Discover 7 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Unst (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Muness Castle, Valhalla Brewery, and Shetland Space Centre. Also, be sure to include Snabrough broch in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Unst (Scotland).
Table of Contents
Muness Castle
Castle in Scotland. Muness Castle is located on Unst, which is one of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. The castle is 3 kilometres east of the village of Uyeasound. Unst is Scotland's most northerly inhabited island, and Muness is the most northerly fortalice in the British Isles. It was designated as a Scheduled monument in 1953 and is run as a museum by Historic Environment Scotland.[1]
Valhalla Brewery
The Valhalla Brewery in Unst, Shetland, Scotland, was the northernmost brewery in the United Kingdom. It was opened by the husband and wife team Sonny and Silvia Priest in December 1997, and originally based in a large shed in Baltasound, in the centre of Unst. In 2012 the brewery moved to a building at the former RAF Saxa Vord radar station, near Haroldswick. This larger premises allowed the brewery to double production to 144,000 litres a year.
The Brewery was named after Valhalla, the Hall of the Norse god Odin, where all fallen Viking warriors are met with a horn filled with good ale. It brewed 6 different types of beers, the first was the "Auld Rock", a dark ale brewed with malt and hops. The other types are Simmer Dim, Sjolmet Stout, White Wife, Old Scatness and the newest one Island Bere brewed from bere barley. The brewery closed in spring 2017 due to the ill-health of the owners.
In 2018, the brewery was opened under new management in the former Olnafirth Primary School, Voe.[2]
Address: Haroldswick, ZE2 9TJ, Unst
Shetland Space Centre
SaxaVord Spaceport, previously known as Shetland Space Centre, is a planned spaceport to be located on the Lamba Ness peninsula on Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands. The proposed site is near the RAF Saxa Vord radar station and the settlement of Skaw.
Lockheed Martin's UK Pathfinder satellite launch system may launch from this spaceport. The proposed launch vehicle under this programme is the RS1 from ABL Space Systems, a US-based company developing 27 m tall rockets capable of carrying payloads up to 1000 kg into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The UK Pathfinder Launch programme is supported by £23.5 million of UK Space Agency grants.
The launch site would also be used by HyImpulse Technologies, a German rocket maker developing rockets that use environmentally-friendly hybrid fuel technology using green paraffin-based fuel as a propellant, aiming for engine and suborbital testing by the end of 2021, with orbital launches by 2023.
In October 2021, Skyrora signed a multi-launch deal over the next decade for this site, hoping to start sending satellites into orbit within 2022.
Plans for the spaceport were submitted to Shetland Islands Council by Farningham Planning in January 2021 to enable up to 30 launches per year. The proposal is for three rocket launch pads on Lamba Ness peninsula with additional infrastructure such as a satellite tracking facility, rocket hangars and integration facilities. The plans also document proposals for a Range Control Centre at the former RAF Saxa Vord complex, fuel storage facilities at Ordale Airport at Baltasound, and improvements to the launch site's approach roads. Farningham Planning appeared to be unaware that the former RAF Skaw site at Lamba Ness was listed as a scheduled monument, indicating that they had not performed the appropriate due diligence.
On 29 March 2021, Historic Environment Scotland (HES), a statutory body, refused consent for the development on the grounds it would destroy a scheduled monument of national significance. The refusal of consent carries significant legal weight, as it is a criminal offence to carry out works to a scheduled monument without such authorisation. Due to the almost one-to-one overlap of the monument location with the proposed spaceport, this refusal has led to concerns being voiced about the viability of the Shetland spaceport project. On 20 January 2022, Historic Environment Scotland withdrew its objection, stating "We recognise the benefits that this development will bring to the community in Unst".[3]
Snabrough broch
Snabrough broch is a ruined broch located on the island of Unst in Shetland, Scotland. It overlooks Snabrough Loch.[4]
Keen of Hamar
Nature preserve in Scotland. Keen of Hamar is a nature reserve on Unst, in Shetland, Scotland, managed by Scottish Natural Heritage. The reserve is primarily of botanical interest, for example for populations of Cerastium nigrescens, a plant unique to Unst.
Keen of Hamar was designated a special area of conservation on 17 March 2005. It is also a site of special scientific interest. The site is of outstanding interest for the interaction of plants with the thin, chromium metal-rich soil.
Scottish Natural Heritage provides further information on its SSSI site management statement.
The geological features at the site are a highlight of Geopark Shetland.[5]
Belmont House
Building. Belmont House is a Georgian country house on the island of Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It was constructed in 1775 by Shetland landowner Thomas Mouat of Garth, and has been described as "possibly the most ambitious, least-altered classical mansion in the Northern Isles." The house was restored from a derelict state between 1996 and 2010 by the Belmont Trust. The house is now used as a self catering holiday house and venue for events. It is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.[6]
Balta Sound
Sound in the United Kingdom. Balta Sound is a sound on the east coast of the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The sound is sheltered from the North Sea to the east by the uninhabited island of Balta.
The settlement at the west of the sound is Baltasound.
On 12 March 1917, the World War I British E class submarine HMS E49 was heading out of Balta Sound on patrol when it struck a Naval mine laid by German U-boat SM UC-76. It was sunk in the channel between the islands of Huney and Balta with the loss of the entire crew. The site of the wreck is now designated as a war grave.[7]