Quendale
| Shetland Settlements | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Quendale |
 | |
| UK Grid Reference: | HU374145 |
| Distance from Lerwick by road: | 23 miles |
| Community Council: | Dunrossness |
| Google Street View: | |
Quendale ( Norse :Kverndal = Mill dale ) is a settlement on the southwest tip of the South Shetland Mainland, near to Garths Ness where the Braer oil tanker was wrecked in 1993.
The restored 19th century water mill is a popular visitor attraction.
History
Today the term Quendale is accepted as describing the area S and SW of the Loch of Brow, and W of the main A970 Lerwick - Sumburgh Road. Originally Quendale only applied to the settlement which today forms the core of Quendale Farm and was originally the seat of the Sinclair of Quendale family of landowners. As they acquired more of the surrounding land which became the property of the Quendale estate the use of the term became more widespread, and started to encompass the seperate settlements of Gord, Lud, Hillwell and Brake to the N, and Ringesta and Hardbrakes, the western end of the latter commonly referred to locally as the "Sheep Green", to the NE. Also eventually part of the Quendale estate were the townships of Scord, Westing, Quam, Garth, Corston and Garthsbanks to the S and SW, plus a number of individual crofts which surrounded them, all cleared by Grierson the then laird in 1874.
With the arrival of public schools and local Post Offices the use of the term Quendale for the whole area became more deeply entrenched, as both the local school and Post Office adopted the name Quendale, despite neither being actually located at Quendale itself, thus making the area both the Quendale school district and postal district. The school which closed in 1969 when the new Dunrossness Primary School opened, and now a private dwelling, was located west of Hardbrakes, and north of Ringesta. The Post Office, at the time of its closure around the mid 1970's was located at Ringesta.
While Ringesta and Hardbrakes remain as separate settlements up to present, albeit in the case of the latter much larger than previously, particularly as a result of the Hardbrakes Place housing scheme built in the early 1970's by Bristow's Helicopters. The settlements of Gord, Lud, Hillwell and Brake have largely merged in to one long north/south settlement, which follows the roadsides from the Quendale Farm north boundary to Brake, as the result of a number of new houses having been built since the 1970's.
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