View source for Out Skerries

{{Short description|Archipelago in Shetland}}
{{Distinguish|Auskerry}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox Scottish island 
|Map               =
|location_map      = Scotland Shetland
|caption           = Out Skerries shown within the Shetland Islands
|GridReference     = HU681718
| coordinates      = {{coord|60|25|N|0|46|W|region:GB_type:isle|display=inline,title}}
|celtic name       =
|gaelic pronunciation=
|norse name        =
|meaning of name   = 
|area              = {{convert|400|ha|acre}}<ref>[http://www.visitshetland.com/area-guides/out-skerries "Out Skerries – Nearest to Norway"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708173430/http://www.visitshetland.com/area-guides/out-skerries |date=8 July 2009 }} visitshetland.com. Retrieved 16 October 2009.</ref> 
|area rank         =
|highest elevation = Bruray Wart {{convert|53|m|ft}}<ref name=OS>"Get-a-Map". [[Ordnance Survey]]. Retrieved 12 October 2009.</ref>
|Population        = 30<ref>[http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/occpapers/occasional-paper-10.html "Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421031656/http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/occpapers/occasional-paper-10.html |date=21 April 2008 }} (28 November 2003) General Register Office for Scotland. Edinburgh. Retrieved 15 September 2007.</ref>
|population rank   = 
|main settlement   =
|island group      = [[Shetland]] 
|local authority   = Shetland Islands Council
|references        =
}}
The '''Out Skerries''' are an [[archipelago]] of [[islets]], some inhabited, in [[Shetland]], Scotland, and are the easternmost part of Shetland as well as Scotland.  Locally, they are usually called '''Da Skerries''' or just '''Skerries'''.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

==Geography==
The Out Skerries lie about {{convert|4|mi|km|0|order=flip}} northeast of [[Whalsay]]; and [[Bound Skerry]] forms the [[extreme points of the United Kingdom|easternmost part of Shetland]], lying just 300 km (around 190 miles) west from Tjeldstø in Norway. The main islands are [[Housay]], [[Bruray]], and [[Grunay]]. The summit of Bruray, Bruray Ward, is the most easterly hill in Scotland.

[[File:Skerries-local-shop-shetland.JPG|thumb|A shop in the Out Skerries]]
[[File:Out Skerries Housay Loch.jpg|thumb|Loch on [[Housay]]]]
A large number of [[skerry|skerries]], islets and stacks surround the main group. These include the Hevda Skerries and Wether Holm to the north, the Holm to the south and Lamba Stack and Flat Lamba Stack to the east. Stoura Stack and the Hogg are to the south of Grunay. Bound Skerry, which has a lighthouse, is flanked by Little Bound Skerry and Horn Skerry.

Beyond Mio Ness at the southwest tip of Housay are North and South Benelip and the Easter Skerries, as well as Filla, Short and Long Guen (the Guens), Bilia Skerry, and Swaba Stack. In an isolated group between the main Out Skerries and the [[Mainland, Shetland|Mainland]], are Little Skerry and the Vongs, and Muckle Skerry is another outlier lying further north.

==Etymology==
Most of the Skerries placenames have a Norse origin. The "Out" name derives from one or both of two [[Old Norse]] words.  ''Austr'' means "east" and may have been used to distinguish Out Skerries from [[Ve Skerries]]  or "west skerries", and ''utsker'' means "outer".<ref>Dey (1991) p. 120</ref> "[[Skerry]]" is from the Old Norse ''sker'' and refers to a small rocky island or a rocky reef.

Housay is from the Old Norse ''Húsey'' meaning "house island",<ref>John Stewart Shetland Place-names</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=May 2023}} although this name is now little used by locals, who prefer "West Isle".<ref>Dey (1991) p. 1</ref> Bruray may be from the Norse ''brú'' and mean "bridge island" due to its position between West Isle and Grunay, the latter meaning simply "green island". The derivation of Bound Skerry is more problematic, but may be from ''bønn'', meaning "forerunner", a reference to this being the first land a ship encounters en route to Shetland from [[Bergen]].<ref>Dey (1991) pp. 121–23</ref>
[[File:Out Skerries Lamba Stack.jpg|thumb|left|Lamba Stack]]
[[File:Out Skerries Benelips.jpg|thumb|left|The Benelips]]

