Samphrey
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia that anyone can edit
| OS Name: | Samphrey |
|---|---|
| Shetland Name: | Samphrey |
 | |
| UK Grid Reference: | HU468762 |
| Area (ha): | 66 |
| Population: | none; abonded c mid 19th century |
| Community Council: | Delting |
| Ferry Services: | none |
| Notes: | |
This is a view of Samphrey taken from the air in summer 2004 - Looking East down Yell Sound. Pic by Richard Griffiths; published on wikipedia
Samphrey is a now uninhabited island in the south entrance of Yell Sound lying approx. 1,0 km northwest of Mossbank, Delting. The island rising up to 30m is mostly covered with heather and mooreland.
Blaeu mentions the island in his Atlas of Scotland from 1654 as Sancterre as does Hermann Moll in his Counties of Scotland (Sancterra) some 100 years later. Thomas Preston in his A new hydrographical survey of the islands of Shetland (1781) is the first who shows the name Samphra on a modern map.
To the north west edge of Samphrey lies the former island of Bunglan which is now linked with Samphrey by two tomboli or ayres which enclose a small loch.
On Bunglan the OS 6-inch map (Orkney & Shetland (Shetland) 1st edition), 1881, shows a township comprising four unroofed buildings, one enclosure and a head-dyke. The remains are still visible today as is another croft in the grassy land of the north west edge of Samphrey.
