In Depth
An archaeological walk in Yell
by Helen Watkins
On a low-lying peninsular overlooking Colgrave Sound (OS reference HU 55727 95720) stand the remains of one of Shetland’s better preserved but unexcavated brochs, that of Burraness, Yell; one of my favourite walks is to visit it and a few other noteworthy sites in the vicinity.
It’s also a great place for wildlife: I’ve sometimes enjoyed views of orca from here, and Hugh Miles filmed ‘The Track of the Wild Otter’ on the Ness in the early days of nature documentaries (1984). The birdlife is good, too: look out to sea for great northern divers as well as the usual shags and gannets, and on the cliffs for gulls and ‘maalies’ (fulmar petrels).
The route can be done as a circular walk, taking approx. 2.5-3 hours, depending on how fast you walk and how much you stop and look! Leave the A968 at Sellafirth taking the unclassified road past Cunnister, and park by the cattle grid (approx. HU 532961) at the end of the road just before Kirkabister (there is room without blocking the gate); please avoid parking in the turning point right at the end, as this is the only safe place for anyone to turn, the surroundings being boggy.
Walk along the rough track to where it ends just before the ruins of Kirkabister (‘church farm’ in the old Norse language), and skirt the (dangerous) ruins of the house and other buildings by going through the gate on the left. In the field beyond Kirkabister there are wiggly lines of stone, partially moss and peat covered, that may be evidence of earlier occupation of the area, before it was turned into a sheep park. There is also evidence of old peat workings from the traditional farming/crofting period.
Initially follow the electricity poles (it can be wet here; wear suitable footwear!) and then, once past the hill, head left across the neck of the lower land of the peninsular to a houb (small loch cut off from the sea by a boulder bank) and follow the coast to your right towards the broch.
If you have a bit more time and another car (about 4.5 hours plus the ‘shuttle time’ with cars), you can extend the walk by leaving one car as above and then driving back to the A968 and proceeding north to near Gutcher, and taking the unclassified road to the right (opposite the Cullivoe turn) to Sandwick, where it is possible to park without blocking access ways, and proceed through gates (leave as found) to the shore. (This settlement is sometimes called North Sandwick to distinguish it from Westsandwick in Yell, or Sandwick in the south Mainland).
Keeping the coast on your right, you will meet the circular walk as you descend to the houb mentioned above, and then follow the circular walk to Kirkabister. This longer route takes you past the ruins of the Haa of Sandwick, down by the shore. Crossing the burn can be tricky at high tide, but is much easier down on the sandy shore when the tide is out.
After a while you will pick up a now much eroded track which is one of the ‘meal roads’ built in the 1800s in exchange for meal by folk who were struggling to feed themselves and their families in hard times. Owing to coastal erosion, it is best to take a higher route initially, as the old path crumbles away to the sea in its earlier section, but can be picked up nearer the houb.
Following either route, the shore leads past some fine stone-lined noosts (where boats were hauled up), one big enough to hold a sixareen (picture HW1), and at least one reputed locally to have been previously roofed, which may date from the 18th/19th century, although the intriguing possibility arises as to whether they could originally have been even older, given that one at Underhoul in Unst has been dated to the early 13th century, or Norse period in Shetland.
In the picture (HW2) the broch is shown as it appears when approached from the circular walk; it stands on the horizon to the top left of the picture, with the coast of Fetlar rising behind. The picture illustrates the broch’s situation in its landscape of the rather flat Ness, which appears to have been farmed since Neolithic times, judging from the walls mentioned above and the cairn mentioned below. This is probably because the Burraness rocks are related to Unst rather than Yell, with the Bluemull Sound fault running through to separate the Ness from the rest of Yell. Whereas much of Yell’s underlying geology and peat cover makes it suitable only for grazing, this was cultivated ground: when the broch was visited by the Rev. George Low in the 1770s he noted that it was surrounded by cornfields; lines of stone marking the sides of the rigs are still visible.
HW1 © Helen Watkins
HW2 © Helen Watkins
HW3 © Helen Watkins
HW4 © Helen Watkins
The broch was more complete when measured by Low; he gave these measurements: Height: 20ft. Thickness of wall: 10ft. Outer wall: 4ft, Inner wall: 4ft 4 inches, passage between: 2 ft. Diameter inside: 31 ft, with an 18 inch scarcement (protruding stones that could possibly have supported a wooden platform or floor) some 10ft up, though the latter was difficult to measure because of accumulated rubbish. For more archaeological information on the broch, see: https://www.archaeologyshetland.org/post/site-in-focus-the-broch-of-burra-ness
In 1868 the Ness was cleared of tenants (see Wendy Gear: ‘John Walker’s Shetland’, 2005, available at the Shetland Times bookshop https://shop.shetlandtimes.co.uk/products/john-walkers-shetland
and other outlets) and walls for livestock were built from the old houses (remains are clearly visible) and from broch stones, leaving only the seaward face, which survives to a height of approximately 3 metres. A wartime lookout shelter was also constructed in it, causing further damage. However, the damage reveals the remains of a cell built into the wall thickness (on the southeast side) – see picture HW3.
Naturalist Bobby Tulloch wrote of storm petrels nesting in the broch and in 2018 a friend and I found the wing of a stormie among the ruins, so it is probable that they are still using it (or trying to, and subject to predation; I have found feral cats living in the old houses on occasion, unfortunately.)
On its seaward side the broch is still an impressive feature (see picture HW4); across Colgrave Sound can be seen the remains of the Broch of Brough in Fetlar, and the site of the remains of the ditch and rampart surrounding Sna Broch previously examined by SCAPE with volunteers form Archaeology Shetland - see https://scapetrust.org/wp-content/uploads/reports/SnaBroch_Report_Jan2020.pdf
After leaving the broch and thinking of the folk evicted from the houses to make sheep pens, continue on round the coast till you pass the farmhouse ruins again, this time on your right, then cut up to the track where you started. En route to the farm you will pass more cleared buildings, and, off to your right, a heel-shaped burial cairn is clearly visible, as marked on OS map at HU553 953. This is typical of many such in Shetland and again confirms the use of this landscape from antiquity. Regional Archaeologist Dr Val Turner noted that the facade picked out with large stones measures 8.5 metres, and it is just over 7 metres deep, but the exact proportions are now difficult to make out because of the tumble.
Eventually you will see the remains of Kirkabister on your right. Now a dangerous ruin, from the coast you can make out that there was originally a pony ‘pund’ here; this was used as a stud, with four stable blocks around a courtyard. In the 19th century many ponies were exported for use in the coal mines of the British mainland, once the UK parliament had decided to prohibit women and children from going down the mines to haul the waggons of coal; being very strong for their height, Shetland ponies were ideal for the job.
Shortly after passing the farmhouse the shoreline becomes difficult to follow and it is best to cut up to the track (taking care not to disturb any nesting birds) to get back to your modern day transport. This walk could
be achieved by public transport as Mon.-Fri. bus service 24Y linking Ulsta and Gutcher along the A968 passes the end of both the side roads (for Kirkabister and Sandwick) but extra time would then be needed for quite a long walk in and out: see https://www.zettrans.org.uk/site/assets/files/1084/north_isles_2024-25.pdf for the current timetable.
Past In Depth articles can be found in the Archive.