Clickimin Broch
| Broch of Clickimin | |
|
Shetland | |
|---|---|
 Broch of Clickimin | |
| Type: | Broch |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | HU46434082 |
| Location: | 60°8’57"N, 1°9’56"W |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Historic Scotland |
The Broch of Clickimin (also Clickimin Broch) is a large and well preserved, though somewhat restored broch found near Lerwick in Shetland.
Originally built on an island in Clickimin Loch, the broch was approached by a stone causeway. The broch is within a walled enclosure and, unusually for brochs, features a large "blockhouse" between the opening in the enclosure and the broch itself. The site is maintained by Historic Scotland.[1] According to its excavator Hamilton there were several periods of occupation of the site: Late Bronze Age farmstead, Early Iron Age farmstead, Iron Age fort, broch period, and wheelhouse settlement.
Location
Clickhimin Broch is situated on the south shore of the Clickimin Loch, three-quarters of a mile south-west of Lerwick on the Lerwick-Sumburgh road.[2] It sits on a small promontory jutting into the loch.[3] It is one of the best preserved broch sites in Shetland.[2]
Description
The broch has an external diameter of around 60 feet and an internal diameter of around 30 feet. It is surrounded by a stone-walled fort consisting of a blockhouse and ringwork.[2] The blockhouse is a free-standing drystone gateway set just within the entrance to the fort.[3] Access to the broch is achieved by way of the entrance on the western side.[3] The entrance passage has a "guard cell" on the right side, just inside the door jamb. The interior of the broch has two cells within the walls at ground-level.[3] Excavations have revealed the postholes for internal timber buildings and in the 19th century there were said to have been radiating stone piers visible.[3] There are two additional entrances to the broch at upper levels.[3] The north entrance leads both into the interior and to a staircase. The other entrance leads to an intramural gallery.[3]
History
The broch was originally excavated and cleared in 1861-2.[3] It was excavated again between 1953 and 1957 by J. R. C. Hamilton, who revealed a complex chronology to the site.[2] The earliest occupation of the site was a small Late Bronze Age farmstead of the 7th or 6th centuries BC which was superseded by a larger circular Iron Age farmhouse built about the 5th century BC.[2] In the 4th, or early 3rd century BC a stone-walled fort consisting of the block-house and ringwork was constructed, which was in turn superseded by the broch in about the 1st century AD.[2] In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD a large wheelhouse was built within the reduced tower and with minor outhouses, storage pits and cattle stalls dug in the debris inside the older defences.[2]
Archaeological Finds
Finds include stone lamps, whetstones, bone and whalebone objects, a die, a few bronze objects,[3] and two fragments of Roman glass.[2]
Pictures
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The Broch of Clickimin -
Intramural Wall at the Broch of Clickimin -
Stairs at the Broch of Clickimin
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Clickimin Broch) |
- Clickimin Broch at Historic Scotland.
References
- ↑ "Clickimin Broch". Historic Scotland. http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertydetail.htm?PropID=PL_070. Retrieved 1 Sep 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Clickimin
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Ritchie, J N G (1998). Brochs of Scotland. Shire Publications. pp. 24–6. ISBN 0747803897.