==History==

===Prehistory===
There is evidence of [[Neolithic]] inhabitation including two house sites at Queyness.<ref>Dey (1991) p. 10. The Ordnance Survey call this area on the west coast of Housay "Queyin Ness"</ref> The Battle Pund is a rectangle {{convert|13|m|ft}} across, marked out by boulders, dating from the [[Bronze Age]]. It is similar to a structure at [[Hjaltadans]] in [[Fetlar]], but its purpose is unknown.<ref>Dey (1991) p. 11</ref>

There is a massive ruined structure on the north shore of Grunay known locally as "the [[broch]]" although it is not known if it dates from the [[Iron Age]], when such structures were built throughout the far north of Scotland. The name "Benelips" possibly originating from the [[Old Norse]] ''bon'' meaning "to pray" hints at the existence of an early Christian hermitage on these remote islets.<ref>Dey (1991) pp. 11–12</ref>

Dey (1991) speculates that the folklore of the [[troll]]-like [[trow (folklore)|trows]], and perhaps that of the [[selkie]] may be based in part on the [[Norsemen|Norse]] arrival of the Norse settlers. She states that the conquest by the Vikings sent the indigenous, dark-haired [[Picts]] into hiding and that "many stories exist in Shetland of these strange people, smaller and darker than the tall, blond Vikings who, having been driven off their land into sea caves, emerged at night to steal from the new land owners." The skerry of Trollsholm and its cleft of Trolli Geo indicate the presence of this folklore on Out Skerries.<ref>Dey (1991) p. 12.</ref>

===Historic period===
The Out Skerries have been permanently inhabited from the Norse period onwards.

There are a number of shipwrecks around the islands include the Dutch vessels ''Kennemerland'' (1664) and ''De Liefde'' (1711); and ''North Wind'' (1906), which was carrying wood which was salvaged and used by the islanders for their houses.<ref name=SL>{{cite web| url=http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/out_skerries/sea_land/sea_&_land.htm| title=Sea & Land| publisher=Shetland Heritage| access-date=11 October 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121153647/http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/out_skerries/sea_land/sea_%26_land.htm| archive-date=21 November 2008| url-status=dead}}</ref> Some of the gold from these wrecks was found in 1960.<ref name=Smugglers/> The wrecks of the ''Kennemerland'' and the Danish warship ''Wrangles Palais'' (1687) lie within a [[Marine Protected Areas in Scotland|Historic Marine Protected Area]].<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=HMPA5|desc=Out Skerries Historic MPA|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref>

Due to their remote and rugged nature, the islanders were accused of smuggling and wrecking.<ref name=Smugglers>{{cite web| url=http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/out_skerries/smugglers_treasure/smugglers_&_treasure.htm| title=Smugglers & Treasure| publisher=Shetland Heritage| access-date=11 October 2009}}</ref> Tammy Tyrie's Hidey Hol was used by islanders to avoid [[Impressment|press gangs]].<ref name=Smugglers/>

Until the early 20th century, a lot of sea ({{linktext|haaf}}) fishing was conducted from [[traditional fishing boats]] known as ''[[sixareen]]s''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/out_skerries/safe_haven/safe_haven.htm| title=Safe Haven| publisher=Shetland Heritage| access-date=11 October 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106183802/http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/out_skerries/safe_haven/safe_haven.htm| archive-date=6 January 2009| url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[Image:Grunay.jpg|left|thumb|An aerial view of [[Grunay]], which was evacuated during World War II, with [[Bound Skerry]] and its lighthouse in the background.]]

===World War II===
Being so close to Norway, the islands were of strategic importance in World War II and were a regular landfall for Norwegian boats carrying escapees from the Nazi occupation. The local coastguard was responsible for the refugees, and at one point during the war were issued with a [[tommy gun]], although initially no-one knew how to use it. German planes frequently flew over at low altitudes, [[strafing]] the Grunay lighthouse shore station in 1941 and dropping a bomb in 1942. The latter attack killed Mary Anderson, the only local casualty of the war, and Grunay was evacuated soon afterwards.<ref>Dey (1991) pp. 87–88</ref> A month later, a Canadian bomber crashed on Grunay, and in 1990 a plaque was raised to commemorate that event.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/out_skerries/historical_heritage/historical_heritage.htm| title=Historical Heritage| publisher=Shetland Heritage| access-date=11 October 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121131742/http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/out_skerries/historical_heritage/historical_heritage.htm| archive-date=21 November 2008| url-status=dead}}</ref> Dey (1991) states that the bomber was a "British" [[Blenheim bomber]] with a crew of two Canadians and one Englishman. The plaque ceremony was attended by the family of [[Flight Sergeant|F/Sgt]] Jay Oliver, one of the two Canadian casualties, and Peter Johnson, a local man who had witnessed the crash aged eight years.<ref name=Dey89>Dey (1991) p. 89</ref> During the war, an official letter was sent in secret to the local sub-postmistress with instructions that it be opened in the event of a German invasion. After the war, it was returned, unopened.<ref name=Dey89/>

