Clickimin Broch
Clickimin Broch is a remarkably well-preserved Iron Age tower and settlement located on a small promontory jutting into Clickimin Loch, on the outskirts of Lerwick, the capital of Shetland, Scotland. It stands as one of the most significant prehistoric monuments in the whole of Shetland and indeed the Northern Isles, offering visitors an intimate encounter with the domestic life of people who lived here roughly two thousand years ago. The broch itself is a drystone circular tower of the type unique to Scotland, with walls that still stand several metres high, giving a vivid impression of how imposing these structures must have appeared when complete. The site is managed by Historic Environment Scotland and is freely accessible throughout the year, making it one of Shetland's most visited ancient monuments.
The history of the site stretches back considerably further than the broch itself. Archaeological investigation has shown that the promontory was first settled during the late Bronze Age, around 700 BCE, when a farmstead was established here. This evolved through the Iron Age, with a blockhouse — a structure unique to Shetland — being constructed at the landward entrance to the promontory, before the broch tower was eventually raised, probably around the first century BCE or the early centuries of the Common Era. After the broch fell out of use, the site continued to be occupied into the Pictish period and possibly beyond, meaning Clickimin represents a layered palimpsest of occupation spanning well over a thousand years of continuous or near-continuous human use.
Walking out along the causeway to the broch today is a quietly atmospheric experience. The stone tower rises from a low platform, its circular form immediately distinctive, the coursed drystone masonry tight and precise despite its age. Inside the walls there are the remains of internal structures, guard cells within the wall thickness, and scarcements — ledges that once supported upper floors. The broch is not at its full original height, but enough survives to convey the engineering ambition of its builders. On calm days the loch reflects the sky in silver and grey, and the calls of wading birds and gulls carry across the water. When the wind picks up, as it frequently does in Shetland, the site feels raw and elemental.
The surrounding landscape is characteristic of Lerwick's southwestern fringes. Clickimin Loch itself is a freshwater body popular with local anglers and wildfowl, and the leisure centre adjacent to the site provides a sharp contrast between the ancient and the thoroughly modern. Beyond the loch, the low Shetland hills roll away under wide skies. The broch sits practically within the town: housing estates and roads are visible in almost every direction, yet the monument and its loch manage to preserve a surprising sense of remove and quietness. This juxtaposition — a prehistoric tower encircled by a living twenty-first century town — is part of what makes Clickimin so intriguing.
Visiting Clickimin Broch is exceptionally straightforward. It lies less than a kilometre southwest of Lerwick town centre and is easily reached on foot along a well-maintained path, or by car with parking available nearby off Lochside. There is no admission charge. The site is open year-round and there are no gates or restricted hours, though the path can be uneven and visitors should wear sensible footwear. For those arriving by ferry to Lerwick — the main gateway to Shetland from mainland Scotland and Bergen — the broch is a natural first or last stop given its proximity to the town. Summer visits benefit from Shetland's famous long hours of daylight, when the low northern sun bathes the stonework in warm golden light, but the site has its own stark beauty in winter too.
One of the more intriguing details of Clickimin is the blockhouse, the structure that guards the causeway approach to the site. Blockhouses of this kind are found on fewer than a dozen sites across Shetland and Orkney, and their precise function — defensive gatehouse, ceremonial threshold, storage structure — continues to be debated among archaeologists. At Clickimin the blockhouse is unusually complete, with a narrow entrance passage still intact, and stepping through it into the broch enclosure creates a palpable sense of passage between spaces, perhaps intentional in its original design. The site as a whole is a testament to the ingenuity and social organisation of prehistoric island communities, people who quarried, transported, and fitted these massive stones without metal tools or wheeled vehicles, in one of the most windswept corners of Europe.