During the 19th century, Shetland experienced significant political and social changes that impacted the lives of its rural communities – notably the introduction of fishing-based tenure and large-scale sheep farming.
The parish of Weisdale witnessed some of the most extensive clearances in Shetland, leaving a relict crofting landscape of farmsteads across the valley.
Recently, ORCA undertook archaeological work across these well-preserved remains, on behalf of Scottish and Southern Electric Networks (SSEN), in advance of a HVDC cable connection. The results were recently presented at a public lecture at the Shetland Museum and Archives, including 3D models of the three surviving farmsteads at Scarpigarth, on the west side of the valley.
We are pleased to make these models available to view via Sketchfab, as a freely accessible resource, to help visualise the survival of the upstanding remains. More information about these buildings, their landscape, and the lives of rural communities, at an everyday level through periods of significant change, will be available in a future report.
19th century croft. South Scarpigarth, Shetland.
19th century croft. North Scarpigarth, Shetland.
19th century farmstead. Scarpigarth, Shetland.
