Visiting Old Scatness Broch and Iron Age Village

Old Scatness Broch and Iron Age Village is the ultimate hidden in plain sight Shetland attraction. Most visitors to Shetland Mainland I reckon pass it totally unaware at least a couple of times when they’re visiting Sumburgh Head or Jarlshof. That is remarkable considering its prehistoric drama and the fact that it is on UNESCO’s list of tentative World Heritage sites.

There is a lot about Old Scatness that we are only beginning to understand. What most struck me the first time I came was that it has unearthed evidence of civilisation from various time periods, much like Jarlshof, with traces of Medieval, Viking, Pictish, and, of course, the Iron Age.

So just where is this hidden history squirrelled away? Just roll off the NorthLink ferry in Lerwick and gun south to start with. Admire a swathe of epic scenery as you, head even further south by Mousa Broch (we’ll come to its link in a moment) and cross the airport runway. There near Jarlshof (also inexorably linked to Scatness) lies this special historic hideaway.

En route to Scatness I couldn’t resist nipping into Jarlshof, itself a world-class historic attraction that spans myriad time periods and for me is one of Europe’s unmissable heritage attractions. I’ve visited many times and never get tired of it. I don’t get tired of the vaulting Mousa Broch either, Scotland’s best preserved broch and its most spectacular. The link then between all three is that the UNESCO World Heritage bid covers all three sites. All are already part of the Shetland UNESCO Global Geopark.

The trio of sites together could scarcely be more important according to UNESCO: “All three sites occur in a discrete geographical area which demonstrates the resilience and determination of the community to live and invest in one place, despite the depletion of resources against a background of environmental change. Each site offers the potential for further research to explore the relationship of climate change to environmental and social change.”

“The UNESCO link is only a link we are making today,” the guy at the ticket desk at Jarlshof told me. “But historically there would have been links between the sites that we are only really beginning to understand all these links and the world of possibilities is really exciting.”

There is a lot about Old Scatness that we are only beginning to understand, I guess not surprising at a site that lay shielded from our eyes for over a millennia. What most struck me the first time I came was that it has unearthed evidence of civilisation from various time periods, much like Jarlshof. There are traces of Medieval, Viking, Pictish, and, of course, the Iron Age.

Compared to Jarlshof it’s less excavated, less ‘complete’, a joy in itself as you get to see a site evolve. I’ve witnessed digs here over the years, and I’ve heard it’s a site with lots of plans mooted for the future. Talking to those involved reminds me of chats with Orkney’s Nick Card in the days when the Ness of Brodgar was only taking shape.  

The Iron Age Broch and Iron Age Village at Old Scatness is a time capsule that was only unearthed in 1975 during road construction, with the road having to be rerouted to cater for the site after a local historian spotted what appeared to be the remains of a broch. Two decades later Shetland Amenity Trust’s “Access to Heritage” project encouraged archaeological digs that included locals alongside archaeology students.

Scatness is set in a spectacular spot. It reclines just back from the sea on a wild and wildly beautiful tree-lees landscape. In the distance hulking Sumburgh Head completes an impressive natural amphitheatre. It’s a wildscape of hill, sweeping grassland, beaches and both big seas and big skies.

So just how special is Scatness? Well, UNESCO have declared that all three sites together form “the most significant monuments of the period outside the Roman Empire”, noting how the three complement each other and illuminate parts of a wider story, demonstrating “a sophisticated society evolving, thriving and investing long-term under deteriorating environmental conditions”.

Although some parts of the site were removed during road building archaeological digs involving the University of Bradford from 1995-2006 revealed a lot. The Old Scatness site is made up of an Iron Age village constructed using drystone technique. There are roundhouses set around a broch within a ditch that surrounds them all. The broch soars to around 4m in height.  A trio of complete roundhouses have been excavated thus far; the walls of at least two others teasingly sighted during excavation, perhaps the subject of future work.

Arriving at Scatness you might be stunned to see roofed roundhouses looking fairly pristine. These are reconstructions build on an archeologically sterile area away from the main dig so as not to disrupt it. They offer a real window into how the people here might have lived. It’s a sublime experience cosying here after a guided tour that opens up the excavation before you see our reconstructions of those buildings.

Visiting is possible on a guided tour. The tour I did a few years ago before this most recent visit was superb. Not only did the guide bring the dig alive, but they also used the newer reconstruction to help us learn ancient crafts and games, with dressing up like a Pict or Viking part of the experience. The digs have given us a lucid insight into how our ancestors worked the land and landscape, with the experience at the reconstructed houses using this knowledge and presenting it in an engaging way.

And what about the UNESCO recognition? More work needs to be done on that bid, but it looks like on the UNESCO side they really rate the site and its importance. I’ll leave the last words to them: “There is a gap on the World Heritage List from the European Iron Age – the period in which society lay the foundations for subsequent state formation.”

Visiting Scatness
Old Scatness re-opened for tours in May 2026. They run at 10.15am, 12.15pm and 2.30pm and you can book your ticket here.

Archaeology Tours for group bookings of up to 25 people can be arranged on request during weekdays. A group booking fee applies. Just contact [email protected] for further information.

By Robin McKelvie
Robin McKelvie is an award-winning travel writer and broadcaster who has been published in over 200 magazines and newspapers worldwide.

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