Lunna Kirk

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

Lunna Kirk and the Churchyard 2007. The entrance to the gallery can be seen on the left side of the Kirk

Lunna Kirk

Lunna Kirk, St Margaret's Church, is known as "The ancient kirk of Lunna". It's the oldest church in Shetland that is still in regular use.
The present church was built by the fourth Hunter of Lunna in 1753, but it incorporates parts of an earlier building that goes back to pre-Reformation days. It was the Hunter family mausoleum which exsisted on the site before the church was built. Two 17th. century graveslabs from the mausoleum are nowadays incorporated into the walls of the porch.

The Kirk measures 34 x 17 foot, internal dimensions, with walls up to 3 foot thick, and with buttresses on the east side. Most of the construction is massive volcanic whinstone blocks from nearby, with a few sandstone details.

Before there was a road to Lunna Kirk, many of the congregation would travel there by boat. On the rocks below the Kirk, a ring remains where the boats would be tied up.

Although there was no church in use in Lunna at the time when the present building was errected we can find some relics of much older religious buildings close to the site. The best known feature is the remains of a small rectangular chapel with an enclosure dating back to the 12th century. They are just on top of Chapel Knowe, a large irregular mound probably of prehistoric origin only a few yards to the northwest of Lunna Kirk. This picture was taken from the top of Chapel Knowe which is nicely integrated into the whole landscape around Lunna House by the imposing gateway.

A few steps straight to the south of Chapel Knowe and straight to the west of Lunna Kirk--now hidden under thick layers of moss and grass and therefore barely visible--there are some irregular features which are addressed as site of a former monastery in old Ordnance Survey maps and monument records. Neither site has been properly excavated and no records do exist as to when the 'monastery' and/or the chapel went out of use.

The church is always open, and is well worth a visit.

Inside the Kirk

The Kirk is a small rectangle with a rear outdoor stair to the gallery. There is a gallery on three sides around the beautiful pulpit.
The 'Lepers' Squint' was in one of the buttresses on the East side of the Kirk. This allowed people with infectious diseases to hear the service and to see the altar without coming into contact with any of the congregation.

Inside the refurbished kirk (2007) Pic by Shetlopedian Krissie

The Gallery of Lunna Kirk

The Pulpit

On the walls there are several memorials dedicated to the Hunters of Lunna House. The oldest ones are two Hunter stones from the 1600's, mounted in the entrance.

The stone at the entrance - One of two 17th. century graveslabs from the former Hunter family mausoleum.

The one beside the pulpit - Memorial of Thomas & Grisella Hunter (nee Bruce). Their wedding is commemorated with the armorial panel at Lunna House. They were the last of the Hunters who added considerably to the family seat and its surroundungs.

A bronze plaque - in remembrance of Reverend G. J. W. Gray -1963

The Churchyard

A memorial for unknown Norwegian seamen who were lost at sea during the Second World War and buried at Lunna Kirk

Graves of unknown Norwegian Sailors, victims of Nazi attack at sea, during WW II

Grave of unknown Norwegian Sailor from D/S Hop of Bergen

The churchyard contains unknown victims of Nazi attack at sea during the Shetland Bus period.

These graves are marked with wooden crosses.
A Memorial Plaque is on the Churchyard wall.

The memorial reads:

In memory of the Norwegian seamen lost at sea during the Second World War 1939-45 interred in this cemetery. Known only to God.

Til minne de norske sjømenn som mistet livt på havet under den annen verdenskrig 1939-45 begravet på denne kirkegarden. Kjent bare av Gud. Placed by the Shetland-Norwegian Friendship Society

The inscription on the crosses read:

Ein ukjend sjømann -- gravlagt 9-6-1942

Ein ukjend norsk sjømann fra D/S "Hop" torpedert 4-2-1940 og gravlagt 15-2-1940

At the base of the D/S "Hop" grave, the following is written.

HER ER GRAVLAGT 1 AV MANNSKAPET PÅ D/S "HOP" AV BERGEN, TORPEDERT 4.2.1940 LIVBÅT HAVARERT VED MUNESS, UNST 7.2.1940

ØVRIG MANNSKAP GRAVLAGT PÅ

BALLIASTA, UNST 8

EASTING, UNST 3

FETLAR 3

HERE IS BURIED 1 OF THE CREW MEMBERS ON S/S "HOP" FROM BERGEN, TORPEDOED 4-2-1940. THE LIFEBOAT WAS WRECKED AT MUNESS, UNST 7-2-1940

OTHER CREW BURIED AT:

BALLIASTA, UNST 8

EASTING, UNST 3

FETLAR 3

Memorial for David Armine Howarth who ran the Shetland Bus operation from Lunna and Scalloway. His ashes were scattered on the waters of Lunna Bay

Memorial for David Armine Howarth

IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY OF DAVID ARMINE HOWARTH 28 JULY 1912 - 2 JULY 1991

NAVAL OFFICER, BOATBUILDER AND AUTHOR WHO FROM LUNNA HOUSE AND LATER FROM SCALLOWAY, RAN THE 'SHETLAND BUS' OPERATION FROM 1941 TO 1945: WHO LOVED THESE ISLANDS DEARLY: AND WHOSE ASHES WERE SCATTERED, AS HE WISHED, ON THE WATERS OF LUNNA BAY.

TAKE HOME HIS NAME IN YOUR HEART: FOR HE WAS "A BRILLIANT WRITER, FULL OF GRACE, AND WIT, AND SOLID COMMON SENSE."