Broch of Culswick

The Broch of Culswick is an Iron Age site dating to between 500BC and 200AD, and is located in western Shetland. A round, fortified residence, it was built by the Pictish folk who then called Shetland their home. A depiction from the 1770s showed it standing three storeys tall, so its current state of dilapidation is relatively recent. I walked a good couple of miles to locate it and found the hill upon which it stands a hard climb. With the sea on one side and a loch on the other, its height and position were clearly chosen with defence in mind. The tribes of Shem, Ham and Japheth may not have been as horribly violent as the peoples before the great Flood, but they certainly felt the need to keep themselves safe from their neighbours and cousins. Life was nasty, brutish and short, and those strong walls kept dangerous invaders out.

Each castle, fortress, defensive ditch and door lock bespeaks the sorry state of a fallen race. We are both victim and aggressor, complainant and defendant, offender and defender. When the new heavens and new earth are inaugurated by God Himself, there shall be no need of the sun, and no need of bastions and citadels, either.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Psalm 91:1-2

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