Vementry
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| OS Name: | Vementry |
|---|---|
| Shetland Name: | Vementry |
 | |
| UK Grid Reference: | HU296607 |
| Area (ha): | 370 ha |
| Population: | none, uninhabited since late 19th century. |
| Community Council: | |
| Ferry Services: | none |
| Notes: | |
Vementry, often referred to as 'The Isle of Vementry', is a now uninhabited island in Shetland, on the north side of the West Mainland, lying south of Muckle Roe on the shores of St Magnus Bay. The last inhabitants left sometime in the late 19th C.
Rev. John Bryden described the island in 1841:
Vementry is a large island, green on the east end, and covered with heather on the west. It is considered a rich island, and is capable of grazing about twenty score of sheep, besides a proportion of black-cattle. It is at present stocked with a heavy breed of sheep, generally of the white-faced kind. It yields a yearly rent to the proprietor, Mr Gifford of Busta, of upwards of L. 60 Sterling. About one hundred years ago, it was purchased, stocked with fifteen score of sheep, for L. 30 Sterling; a striking proof how much money has been depreciated, while lands and produce have risen in value. There are three merks of rental land in the island, which was formerly cropped, but which, for these few years back, have been mostly converted into pasture. The greater part of the sheep stock are in steelbow. The island pays of stipend to the minister, 16s. 6d. Sterling.[1]
The island has an area of approximately 3 km². It is known for its well-preserved chambered cairn, and the two First World War six-inch gun emplacements which overlook the narrow deep water entrance into the former World War I naval anchorage of Swarbacks Minn, where the 10th Cruiser Squadron was established. This Squadron was made up of armed liners and fast destroyers which intercepted enemy ships in the northern seaways. Swarbacks Minn was also used as an advance naval base for the Home Fleet which was based in Scapa Flow.
Vementry is also the name of a small farm on the Shetland Mainland, immediately south of the island. There is no ferry service to the island, although the shepherd on the mainland farm occasionally makes the short trip to work with stock on the island.
Vementry Isle is separated from Vementry mainland by a narrow channel or "sound"[2] , consisting of Uyea Sound to the east and Cribba Sound to the west. Cribba Sound is famed for the quality of mussels produced at the mussel farms located there.
The Hannah and Nancy was wrecked on the SW coast of the isle in December 1779, and the Norges Constitution was beached on it in a leaking state in December 1841.
External Links
References
- ↑ Society for the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy, The New Statistical Account of Scotland, W. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1845.
- ↑ formerly called "Eye Sound"; see: A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846), pp. 586-88. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43487.
