenever a British monarch needs crowning.

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The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Ayrshire

Robert Burns is of central importance to Scottish identity, romanticising the Scottish countryside and writing the famous narrative poem Tam o’Shanter. Set in 10 acres around the Burns’s cottage birthplace, the museum holds a collection of more than 5,500 books, artefacts and artworks relating to the poet’s life and work.

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Castell Henllys Iron Age Fort, Pembrokeshire

Castell Henllys is a reconstructed Iron Age village in the heart of Wales, featuring four roundhouses and a granary reconstructed on the original Iron Age foundations. A visitor’s centre helps teach the public about Iron Age life through a variety of interactive screens and videos while prehistoric breeds of livestock including pigs roam the surrounding fields.

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Britain and Europe 800 BC – 43 AD (Room 50), The British Museum, London

The British Museum's permanent gallery tells the story of Europe’s Iron Age peoples, including those the Greeks and Romans considered Celts, through a range of beautiful artefacts including jewellery and everyday tools. Please note that some of the gallery’s objects will be temporarily removed as they are starring in the British Museum/National Museums of Scotland exhibition.

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The Museum of the Iron Age, Hampshire

Built to display some of the finds from nearby Danebury Hill Fort, one of the most extensively studied hillforts in Europe. The museum tells the 2500 year-old fort’s story through a mixture of archaeological exhibits and life-size models and reconstructions. It also boasts the first La Tène style mirror found in Hampshire.

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Maiden Castle, Dorset

Maiden Castle is the largest and most complex Iron Age hillfort in Britain. It was once a thriving Celtic settlement with evidence of many roundhouses, metal working and textile production. The fort may also have been the scene of a battle between Celts and the II Legion Augusta under the future Roman Emperor Vespasian.

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Tintagel Castle, Cornwall

The site of Tintagel Castle has been occupied since Roman times but what remains of the castle we see today is Norman. However, Richard of Cornwall was inspired to build it by Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, which claimed Tintagel as the sight of King Arthur’s, conception. Ever after, the legend of the Celtic hero grew around the castle and it is an important part of the myth in folk memory.

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Celts: Art and Identity runs at the British Museum from September 21 2015 - January 31 2016 and March 31 - September 31. Visit the British Museum's website for more.

Do you have a favourite place to see Celtic culture? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art531472-the-celts-ten-places-to-experience-celtic-history-and-culture-in-the-uk