Shetland Islands

The Shetland Islands, also called Shetland, comprise one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is an archipelago between the Orkney Islands and the Faroe Islands, north of mainland Scotland, with a total area of approximately 1466 km². It forms part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick.

Out of the approximately 100 islands, only twelve are inhabited. The main island of the group is known as Mainland.

The other inhabited islands are: Bressay, Burra, Fetlar, Foula, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, Trondra, Vaila, Unst, Whalsay, Yell in the main Shetland group, plus Fair Isle and Out Skerries.

Other , uninhabited, islands include

Balta, Bigga, Brother Isle

East Linga

Fish Holm

Gloup Holm, Gruney

Haaf Gruney, Hascosay, Havra, Hildasay, Huney

Lady's Holm, Lamba, Linga near Muckle Roe, Linga near Shetland Mainland, Linga near Yell, Little Roe, Lunna Holm

Moul of Eswick, Mousa, Muckle Flugga, Muckle Ossa

North Havra, Noss

Orfasay, Out Stack, Oxna

Papa, Papa Little

Samphrey

Sound Gruney, South Havra, South Isle of Gletness

Urie Lingey, Uyea, Uynarey

Vementry

West Linga

Fair Isle lies approximately halfway between Shetland and Orkney, but it is administered as part of Shetland and is often counted as part of the island group. The Out Skerries lie east of the main group. Due to the islands' latitude, on clear winter nights the aurora borealis or 'northern lights' can sometimes be seen in the sky, while in summer there is almost perpetual daylight, a state of affairs known locally as the 'simmer dim'. Indeed, when standing at the highest point in the Isles, Ronas Hill, the sun does not set at mid summer.

Places of Interest

Clickimin Broch

Is a large, coastal broch. A Broch is an Iron Age dry stone tower.

Fort Charlotte

Was built by Robert Mylne under the orders of Charles II at the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch Wars in 1665, and it held off a Dutch fleet in 1667 who thought it was far more heavily manned and gunned than it actually was. At the end of the war it was slighted, and it was unmanned when the Dutch burnt it in the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

Jarlshof

Is the best known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland. It lies near the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland, close to the settlements of Sumburgh and Grutness.

Buildings on the site include remains of a Bronze Age smithy, an Iron Age broch and houses, Pictish houses, Viking longhouses and a mediaeval farmhouse. Also on the site is a seventeenth century manor house, which Walter Scott named Jarlshof in his novel The Pirate. The rest of the site was not rediscovered until the late nineteenth century.

Mavis Grind

Is the name given to a narrow isthmus joining the Northmavine peninsular to the rest of Shetland Mainland. It is just 35 yards wide at it's narrowest point. The name means 'gate of the narrow isthmus' in the local dialect.

Mavis Grind is said to be the only place in the UK where you can toss a stone across land from the the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is a regular crossing point for otters, which in Shetland are sea-dwelling.

Mousa Broch

Is the finest example of a Broch in Shetland, and one of the finest examples of an Iron Age round tower or broch in the world. It dates from 100 BC to AD 100 and marks the final stage in broch building.

Located on the island of Mousa, it stands some 44 feet (13 m) high and is accessible via a single entrance at ground level. Once inside you can ascend an internal staircase to an open walkway at the top. It is the only broch which is complete right to the top, including the original internal stairwell. It is built of dry stone with no mortar, thus any disturbance could cause a great deal of damage.

It is mentioned in extant sources as being used as a place of defence during invasions, as well as a lovers' hideout.

Muness Castle

Lies in the south east corner of Unst, Shetland's most northerly inhabited island, not far from the rocky headland of Mu Ness. From the ferry terminal at Belmont you follow the main road north west for two miles, then take a right turn for Uyeasound. To get to Muness Castle you follow the road through Uyeasound, from where the castle is well signposted.

The grey stone walls of Scotland's most northerly castle blend well with nearby farm buildings, but there is no missing it when you arrive. The key to the castle is available locally: a sign tells you where.

You can find the remaining two-and-a-bit storeys of a three storey z-plan castle. Though the corner towers are circular rather than, as is more usual with such castles, square. On the remaining two corners of the castle are outcrops of decorative corbelling that would originally have supported turrets at the second floor level.

A single well protected door in the south west wall of the castle gives access to the interior. The ground floor comprises a large kitchen and a series of cellars, one of which is now used to display decorative stones and loopholes from the castle.

The first floor comprises the main hall of Muness Castle, the centre of social and business life. At either end are chambers. The principal chamber is at the far end from the main stairs. And from here the remains of a private spiral staircase can be seen winding up towards the no longer present second floor.

