Shapinsay

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Shapinsay
Northern tip of Shapinsay
Northern tip of Shapinsay
Waters North Sea
Archipelago Orkney Islands
Geographical location 59 ° 2 '46 "  N , 2 ° 51' 29"  W Coordinates: 59 ° 2 '46 "  N , 2 ° 51' 29"  W
Location of Shapinsay
length 7.5 km
width 6 km
surface 29.48 km²
Highest elevation Ward Hill
70  m
Residents 307 (2011)
10 inhabitants / km²
main place Balfour Village
Ordnance Survey Map Sheet (1959)
Ordnance Survey map sheet (1959)

Shapinsay belongs to the Orkneys and is only six kilometers north of Kirkwall , from where the island can be reached by a regular ferry service several times a day in around 30 minutes with modern ro-ro ferries. In 2011, 307 people lived on Shapinsay.

Shapinsay has an extension of 7.5 km × 6 km an area of ​​29.48 km 2 and is with a max. Elevation of 70 meters is quite flat. A large part of the 300 inhabitants live in the small harbor town of Balfour Village and on the farms scattered across the island.

The climate allows not only cattle breeding but also agriculture. A land consolidation carried out in the 19th century resulted in an extensive and mostly straight network of paved farm roads.

etymology

In contrast to the names of most of the larger Orkney Islands, the derivation of the name "Shapinsay" is not obvious. The suffix 'ay' denotes Old Norse island. The first two syllables are difficult to interpret. Hamish Haswell Smith suggests that due to the presence of a good harbor, the root could be hjalpandis y, although anchorages are plentiful in the archipelago. The first written record dates from 1375 in a reference to Scalpandisay, which could indicate a derivation of "Isle of the Judge". Another suggestion is Hyalpandi Island, which no one has associated with Shapinsay.

Attractions

Balfour Castle
Quholm Farm

Close to the harbor is Balfour Castle , which was built in the style of the Scottish Baronials in the second half of the 19th century. The manor house is located in a wood, at the other end of which there is a fenced garden that has largely been preserved in its original state. Balfour Castle now serves as a castle hotel, but parts of it can be visited. It belonged to the Balfour family who were the island's lairds from 1560 to 1961 .

In addition to the Gate House (a gatehouse without function, purely as a design element, today the Insel-Pub), the Dishan Tower , the only communal (salt water) shower facility in Scotland (with a dovecote on the upper floor), which is part of the the planned construction of Balfour Village. Balfour Village, which was created in the course of the Balfours clearings , was the most technically advanced village planning and development in Scotland in its time. Each of the houses for the released crofters had a centrally regulated water supply and disposal as well as a gas connection for the kitchen stove, heating and lighting, supplied by a local gas works. Not least thanks to this very advanced supply infrastructure, the Balfours came off relatively mildly in the assessment by the Napier's Commission .

The Mor stone is a 2.9 m high menhir . On Broch of Burroughston can watch seals and Castle Bloody is a basement , which as by 2007. Cairn was considered (see web link). The importance of Shapinsay's Odin Stone is controversial. Furthermore, stone boxes and a ruined stalled cairn can be found here. Elwick Mill was one of the largest watermills on Orkney. Today it is a studio.

additional

Individual evidence

  1. 2011 census data

Web links

Commons : Shapinsay  - collection of images, videos and audio files