Weisdale is a bay, hamlet and ancient parish on Mainland in Shetland, Scotland. The bay opens near the northern extremity of Scalloway Bay, and strikes four and a half miles to the north north east.
Weisdale | |
---|---|
Kergord "Forest", one of the few woods in Shetland | |
Weisdale Location within Shetland | |
OS grid reference | HU394537 |
Civil parish | |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | SHETLAND |
Postcode district | ZE2 |
Dialling code | 01595 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
The hamlet lies at the bay's head, about twelve miles north west of Lerwick.
Weisdale was the scene of a series of evictions of crofters in favour of large scale sheep farming in the 19th century.[1] Approximately three hundred and eighteen crofters were evicted from the Weisdale valley in what is described as the clearances. Local author John J. Graham wrote two novels on this theme.
There is one church in Weisdale. It is known as the Weisdale Kirk and is part of the Church of Scotland. This kirk was built in 1863 and is now surrounded by a beautiful garden which was created by local volunteers with the assistance of the BBC Scotland Beechgrove Garden team. The garden won a Shetland Environmental Award in 2006
This article incorporates text from - Wilson, Rev. John The Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1882) Published by W. & A.K. Johnstone