Skaw, Unst

{{Short description|Settlement in Shetland, Scotland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | official_name = Skaw | label_position = top | country = Scotland | static_image_name = Skawunst.jpg | static_image_caption = The beach of Skaw | population = | os_grid_reference = HP657163 | coordinates = {{coord|60.825|-0.791|display=inline,title}} | historic_county = | post_town = SHETLAND | postcode_area = ZE | postcode_district = ZE2 | dial_code = 01806 | constituency_westminster = Orkney and Shetland | civil_parish = Unst | unitary_scotland = Shetland | lieutenancy_scotland = Shetland | constituency_scottish_parliament = Shetland | edinburgh_distance_mi = 348 | london_distance_mi = 644 }}

'''Skaw''' is a settlement in the Scottish archipelago of Shetland, located on the island of Unst. It is located north of Haroldswick on a peninsula in the northeast corner of the island, and is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst35256.html|title=Overview of Skaw|publisher=Scottish Places|access-date=13 December 2014}}</ref> It is currently inhabited by a single inhabitant whose business is sheep farming.

==Etymology== Skaw is derived from the Old Norse "Skagi" meaning a cape, headland, promontory or peninsula.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jakobsen|first1=Jakob|title=The Place-Names of Shetland|date=1993|location=Orkney|page= 96|isbn=978-1112000461|edition=reprint of 1897}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Stewart|first1=John|title=Shetland Place-names|date=1987|location=Lerwick|page=246}}</ref>

==Geography== The burn of Skaw flows from the uplands to the west through the constellation of small crofts that make up Skaw, and then east into the Wick of Skaw, a bay of the North Sea. A sheltered sandy beach lines the coast of the Wick of Skaw. The unclassified road (Holsens Road) from the B9087 to Skaw is the most northerly road in the UK road network, and the northernmost road in the world to use left-hand traffic.

thumb|Wick of Scaw

==History== Walter Sutherland (died {{c.|1850}}), a former inhabitant of the northernmost cottage in Britain, was reportedly the last native speaker of the Norn language.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force built a Chain Home radar station at Skaw. The radar station was built in 1941 and closed in 1947. It was part of the defences of the RAF Sullom Voe flying boat base.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unst Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland |url=https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/unst/unst/index.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk}}</ref>{{AI-retrieved source|date=March 2026|checked=no}}

A combined Coastal Defence U-boat and Chain Home Low station was also built during the Second World War at Saxa Vord; after the war this became a ROTOR radar station. RAF Saxa Vord continued as a radar station after the end of the ROTOR programme.

The settlement is near the SaxaVord Spaceport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://consultation.shetlandspacecentre.com/|title=Proposed Development, Rev. E|website=Shetland Space Centre|date=24 September 2020|access-date=14 November 2020|archive-date=16 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116121622/https://consultation.shetlandspacecentre.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Scottish islands}} * Extreme points of the United Kingdom * Skagen, a spit and town in Denmark with a cognate name

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{gbmapping|HP657165}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928125855/http://www.sendler.co.uk/Shetland/Skaw.htm Pictures of Skaw] * [http://www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/visitor/index.asp?unst.htm~main ''Shetland Today's'' info about Skaw and Unst]

Category:Villages in Unst Category:Norn language