VisitShetland

Papa Stour

Papa Stour - Sculpted by the Sea

This low-lying, fertile island off the west coast of the Shetland Mainland is home to about 30 people, most of them involved in traditional crofting. Papa Stour has some of the most impressive sea caves in Britain which, along with numerous rock arches, stacks and skerries, make it a Special Area of Marine Conservation.

There is an internationally important colony of terns and several sites of great geological and archaeological interest. The island also played an important role in Shetland's early history.

For walkers, birdwatchers and those just looking for solitude - Papa Stour has much to offer and those who discover the delights of a peaceful holiday here tend to return again and again.

Getting there...

The Shetland Islands Council ferry from West Burrafirth takes about 45 minutes to reach Papa Stour. Although the new ferry Snolda carries cars, there's only one short road on the island so the best way to see Papa is on foot.

Charter flights by 8-seater Islander planes land at the Papa Stour airstrip. Details from Direct Flight at Tingwall Airport, 7 miles outside Lerwick.

History

The name Papa Stour is Norse, meaning the big island of priests - referring to Celtic missionaries who lived here perhaps as early as the 6th century. With a landlocked safe harbour at Hamna Voe and a strategic position on the west coast of the islands it became an important Viking base. Shetland's oldest historical document, a witness statement alleging slander, was signed here in 1299 at King Haakon's royal farm, now called Da Biggins.

Although the Danish royal lands and revenues in Shetland were mortgaged to the Scottish crown in 1469, the `Lairds of Norway' kept their Papa Stour estates until well into the 17th Century.

Although Papa Stour has some of the best grazing and cropland in Shetland, a shortage of peat fuel led to depopulation in the mid-20th century. The island now has mains electricity and a car ferry but its economy is still classed as 'fragile'.

Exploring Papa Stour

Arctic Tern

As the ferry passes Brei Holm visitors get their first glimpse of impressive sea caves: a large tunnel where, in calm weather, it's possible to take a small boat right through. At the entrance to Housa Voe is the Frau Stack where tradition says a Norwegian lord imprisoned his daughter of for refusing an arranged marriage. She had given her heart to a humble fisherman who rescued her from solitary confinement and eloped with her.

Above the beach at Housa Voe is a circle of stones, the remains of a ting, or local assembly, where Lord Thorvald Thoresson, the man accused of corruption in the 1299 document, fought and won a duel.

Excavations at Da Biggins have uncovered foundations of a mediaeval Norse house. The remains of wooden floors suggest that this was once a very important building.

In the open hill beyond the kirk and primary school are the remains of several Neolithic burial chambers known as heel-shaped cairns.

Suspected leprosy sufferers from the Shetland Mainland were once banished to huts whose foundations you can see on Hilla Fielle. To survive they relied on the islanders to leave food for them by the hill dyke. In fact they were probably suffering from dietary deficiencies, not leprosy.

The small stone buildings around Dutch Loch are good examples of vertical-shaft water mills, some of them still in use until the early 20th century.

Submarine Wildlife

The full force of the Atlantic Ocean has carved the western cliffs into beautiful arches, stacks and caves - the most famous of which is the Kirstan Hol. In calm weather divers and small boats can enter this labyrinth of magnificent caves where a riot of submarine life carpets the cavern walls.

The rocks date from Devonian times, about 400 million years ago, and include bands of volcanic ash (ignimbrite) and solidified lava (rhyolite) as well as sandstones. At Lamba Banks a bed of calcareous mudstone contains broken remains of fossil fish. Ridges of glacial moraine run across the island; huge boulders lie where the melting ice dumped them over 10,000 years ago.

Virda Field is the highest point, with a panoramic view of Papa Stour. To the north west the treacherous Ve Skerries reef just breaks the surface. Here in 1930 the trawler Ben Doran was lost with all hands. In December 1977 another trawler, the Elinor Viking, foundered on the reef but her crew all survived, thanks to a spectacular helicopter rescue. The wreck prompted the building of the Ve Skerries light.

In contrast to the rugged coastline of the west, the sheltered inlets along the north coast, West Voe and Culla Voe, sheltered for 19th century herring curing stations where seasonal workers from all over Shetland (and beyond) once came to gut, salt and pack the herring in barrels for export to Europe.

The hill dyke divides the fertile, sandy soils of the 'inbye' croft land from the moorland of the common grazings to the west. In the past islanders removed turf and peat from the hill for fertiliser and fuel, creating a 'scalped' heathland of short, wind-clipped vegetation growing on gravelly subsoil.

Birds and Beasties

This open heath is perfect habitat for ground-nesting birds such as Ringed Plover, Arctic Skua and Arctic Tern. Papa Stour is an internationally important site for Arctic Terns. Other nesting seabirds include Fulmar, Shag, Guillemot, Black Guillemot, Razorbill, Great Black-Backed Gull and Kittiwake.

Seals are regular visitors to the shores of Papa Stour, hauling out on rocks in the geos along the west coast. Common Seals come ashore to pup in June and July. They are easily recognisable, lying on the rocks in a characteristic crescent shape with their heads and tails lifted high. The larger Grey Seals have distinctive, long noses. In October the furry white coats of the Grey Seal pups can be seen dotted across the beaches.

Much harder to see are Harbour Porpoises and occasional pods of Killer Whales that swim past Papa Stour. The kelp forests fringing the lower rocky shores hide many small fish - a larder for the elusive Otter.

More information:
View our interpretive leaflet on Papa Stour
Read about the Papa Stour History Group's new project - The Stofa Reconstruction

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