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Culswick Broch's ruined wall and triangular lintel stone above the entrance.
Shetland Islands

Culswick Broch

A broch on a headland in the far West Mainland, with a great triangular lintel over its door and a view to Foula.

Welcome

Culswick Broch stands on a high headland at the far end of Shetland's West Mainland, and the walk out to it is as much the point as the broch itself.

It starts at the hamlet of Culswick, a handful of houses in a valley little more than half an hour's drive from Lerwick, and a good track runs most of the way.

The last stretch crosses open moorland and climbs a short, steep slope to the broch. Its walls still stand in part, and above the entrance sits the detail everyone remembers: a massive triangular lintel stone. The broch has never been excavated. From its hilltop the view runs out over the Atlantic to the island of Foula, some twenty miles west. Allow about an hour each way, with time to explore.

A short drive awayStanydale TempleA heel-shaped Neolithic hall on the West Mainland, and nobody is sure what for.29 min by roadSee itThe heel-shaped stone walls of Stanydale Temple in the moorland under a cloudy sky.
Before you go

Drive to Culswick, about half an hour from Lerwick, and walk out on the track: about an hour each way, with a short steep scramble at the end.

Open at any time; free.

Getting there
Culswick, about 30 minutes' drive from Lerwick.
Walk
About an hour each way.
Going
Track, moor and a steep scramble.
Where it is

Culswick, West Mainland.

Close byIn the West Mainland.
  1. Da Gairdins i Sand, flax and shrubs by a pond, the voe and brown hills beyond.SandA hidden corner of the Westside: a moorland garden planted since 1991, a quiet beach and a chapel arch the Armada legend clings to.9 miles21 min by road
  2. Headlands and sea stacks on the coast by the Dale of Walls under a blue sky.Dale of WallsA quiet valley beyond Walls in the Westside, ending in a storm beach of piled pebbles facing the Atlantic.14 miles41 min by road
  3. The road to Kergord past sheep in a field, the woods around the house beyond.Kergord WoodsThe oldest and tallest woods in Shetland, planted round Kergord House in Weisdale from the early 1900s.16 miles29 min by road
Directions
The heel-shaped stone walls of Stanydale Temple in the moorland under a cloudy sky.AttractionsStanydale Temple7.9 miles
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