Shapinsay
Sign in to saveShapinsay (, ) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of , it is the eighth largest island in the Orkney archipelago. It is low-lying and, with a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone overlain by boulder clay, fertile, causing most of the area to be used for farming. Shapinsay has two nature reserves and is notable for its bird life. Balfour Castle, built in the Scottish Baronial style, is one of the island's most prominent features, a reminder of the Balfour family's domination of Shapinsay during the 18th and 19th centuries; the Balfours transform
Key facts
- Scottish island.Image
- Shapinsay Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 485300.jpg
- Scottish island.ImageCaption
- Cannon decorate the quayside of Balfour Harbour on Shapinsay, the round tower in the background is The Douche
- Scottish island.location_map
- Scotland Orkney
- Scottish island.caption
- Shapinsay shown within Orkney
- Scottish island.GridReference
- HY505179
- Scottish island.celtic name
- Siapansaigh
- Scottish island.scots name
- Shapinsee
- Scottish island.norse name
- Hjálpandisey
- Scottish island.meaning of name
- Possibly Old Norse for 'helpful island' or 'judge's island'
- Scottish island.area rank
- 29
- Scottish island.highest elevation
- Ward Hill
- Scottish island.Population
- 299
- Scottish island.population rank
- 27
- Scottish island.population density
- 10 people/km2
- Scottish island.main settlement
- Balfour
- Scottish island.island group
- Orkney
- Scottish island.local authority
- Orkney Islands
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Part of
- Orkney Islands
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Located in
- Orkney Islands
- Population
- 307
- Area
- 2948
- Time zone
- UTC±00:00
- Body of water
- Atlantic Ocean
- Location
- North Sea
- Image
- Geo of Ork by C Michael Hogan.jpg
- Width
- 6
- Length
- 7.5
Show 5 more facts
- catalog code
- 54015
- topic's main category
- Category:Shapinsay
- Commons category
- Shapinsay
- located in/on physical feature
- North Sea
- historic county
- Orkney Islands
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~25 min read
Encyclopedic overview
19 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Early history
- 18th century
- 19th century
- 20th century
- Geography
- Flora and fauna
- Demography
- Notable buildings
- Economy
- Transport
- Education and culture
- Folklore
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Shapinsay (, ) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of , it is the eighth largest island in the Orkney archipelago. It is low-lying and, with a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone overlain by boulder clay, fertile, causing most of the area to be used for farming. Shapinsay has two nature reserves and is notable for its bird life. Balfour Castle, built in the Scottish Baronial style, is one of the island's most prominent features, a reminder of the Balfour family's domination of Shapinsay during the 18th and 19th centuries; the Balfours transformed life on the island by introducing new agricultural techniques. Other landmarks include a standing stone, an Iron Age broch, a souterrain and a salt-water shower.
There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. At the 2011 census, Shapinsay had a population of 307. The economy of the island is primarily based on agriculture with the exception of a few small businesses that are largely tourism-related. A community-owned wind turbine was constructed in 2011. The island has a primary school but, in part due to improving transport links with mainland Orkney, no longer has a secondary school. Shapinsay's long history has given rise to various folk tales.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Shapinsay” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Gallery (22)
On the map
6 mapped locations