Shetland Day 8 - Staney Hill, the Knab and Sumburgh

The day began with exploring a defence building at Staney Hill, Lerwick. This crumbling concrete structure forms part of the Robertson Line (named after Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Robertson, though often also referred to as the Staney Hill Line), which would defend Lerwick in the event of German invasion. [1].

This appears to be a spotting tower/observation post with trenches, bunkers and underground accommodation. The walls are covered in graffiti and crisp packets and cans litter the inside - so near to the town, this ruin has become a hideout for rebellious adolescents.

The entrance way, becoming blocked with stones and rubble.

A well-trodden path leads up to the ruin in between the stones.

Layers of graffiti cover the concrete walls inside.

From the observation post, you can see panoramic views across the town and out to Bressay and the sea beyond. The Robertson Line stretched through Gremista, Upper Sound, Staney Hill, Greenhead and Point of Scattland (these last two were coastal batteries lost to harbour redevelopment) [1], and from here you can really feel a sense of how these various sites would have together formed a robust defence.

At the Knab in Lerwick, a dramatic point of land which over looks the south of Lerwick Harbour, there are more remains. On the path that runs around the Knab - a popular place for a picturesque stroll - strange concrete structures can be seen below, though blending in well with the patina covered rock. This is the site of a WWII Torpedo Tube Platform, built to defend the south entrance. There may have also been a boom from here across to Bressay [2].

The slippery steps down to the platform.

A crumbling stump - part of the structure.

On the platform, where the torpedos would have been placed.

In the lookout point, just further along the path.

Scatness.

War-era looking construction, on the B9122 near Scousburgh.

References

  1. Site in Focus - WWII on Staney Hill. Archeology Shetland. 2015.

  2. Submarine Base. Shetland. 2016

  3. JENNINGS, Stephen. Site in Focus - Air Raid Shelters of WWII. Archeology Shetland. 2022

Graffiti inside a Sumburgh war-ruin.

As well as the above well documented sites, many constructions which look as though they could be war-era can sometimes be spotted in fields, gardens or farmsteads as you drive around Shetland - Nissen-hut type buildings, or sometimes square concrete huts. Some of these will be air-raid shelters, which dotted the landscape during the war [3]. This doorway (left) by the road near Scousburgh doesn’t seem to be recorded anywhere on the usual sources I’ve used so far - it might not be war-time at all! It’s certainly a strange presence in the landscape however, literally a concrete doorway into the hillside.

Archeology Shetland describes how since the war, these constructions “have been frequently repurposed as sheds, ad hoc storage or an occasional place to get away from it all” [3]. As with the Lerwick ruins, graffiti and remnants from parties is sometime found at even fairly remote sites - people can make a strange ‘paradise’ even at the most unlikely of places.

Research, WWII, ResidencyAimee Labourne#sumburghresidency