Monday 14 March 2011

Island 34 - Shapinsay, Orkney

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.


Balfour Castle

 Old Church and Kirkyard on the south coast.  The church was built in 1802

 Mor Stein

 War Memorial

 Remains of a former gas works in Balfour Village

 One of Orkney's few woods. 

 Smithy Restaurant

 The Gatehouse and former entrance to Balfour Castle

 Broch of Burroughston on the north east tip of Shapinsay

Broch of Burroughston

 Harbour in Balfour Village



 Looking towards Ness of Ork at the north east tip of the island


 Elswick Mill Pottery - this was formerly a corn mill, which was built in 1893

 Hide at Mill Dam RSPB Reserve.  I saw a few ducks from the hide but that was all
 It is a shame that dog mess is a problem even on remote island

 Poem to politely request that visitors avoid the top of the ayre at Little Vasa Water during bird breeding season

 Bay of Furrowend on the west coast looking north

 Vasa Loch

 Balfour Village
 - marking one of the entrances to Balfour Castle

 Balfour Village
 The Douche at Balfour Castle
 - this was originally a salt water shower and it has a doocot above it. It was built in the mid 19th century

 Pretty gardens at Balfour Village

Sea flushing toilet at Balfour village - no longer in use!

Shapinsay Ferry



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