Looking down on Sandness 2014-02-05 23-27

Sandness (the "d" is not pronounced locally) is a headland and district in the west of

Shetland Mainland The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections. Geography It has an area of , making it the third-largest Scottish island and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. Sandness was a civil parish, which also included the island of Papa Stour some 1600 metres northwest across ''Papa Sound''. In 1891, it was combined with Walls to the south, to form Walls and Sandness Parish, which had an administrative function until the abolition of

Civil parishes in Scotland Civil parishes are small divisions used for statistical purposes and formerly for local government in Scotland. Civil parishes gained legal functions in 1845 which parochial boards were established to administer the poor law. Their local governme ...

by the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo 5 c. 25) reorganised local government in Scotland from 1930, introducing joint county councils, large and small burghs and district councils. The Act also abolished the Scottish poor law sy ...

, and had been a statistical regional unit since. Currently, the community council area of Sandness and Walls covers about the same area. The 1878 map of Sandness Parish shows that the parish to the east was Aithsting, before it was included into Sandsting to the south. The headland flanks the south side of Papa Sound near Papa Stour leading into

St Magnus Bay St Magnus Bay is a large coastal feature in the north-west of Mainland Shetland, Scotland. Roughly circular in shape with a diameter of about , it is open to the North Atlantic Ocean to the west. The indented coastline to the north, south and eas ...

and the district includes the headland and forms the mainland part of Walls parish. The land itself is fairly fertile for Shetland and runs from

Bousta Bousta is a settlement on Mainland, in Shetland, Scotland. Bousta is situated in the parish of Walls and Sandness. Scott's Hawkweed is native to the pastures west of Bousta. Barnacle geese have been observed at Bousta, as well as seal Seal m ...

to Huxter, with Norby and Melby in the middle. It has three churches, with only two still in use, with the other being privately owned and used as a shed. It has no village shop. The nearest one is just south of the village in Walls. The village has approximately 160 residents and 75 inhabited houses. The summit of Sandness Hill lies south of the village. The village has a number of small businesses, including a bed and breakfast, a leather worker, a woolen mill, a baker, as well as Britain's most northerly vegbox scheme.

Notable people

Christina Jamieson Christina Jamieson (1864–1942) was a British writer and suffragist known for her association with the Shetland Isles. Life Jameson was born to Robert and Barbara Jamieson on 30 June 1864 at Cruisdale, Sandness on the Mainland of Shetland. Her ...

who was a local writer and suffragist was born here in 1864.Brian Smith, ‘Jamieson, Christina (1864–1942)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 24 Nov 2017
/ref>

References

* The original article is based on Wilson, Rev. John ''The Gazetteer of Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1882) Published by W. & A.K. Johnstone {{coord, 60, 17, 58, N, 1, 39, 10, W, region:GB_type:isle, display=title Parishes of Shetland Landforms of Shetland Headlands of Scotland Villages in Mainland, Shetland