Broch of Clickimin

The broch was originally excavated and cleared in 1861–2. 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. 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site, according to Hamilton, was a small Late Bronze Age farmstead of the 7th or 6th centuries BC which (he said) was superseded by a larger circular Iron Age farmhouse built about the 5th century BC. In the 4th, or early 3rd century BC, Hamilton continued, a stone-walled fort consisting of the blockhouse and ringwork was constructed, which was in turn superseded by the broch in about the…

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. The blockhouse is a free-standing drystone gateway set just within the entrance to the fort. Access to the broch is achieved via the entrance on the western side. 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. Excavations have revealed the postholes for internal timber buildings and in the 19th century there were said to have been radiating stone piers visible. There are two…