Scatness is a settlement on the headland of Scat Ness at the southern tip of

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, Scotland, across the

West Voe of Sumburgh The West Voe of Sumburgh, (grid reference: ), is the most southerly bay on the Shetland Mainland, located between Sumburgh Head, and the point of Scat Ness. On the west side of the voe is the settlement of Scatness, while on the east side is th ...

from

Sumburgh Head Sumburgh Head is a headland located at the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland in northern Scotland. The head consists of a 100 m high rocky spur and topped by the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse. In the Old Norse language, Sumburgh Head was cal ...

and close to Sumburgh Airport, the Shetland Islands' main airport. Scatness is in the parish of

Dunrossness Dunrossness, (Old Norse: ''Dynrastarnes'' meaning "headland of the loud tide-race", referring to the noise of Sumburgh Roost) is the southernmost parish of Shetland, Scotland. Historically the name Dunrossness has usually referred to the area on ...

. Scatness includes the housing estates of Sanblister Place and Colonial Place. On the east side of Scat Ness are the beaches of Outer and Inner Tumble Wick, which were fishing stations. At the south easternmost point of Scatness, off the A970 road, lies the

Ness of Burgi fort The Ness of Burgi fort is an iron-age promontory fort in the Old Scatness archaeological site on the Ness of Burgi, a narrow finger of land reaching south from the Scat Ness in the far south of the island of Mainland, Shetland in Scotland. Locat ...

, an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

probably from the same era as Shetland's

brochs A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Their origin is a matter of some controversy. Orig ...

. The site is in the care of

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...

. Also part of Scatness are the broch, wheelhouse and post-Iron Age settlements excavated in the early 21st century.

References

Sources

* This article is based on http://shetlopedia.com/Scatness a GFDL wiki.

External links

Undiscovered Scotland - Old Scatness Broch
Villages in Mainland, Shetland {{Shetland-geo-stub