Old Scatness

Is an archaeological site, consisting of mediaeval, Viking, Pictish, and Bronze Age remains. It has been a settlement for thousands of years, each new generation adding buildings, and leveling off old ones. A broch was discovered in 1975 during the building of an access road to the nearby Sumburgh Airport.

Scalloway Castle

Was built in 1600 by Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney to tighten his grip on Shetland. Its site in Shetland's then capital, Scalloway, was surrounded by the sea on three sides. And it was strategically placed to control the main access to Tingwall, the site since Norse times of the Parliament for Orkney and Shetland.

The Stewart family, as Earls of Orkney and Shetland, had a dramatic impact on both groups of islands. Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney was the illegitimate son of James V of Scotland and one of his mistresses, Euphemia Elphinstone. He was born in 1533, and in 1564 he was given the recreated Earldom of Orkney and Shetland and the position of the Sheriff of Orkney.

Robert's interest lay mainly in the richer farmlands of Orkney and though he did build the Old House of Sumburgh, he left much of the day to day running of Shetland to his half brother Laurence Bruce, who was appointed Sheriff of Shetland.

Robert died in 1593 in the Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall, largely unmourned by a population he had systematically oppressed. He was succeeded by his son, Earl Patrick, who took a much more direct interest in Shetland. Patrick also carried on the family traditions of corruption and brutality that had characterised his father's dealings on Orkney and those of Laurence Bruce on Shetland.

Patrick's interest in Shetland caused Laurence Bruce to fear for his position, and he built Muness Castle on Unst in 1598 as a bolt-hole. His fears were to prove well founded. Two years later Earl Patrick confirmed his interest in Shetland by building Scalloway Castle in 1600.

Scalloway Castle was built under the direction of Andrew Crawford, the Earl's master of works, who had also built Muness Castle for Laurence Bruce. And given the similarities in style and sophistication, he also seems to have been the hand behind the later and grander Earl's Palace built in Kirkwall by Earl Patrick in 1607.

After Patrick's demise, Scalloway Castle remained the administrative centre for Shetland and it was still in good shape when used as a barracks for Oliver Cromwell's troops in the 1650s. By 1700 there were reports that the roof was leaking, and the shift of Shetland's capital to Lerwick a few years later confirmed Scalloway Castle's decline.

The last straw was the removal in 1754 of much of the stone from the lesser buildings that originally surrounded the tower house to build a nearby mansion. In 1908 the castle was placed in the care of the State, and it is now looked after by Historic Scotland.

St Ninian's Isle

Is a small island connected by a tombolo, a kind of sand bar, to the south-western coast of the Shetland Mainland. Except at extremly high tides, the sand is above sea level and accessible to walkers. However, St. Ninian's is still technically an island, not a peninsular as the tombolo does not form part of the island. The nearest settlement is Bigton on South Mainland.

The island is believed to be holy and dedicated to Shetland's unofficial patron saint, the ambiguous and enigmatic Saint Ninian, who is widely venerated on the nearby Orkney Islands. On the sacred isle of Saint Ninian's is a beautiful chapel, which is believed to be a hallowed place. Many Shetlanders speak with wonder of the beauty of their holy island of St. Ninian. In 1958, a hoard of beautiful silver celtic treasure was found in the chapel grounds, which caused a renewed archaeological interest in the island.

Sumburgh Head

Is located at the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland. The head is a 100 m high rocky spur capped by the Sumburgh Head lighthouse. Sumburgh Airport lies immediately to the north of the head, and is Shetland's main airport. Flights from here connect to mainland Scotland, the Orkney Islands and Norway. Close to the head is the archaeological site of Jarlshof, at which a series of settlements have existed dating back to the neolithic. The tiny settlement of Grutness, which is the terminus of the Shetland Mainland to Fair Isle ferry service, lies 2 km north of Sumburgh Head.

Skaw

Is a tiny settlement on the Shetland island of Unst. It is located north of Haroldswick on a peninsula in the northeast corner of the island, and is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom. The burn (stream) of Skaw flows from the uplands to the west through the constellation of small crofts that make up Skaw, and then east into the Wick of Skaw, a bay of the North Sea. A sheltered sandy beach lines the coast of the Wick of Skaw.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force built a Chain Home radar station at Skaw. A combined Coastal Defence U-Boat and Chain Home Low station was also built at Saxa Vord; after the war this became a ROTOR radar station. RAF Saxa Vord continued as a radar station after the end of the ROTOR programme.

The unclassified road from the B9087 to Skaw is furthest North road in the UK road network. Walter Sutherland, a former inhabitant of the northernmost cottage in the UK, was reportedly the last native speaker of the Norn language.