==Island life==
Around 35<ref name=shetland.org>{{cite web|url=https://www.shetland.org/plan/areas/skerries |title=Skerries |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=shetland.org}}</ref> people live on the two main islands, Housay and Bruray, just east of the main Shetland Islands group. A third island, Grunay, is currently uninhabited. The two main islands are linked by a bridge. There are two shops, an airstrip, a church on Housay, a police station, a fish processing factory, and a community hall where dances are held (especially for the celebration for the annual Lerwick to Skerries Yacht Race held in August). The islands are famous for wildlife, with frequent sightings of rare birds.
There is little [[peat]] on the Out Skerries, so the residents have been granted rights to cut it on [[Whalsay]].<ref name=Smith>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 459–461</ref> The soil in the islands is thin and infertile, but is heaped into [[ridge and furrow|riggs]], for better cultivation of potatoes, carrots and swedes. The main industry on the islands is fishing. There is still some sheep farming, but it is far less important than it once was. Tourism on the other hand has increased.<ref name=SL/>
[[Image:Outskerriesroad.jpg|thumb|Road connecting [[Bruray]]  to [[Housay]] (foreground)]]

The islands have a (mothballed) primary school. The primary school in 2015 had just one pupil.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2016/08/31/outlook-bleak-for-skerries-as-population-halves/|title=Skerries' outlook bleak as population halves|date=31 August 2016}}</ref> The previously open secondary school was the smallest in the UK; in 2010, the school had only three students. This secondary school was closed in 2014 with the approval of the Scottish government.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/22/shetland-ministers-decision-shut-skerries-school|title= Shetland families furious over decision to shut Out Skerries school|last1= Carrell|first1= Severin|date= 22 January 2014|work= The Guardian|access-date= 7 January 2016 }}</ref> In 2016, the school only had one student.{{clarify|date=May 2025}}{{Fix|text=Inconsistent with the statement that it was closed in 2014.}} The story went viral and he received 10,000 Christmas cards that year from all around the world.

The old schoolhouse found reuse as the second-smallest cinema in the UK (the smallest in Scotland), called Schoolhouse Cinema, which opened in 2017 and offers free admissions and free snacks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2017/03/03/watch-schoolhouse-cinema-star-attraction-skerries-community|title=Schoolhouse Cinema is star attraction for Skerries community|date= 3 March 2017 |last1= Guest|first1= Adam|publisher=Shetland Times| access-date= 14 April 2017 }}</ref><ref name=bbc>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42917411 |title='Crazy Chris' brings magic to a declining Scottish island |last=Murrie |first=Ewan |date=4 February 2018 |access-date=6 February 2018 |website=bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

==Transport==
*The Skerries Bridge, which links Bruray to Housay, was built in 1957, replacing the first bridge built in 1899.<ref name="Smith"/>
*There is around a mile of road, along which most of the population lives.
*There is a ferry to the islands from [[Vidlin]] and [[Lerwick]].
*There is a small airstrip on Bruray.

==See also==
{{Portal|Scottish islands}}
* [[List of islands of Scotland]]

==References==
{{clear}}
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|title=Out Skerries – an Island Community|first=Joan|last=Dey|year=1991|publisher=The Shetland Times|location=Lerwick|isbn=0-900662-74-3}}
* {{Haswell-Smith}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.shetland.org/plan/areas/skerries Discover Shetland]
* [http://schoolhousecinema.co.uk Schoolhouse Cinema]

{{Out Skerries}}
{{Shetland}}
{{Islands of Scotland}}
{{Marine Protected Areas in Scotland}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Landforms of Shetland]]
[[Category:Fishing communities in Scotland]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Scotland]]
[[Category:Historic Marine Protected Areas of Scotland]]