Skaw
- Not to be confused with Skaw, Whalsay
| Skaw | |
| Shetland | |
|---|---|
 The road to Skaw | |
| Location | |
| Island: | Unst |
| Grid reference: | HP657163 |
| Location: | 60°49’30"N, -0°47’28"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Shetland |
| Postcode: | ZE2 |
| Dialling code: | 01806 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Shetland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Orkney and Shetland |
Skaw is a tiny settlement on Unst, the northernmost inhabited island of Shetland and consequently of the United Kingdom. Skaw, found north of Haroldswick on a peninsula in the north-east corner of the island, is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom.[1]
The burn of Skaw flows from the uplands to the west through the constellation of small crofts 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.
During Second World War, the Royal Air Force built a Chain Home radar station at Skaw. A combined Coastal Defence U-Boat and Chain Home Low station was also built at Saxa Vord; 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 unclassified road from the B9087 to Skaw is the most northerly road in the UK road network.
Walter Sutherland, a former inhabitant of the northernmost cottage in the United Kingdom, was reportedly the last native speaker of the Norn language.
See also
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Skaw) |
References
- ↑ "Overview of Skaw". Scottish Places. http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst35256.html. Retrieved 13 December 2014.