Just outside of Castletown, Balladoole is one of the Isle of Man’s most impressive ancient monuments.
Balladoole has been the site of many excavations that have revealed a number of significant finds including prehistoric flints, Bronze Age burials, Iron Age earthworks and early Christian lintel graves.
A Viking boat burial which dates back to between 850-950 AD was discovered in 1945 by a German refugee and a team from the internment camps based on the Island. The group were originally looking for an Iron Age hill fort but found the burial instead, lying within early Christian lintel graves, which contained a 36ft long Viking ship and the bodies of a man and woman.
In 1918, an ancient Keeill chapel dating between 900AD and 1000AD and a Bronze Age grave dating to 10000 BC were also discovered at the Balladoole site in an area now known as Chapel Hill.
Information boards are provided next to each section of the site and for more information on the history of the site as well as dioramas of the burial and artifacts from the excavation, visit the Viking Gallery in the Manx Museum in Douglas.
References:The Broch of Clickimin is a large and well preserved, though somewhat restored broch near Lerwick. Originally built on an island in Clickimin Loch (now increased in size by silting and drainage), it was approached by a stone causeway. The water-level in the loch was reduced in 1874, leaving the broch high and dry. The broch is situated within a walled enclosure and, unusually for brochs, features a large 'blockhouse' between the opening in the enclosure and the broch itself. Another unusual feature is a stone slab featuring sculptured footprints, located in the causeway which approached the site. Situated across the loch is the Clickimin Leisure Centre.