Skaw is a settlement in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

archipelago of

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 no ...

, located on the island of Unst. It is located north of

Haroldswick Haroldswick or Harold's Wick (Old Norse: ''Haraldsvík'', meaning "Harald's bay"), is on Unst, Shetland Islands, Scotland, and is one of the most northerly settlements in the British Isles. History The wick takes its name from the Viking King H ...

on a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

in the northeast corner of the island, and is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom.

Etymology

Skaw is derived from the Old Norse "Skagi" meaning a cape, headland, promontory or peninsula.

Geography

The burn of Skaw flows from the uplands to the west through the constellation of small

croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

s that make up Skaw, and then east into the Wick of Skaw, a bay of the North Sea. A sheltered sandy beach lines the coast of the Wick of Skaw. The unclassified road (Holsens Road) from the B9087 to Skaw is the most northerly road in the UK road network. Wick of scaw

History

Walter Sutherland (died ), a former inhabitant of the northernmost cottage in Britain, was reportedly the last native speaker of the Norn language. During World War II, the Royal Air Force built a

Chain Home Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the off ...

radar station at Skaw. The radar station was built in 1941 and closed in 1947. It was part of the defences of the

RAF Sullom Voe Royal Air Force Sullom Voe or more simply RAF Sullom Voe is a former Royal Air Force station near the village of Brae, in the Shetland Isles of Scotland. It was a Flying boat base and was closely associated with the adjacent airfield of RAF ...

flying boat base. A combined Coastal Defence U-boat and Chain Home Low station was also built during the Second World War at

Saxa Vord Remote Radar Head Saxa Vord or RRH Saxa Vord (aka RAF Saxa Vord), is a Royal Air Force radar station located on the island of Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. As of July 2019 it is once more a fully operational radar ...

; after the war this became a ROTOR radar station. RAF Saxa Vord continued as a radar station after the end of the ROTOR programme. The settlement is near the proposed

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 ...

References

External links

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Pictures of Skaw

Villages in Unst Norn language {{Shetland-geo-stub

Etymology

Geography

History

See also

References

External links