Broch of Clickimin
Coordinates: 60°08′57″N 1°09′56″W / 60.149289°N 1.165543°W
 Broch of Clickimin | |
 .svg.png){kind=icon} Shown within Shetland | |
| Location | Mainland, Shetland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 60°08′57″N 1°09′56″W / 60.149289°N 1.165543°W |
| Type | Broch |
| History | |
| Periods | Iron Age |
| Site notes | |
| Ownership | Historic Scotland |
The Broch of Clickimin (also Clickimin Broch or Clickhimin Broch) is a large, well-preserved but restored broch in Lerwick in Shetland, Scotland (grid reference HU46434082). Originally built on an island in Clickimin Loch, it was approached by a stone causeway. The broch is situated within a walled enclosure and, unusually for brochs, features a large "forework" or "blockhouse" between the opening in the enclosure and the broch itself. The site is maintained by Historic Scotland.[1] According to its excavator, John R.C. 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 20 metres and an internal diameter of around 9 metres. 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 via the entrance on the western side.[3] The entrance passage may have had a "guard cell", now blocked up, 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] Following major vandalism and dilapidation, parts of the site were rebuilt by the Office of Works in 1908-10. It was excavated again between 1953 and 1957 by J. R. C. Hamilton, who proposed a complex chronology for it.[2] The earliest occupation of the site, according to Hamilton, was a small Late Bronze Age farmstead of the 7th or 6th centuries BC which (he said) was superseded by a larger circular Iron Age farmhouse built about the 5th century BC.[2] In the 4th, or early 3rd century BC, Hamilton continued, 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]
In recent years Hamilton's schema has been challenged by archaeologists and others: the ring wall, blockhouse and broch are now usually assumed to be contemporary. For a full account see B. Smith, 'How not to reconstruct the Iron Age in Shetland: modern interpretations of Clickhimin broch', Northern Studies, 47, 2015.
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]
Images
The Broch of Clickimin
Intramural Wall at the Broch of Clickimin
Stairs at the Broch of Clickimin
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clickimin Broch. |
- Clickimin Broch at Historic Scotland.