Visiting West, South, and East on Unst – Lund Kirk, Underhoull Viking Longhouse and Broch, Uyeasound, Muness Castle, Sandwick Beach, Viking Longhouse and Framgord Kirk

My last full day on Unst dawned wet, cold, and windy. Now, I know that I’ve used these words over and over in my Orkney and Shetland posts! Typically, June is dryer and warmer than it has been during my visit, and many of the locals tried to make it better by saying, “We had a lovely May”! No worries, there’s nothing one can do except put on warm and waterproof clothes and make the best of it! Which is what I did as I rode my bicycle south from Baltasound against very cold and very strong wind. Luckily, the rain had lessened and soon ceased. I headed first to Lund, located on the west side of Unst, and stopped to photograph Bordastubble, Shetland’s largest standing stone at 12 feet high.

I continued to Lund to visit the ruin of a 12th century church, St Olaf’s Chapel, built on a headland and surrounded by a cemetery. Unfortunately, several large camper vans parked near the church marred the view on approach, but the ruin was atmospheric and the setting over the bay was inspiring.

I descended to the lovely beach, Lunda Wick, and had intended to start a walk here but decided instead to just take a short stroll. Someone had taken the time to make some pleasing spiral designs on the sand out of stones.

I cycled back up the hill and around to Underhoull on the other side of the bay. Here there were the remains of a 9th century Viking longhouse, built on an earlier Iron Age site,

and nearby was the remains of an Iron Age Broch. A party of four were already there exploring,

and when it was my turn to explore I was happy to see some remnants of the broch’s outer ditch and banks which are often no longer in existence at other brochs. Their depth and height, however, don’t show well in the photos below.

I then cycled south to the small community of Uyeasound. The rain had started up again just as I was arriving so I sat on the ground in a small shelter at Le Petit Cafe, Chez Simone. It is an honesty box cafe where you can fix yourself a tea or coffee and buy a packet or two of imported French biscuits or jarred pate! There is also an honesty box for the Peedie Rock Shop where polished stones are displayed in wooden boxes for anyone who wishes to browse and buy. (There is no restaurant or cafe in Uyeasound, and the google photo I had seen of Le Petit Cafe had two chairs in the shelter! I should have remembered about the hostel, which is nearby, as I’m sure I would have been welcome to take refuge there!)

I ate part of my lunch as I waited for the rain to ebb, and luckily it didn’t last very long – the wind, which had remained strong all morning, always brings change in Orkney and Shetland! My next destination was Muness Castle, which is Scotland’s most northerly castle. From here, one can do a 12 km loop of Unst’s southeastern coastline to Uyeasound, and then back along minor roads. The castle was built by Laurence Bruce, half brother to the Earl of Orkney, who was appointed as the sheriff-depute and chamberlain for the Lordship and Bishopric of Shetland in 1573. But, he was banished from the Northern Isles four years later after Unst islanders complained of his corruption and tyranny. Despite his banishment, he returned to Shetland and began building this castle in 1598. A sign outside the castle said that it had been “Erected out of the sweat and tears of Shetlanders.” Thirty years later, the castle was attacked and burned by French raiders.

From Muness I cycled to nearby Eastings and the beach at Sand Wick. I loved the walk down across a field of lush green grasses,

and was happy to arrive at yet another of Shetland’s stunning bays. Many Norse settlement sites have been discovered along this stretch of coast, and archaeologists also excavated an iron-age house and two Pictish burial sites near the start of the beach.

An interpretive board let me know that these stones, some knocked over by winter waves, are the remains of a Viking longhouse. Two other Norse longhouses were found and excavated further along the beach, but the remains have almost all been eroded by the sea. (The sea would have been lower when the Vikings built their homes here.)

I walked half way down the beach and looked towards the far point. I had planned to walk there to see the remains of a Viking farm and church,

but I suddenly felt drained of energy. I turned and walked down to the edge of the sea and debated whether to carry on, or to go back. I didn’t really want to choose either!

So, instead of deciding, I rose to the top of the beach towards a small section of low dune and sat in the soft sand, tucked out of the wind. I rested, snacked on some nuts, ate an apple, and rested a bit more.

Then I felt ready – the distant point no longer seemed so far away and it actually did not take long to cross the beach, rise up onto the grass and walk around to the location of Framgord, an unexcavated Norse farm, and its 12th century chapel. All that remains of the long narrow chapel are its low stone walls, but there were several small stone crosses of Norse origin in the cemetery that date from the early 11th to the early 12th centuries.

The walk continues further up the coast where Viking noosts can be found in the grass above the shore, and the ruins of a crofting community, abandoned during the clearances, can be explored. But, I was content with how far I had come. I walked back down the length of Sand Wick,

rose back up the field to my bicycle, and then began the return journey to Baltasound. I stopped briefly when I saw a small herd of Icelandic horses by the roadside, and also at a standing stone, called Uyea Breck, that sits on a hill above Uyeasound.

The sky was clearing as I cycled down towards the village of Uyeasound, with the sea on one side and a small loch on the other, but the wind was still strong and cold!

Ten miles later I arrived in Baltasound, just in time to visit the most northerly post office before it closed so that I could send a few postcards home. Then it was time to return the bicycle to the Unst Leisure Centre, a half mile away, and make the return half mile walk back to my Bnb. I was tired! But, the sun was now shining, the sky was blue, the wind had finally calmed, and flowers bloomed by the roadside. It was my last day on Unst and I had a lot to be grateful for.

I had explored north, west, south, and east. Yes, there was more to be seen, and walks I had not done, but I was content and very happy to have visited Unst, Shetland’s, and the U.K.’s, most northerly isle.