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Noss is a small and now uninhabited island within the North Sea lying east of Bressay from which it is separated by the narrow Noss Sound.
The name of the island goes back to the Old Norse Nos meaning nose and indicating a sharp point of rock as visible at the Noup of Noss (181m) when looking from a northerly or southerly position.

The high cliffs of the east coast and the hillside covered with moorland and heather show a stunning contrast to the gentle and grassy low-lying western half of the island.
The oldest relic of human settlement on Noss is a Bronze Age bunt mound at Helia Cluve in the south western hillside, some 4000 years old.

In historical times the major settlement was at Hametoun, the place which is today known as Gungstie at the west side of the island. The remains of a medieval chapel and burial ground are still visible near the farmhouse of Gungstie which itself was built in the 1670s.
A second - and as the name indicates - younger settlement was at Setter in the south west of the island. It was linked with Gungstie (from Old Norse the landing place) by the so called setter road, a track leading up the south western hillside.
The population of Noss soared to 24 in the earlier 19th century, with 20 inhabitants still reported in 1851. The island was abandoned by 1870, later resettled for some time but the then last inhabitants left the island in 1939. From the early 1960s to the early 1970s Noss again had 3 permanent residents but it has remained uninhabited since then.

Cliffs at the Noup of Noss.

Seabird City or Garden of the Cliffs - both nicknames attributed to the small Isle of Noss was declared a National Nature Reserve under an agreement between Nature Conservancy, the predecessor body of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Garth Estate which owns the island, as early as in 1955.

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Explore Shetland step by step
Make your choice from all our Shetland Settlements.
Or, visit our modern and ancient "capitals" Lerwick and Scalloway.
No visit to Shetland is complete without taking a ferry to visit one of the Outer Isles.

When rambling through Shetland
Look out for the historical attractions and local museums, or discover our naturally beautiful landscapes and our Voes, Firths, and Bays.

To get a taste of what you will see
Have a browse through our "picture galleries".

Looking for some indoor leisure activities?
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Or for something more leisurely take a look around our pubs and bars

Further advice for visitors to Shetland
Can be found by visiting our Tourism Pages

The Swan

Shetland's best values: The people!
Here you can meet some of those who represent our community as well as some of the incoming folks and other native Shetlanders of the past.

Present Day Shetland
is a vibrant community based both in,

• a great variety of businesses representing traditional but still important industries like fishery to the spearheads active in the renewable energies sector and
• the active life in our communities, our schools and the modern colleges which play a major role in our social and cultural life.

Shetland Heritage
is represented by far more than our famous archaeological monuments such as Jarlshof and the Broch of Mousa.
Most importantly, it is a living heritage, living in our arts, crafts, music and festivals, as well as the continuation of traditional Shetland industries such as fishing, crofting, and knitwear.

Robert Alan Jamieson, Belfast 2005

Robert Alan Jamieson was born in Lerwick on the 28th of January, 1958, one of two Up Helly-Aa babies born that year. He is the third son of Bertie Jamieson of Melby, Sandness and his wife Agnes Christina (Chrissie) Anderson of Grobsness and Gonfirth. He was educated at Sandness Primary School, Aith Junior High School and the Anderson High School, Lerwick.

Alan began to publish stories and poems in The New Shetlander and Shetland Life in his late teens and was fortunate to enjoy the encouragement and support of John J. Graham, Laurence I. Graham and others such as Mary Blance and Rhoda Bulter. He was the first person to benefit from an arts development grant from the Shetland Islands Council in 1982, a controversial event which nonetheless helped create the climate for the establishment of the Shetland Arts Trust. His first novel Soor Hearts was published in 1983 and a second, Thin Wealth, set during the North Sea Oil boom, appeared in 1986. He was the recipient of a Scottish Arts Council writer's bursary that year, and a collection of poetry, Shoormal, followed. He was one of the founders of the short-lived broadsheet Briggistanes, along with Anne Dickie and the late John McKee.

Alan returned to full-time education in 1988, attending the University of Edinburgh, where he studied English Language and Literature. In 1989, Islesburgh produced his first play, 'An Aald Lion Lies Doon' and his third novel, A Day at the Office, was published in 1991, while he was a student.

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