A lifetime of Islands: Island 34

Shapinsay is located about 4 miles to the north east of Kirkwall on Orkney Mainland and is served by a vehicle ferry from Kirkwall. There are 6 crossings a day and the journey takes about half an hour. If you are taking your car, you will need to reverse on to the ferry because it only opens at one end.

I first visited for an afternoon in 2006 as a foot passenger. I wanted to explore more of the island, so made a 2nd visit in June 2015 with my car. However it poured with rain for the seven hours I was there, so getting out of the car to explore for any length of time really wasn't that appealing, so I still haven't fully explored the island. There aren't many indoor activities for visitors, so I went to church, having met the gentleman who was taking the service on the ferry. I then spent an hour or so over a lunch of a delicious roasted vegetable panini in the lovely Smithy Restaurant chatting to a Canadian day visitor. The restaurant was staffed by a very welcoming and cheerful lady and I returned later for tea and cake, which was also excellent. There is a small museum on the floor above the restaurant, which was once a sail loft and which was open in the afternoon. I spent a while in there talking to the retired Shapinsay farmer who had taken the church service in the morning and who was staffing the museum for the afternoon. He was happy to answer my many questions about the island. Eventually I realised that it wasn't going to stop raining, so ventured out on a tour of the island.

Balfour Castle

The Balfour family from Fife were given land on Shapinsay in 1560 by the Bishop of Orkney. By 1790 they owned most of the island. In 1746 government soldiers burnt down the Balfour's family home because they were Jacobite supporters. The current castle was built between 1847 and 1850 for David Balfour by David Bryce in the Scottish baronial style. It was designed around the late 18th century house Cliffdale House and is built mainly of stone quarried on the island.

David Balfour also transformed farming on the island. This included enlarging all the fields to at least 10 acres in size. The last Balfour died without any heirs in 1961 and Balfour Castle was sold to Captain Tadeusz Zawadski, a Polish cavalry officer and his wife. It was sold again in 2009 and is now a hotel. When I visited the island in 1996 they did guided tours of the house and walled gardens. The castle is sheltered by a wood on its north side. The wood is over 200 years old and is the only wood on the island.

Balfour Village, which was formerly known as Shoreside, and is the main setttlement on the island was built in the late 1700s for workers on the Balfour Estate. It has an old Gas House, a sea flushing toilet and the douche - a sea water shower with a dovecote on top of it. There is a small heritage centre in the Old Smithy.

Shapinsay is not very hilly - the highest point on the island is Ward Hill at 64 metres. There are remains of several Iron Age brochs on the island e.g. Burroughston.There is an RSPB reserve on the island at Mill Dam.

Shapinsay has a small wood, which surrounds Balfour Castle. The trees are mainly sycamores, with some horse chestnuts, ash and rowan. On the sheltered side there are a few laburnum and hawthorn trees. Marsh lousewort, bird's-foot trefoil, thrift, orchids and spring squill were all in flower when I visited in June 2015.

Shapinsay has several storm beaches, known locally as ayres e.g. Vasa Loch and Lairo Water. A small area of water has been cut off from the sea by a narrow neck of land.

Second World War coastal battery emplacements can be seen at Salt Ness.

There is a large black stone on the beach at Veantro Bay on the north coast, which is known as Odin's Stone. There is a 3 metres high standing stone called the Mor Stein at the south eastern end of the island.