In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Scalloway like this:
Scalloway, a seaport village in Tingwall parish, Shetland, 6 miles WSW of Lerwick. Its cottages are of a better description than most in the northern islands; and, arranged round a fine semicircular sweep of bay, they combine with the sea-scene in front, and the old castellated mansion of Scalloway towering above them in the rear, to form a picturesque landscape. ...
The harbour is naturally good, and is supposed to have given to the locality the name of Scalloway, or ` the huts on the bay -Skali signifying ` a booth or shieling, ' and vagr, transmuted into way, ` a voe or roadstead.' The village was anciently a burgh, and the capital of Shetland. A century ago most of the great Shetland landowners had residences here. The great bulk of the present population are fishermen and their families. A large quay, warehouses, and a cooperage were erected, a good many years ago, for the accommodation of the fisheries; and Scalloway has a post office under Lerwick, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the Union Bank, a Congregational chapel, a Baptist chapel, and a public school. Pop. (1861) 448, (1871) 525, (1881) 648.
Scalloway Castle situated above the village, was built in 1600 by Patrick Stewart, the tyrannical Earl of Orkney. A previous mansion of the Earl, at Sumburgh, having given way in consequence of the sandiness of its foundation, the despot compelled the inhabitants, on pain of forfeiting their property, to find as many men as were required for speedily building a new castle, and to supply them gratuitously with provisions; and he superintended and matured the execution of his ignoble plan by means of a military force. The castle, though now a mere shell, exhibits plentiful and distinct indications of its original condition. It is a structure of three stories, surmounted at each angle by a small round turret. The windows are very large; but the principal door is quite disproportionate and even puny. On the ground floor are an excellent kitchen and vaulted cellars, with a broad flight of ascending steps; and above are a spacious hall and suites of ordinary sized chambers.
Scalloway through time
Scalloway is now part of Shetland Islands district. Click here for graphs and data of how Shetland Islands has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Scalloway itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Scalloway in Shetland Islands | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20434
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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