Rebuilding work begins at the Scottish Crannog Centre in Perthshire after it was destroyed by fire

The first doorway of a new Iron Age settlement in Perthshire has been installed.

Carpenters, archaeologists and architects are working on rebuilding the Scottish Crannog Centre in Kenmore after it was destroyed by a fire nearly two years ago.

The new site is opposite where the current museum sits, on the banks of Loch Tay.

Mike Benson, managing director of the Scottish Crannog Centre, told STV News: “On the night (of the fire) we thanked our lucky stars that no one was hurt.

“We got all our staff together at 1am in the morning and said we’ll move – exactly what the Iron Age settlers would have done – pack up our belongings and move.

“We had already bought this site and we were always going to move, but we didn’t think we’d have to move this quickly.

“The plan had always been to move, we had outgrown the current site. This site gives us the opportunities to tell the stories bigger, better and deeper.”

The museum is still open to visitors, but the new site will allow the team to build an Iron Age settlement with seven buildings, a new Crannog and a new museum.

Workers have been using building methods and locally-sourced materials to ensure the traditions of 1200BC are kept alive.

Brendan O’Neill, assistant professor at the School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, is part of a team brought in to help make sure the buildings are historically accurate and meet current building standards.

He said: “Heritage parks and open air museums, they’re trying to do great work, they’re trying to reimagine and put back together these ancient structures and show us the ways of living from the past.

“But obviously we’re in the modern world and there’s an awful lot of translation needed.”