Bressay ( sco, Bressa) is a populated island in the Shetland archipelago of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Geography and geology

Bressay lies due south of

Whalsay Whalsay ( sco, Whalsa; non, Hvalsey or ''Hvals-øy'', meaning 'Whale Island') is the sixth largest of the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland. Geography Whalsay, also known as "The Bonnie Isle", is a peat-covered island in the Shetland I ...

, west of the

Isle of Noss The Isle of Noss or Noss ( sco, Noss) is a small, previously inhabited island in Shetland, Scotland. Noss is separated from the island of Bressay by the narrow Noss Sound. It has been run as a sheep farm since 1900, and has been a national natu ...

, and north of

Mousa Mousa ( non, Mosey "moss island") is a small island in Shetland, Scotland, uninhabited since the nineteenth century. The island is known for the Broch of Mousa, an Iron Age round tower, and is designated as a Special Protection Area for storm- ...

. With an area of , it is the fifth-largest island in Shetland. The population is around 360 people, concentrated in the middle of the west coast, around Glebe and Fullaburn. The island is made up of

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

with some basaltic intrusions. Bressay was quarried extensively for building materials, used all over Shetland, especially in nearby Lerwick. There are a number of sea

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s and arches. The largest of eleven lochs on the island are the Loch of Grimsetter in the east, and the Loch of Brough.

Wildlife

Bressay has a large number of migrant birds, especially in the east. The Loch of Grimsetter is a haven for waders and

whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/) (''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, pronounced ''hooper swan'', is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type speci ...

s. In the far south, there is a colony of Arctic skuas.

History

The name of the island may have been recorded in 1263 as 'Breiðoy' (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

"broad island"). In a 1490 document the island is referred to as "Brwsøy" - "Brusi's island" which name may indicate it was the 11th century base for

Earl of Orkney Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally founded by Norse invaders, the status of the rulers of the Nort ...

Brusi Sigurdsson Brusi Sigurdsson (died between 1030 and 1035) was one of Sigurd Hlodvirsson's four sons (together with Thorfinn, Einar and Sumarlidi ). He was joint Earl of Orkney from 1014. His life is recorded in the '' Orkneyinga Saga''. Sources The source ...

. This possibility is supported by a later reference to his son Rögnvald as "Lord of the Shetlanders" and Thompson (2008) is in "no doubt " that Shetland specifically was in Brusi's possession during his joint earldom with his brothers. The Bressay Stone is an outstanding example of

Pictish art The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Sub-Roman Britain, Late Antiquity and the Scotland in the Early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived an ...

. :''a slab of chlorite slate, about wide at the top, tapering to less than a foot 00 mmat the bottom.'' The slender sides are engraved with

ogham Ogham ( Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish langu ...

, and the two faces with various examples of knotwork, and imagery. The top of each face has a cross. On one side, there is an engraving of two men with

crosier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Cathol ...

s, as well as various animals including horses, pigs, and what appears to be someone in the process of being swallowed by two

sea monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

s. It has been suggested that this is

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and II gun emplacements were built to guard

Bressay Sound Bressay ( sco, Bressa) is a populated island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland. Geography and geology Bressay lies due south of Whalsay, west of the Isle of Noss, and north of Mousa. With an area of , it is the fifth-largest island in She ...

Infrastructure

Attractions on the island include

Bressay Lighthouse Bressay Lighthouse is still an active lighthouse in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, south-east of Lerwick. It is located on the island of Bressay at Kirkabister Ness overlooking Bressay Sound.heritage centre A heritage centre, center, or museum is a public facility – typically a museum, monument, visitor centre, or park – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of historical and cultural information about a place and its people, and often ...

, a hotel and the old

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

's mansion,

Gardie House Gardie House is an 18th-century estate house on Bressay in Shetland, Scotland. Located opposite Lerwick, across the Bressay Sound, Gardie is described by Historic Scotland as an "example of the smaller Scottish country house, unique in Shetland ...

, built in 1724. The Northern Lights Spa Hotel at Uphouse is Britain's most northerly spa.Visit Scotland - Northern Lights Spa Hotel
Retrieved 30 June 2007. Frequent car ferries sail from Maryfield to Lerwick on the

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 ...

. During the summer months, a passenger ferry service links the east coast of Bressay with the

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

. Lerwick and Bressay Parish Church (of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

) has three places of worship. The Bressay Church building is located close to the Marina, near the centre of the west coast of the island.

Gallery

File:Wind Bound Lerwick around 1880.jpg, Full-rigged ship ''Maella'', of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, in Bressay Sound circa 1922 File:Crossbeddingbressay.jpg, Cross-bedding in Middle

on Bressay File:Lochofsetterbressay.jpg, Loch of Setter File:Lerwickbressay.jpg, View of Lerwick from Bressay File:Bressay Crosses St Mary's Church.jpg, A replica of the Pictish Bressay Stone in St Mary's churchyard where the original stone was found.

Notes

References

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External links

Cullingsbrough
bressay-history-group.org. Archived on March 2, 2012.

geos.ed.ac.uk.

paparproject.org.uk {{Authority control Islands of Shetland Parishes of Shetland