Balta Island
Encyclopedia
Balta is an uninhabited island
in Shetland, Scotland
.
and Balta Sound
. It has an area of 80 ha
.
There is a natural arch
on the eastern side of the island.
Balta Island Seafare and Skaw Smolts are the most northerly fish farm and fish hatchery in Britain.
of a broch
and of a Norse
chapel
dedicated to Saint Sunniva. There are no census records of more recent inhabitation.
John MacCulloch
visited Balta in May 1820 to carry out the Trigonometrical Survey for the Ordnance Survey
. Balta was the northernmost station of the zenith sector.
The Balta Light, at the southern tip of the island was one of the first concrete
structures in Shetland. The lighthouse
was designed by David Stevenson
and built in 1895. It was demolished in 2003 and replaced by a small solar-powered light.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in Shetland, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Geography
Balta lies off the east coast of UnstUnst
Unst is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third largest island in Shetland after the Mainland and Yell. It has an area of .Unst is largely grassland, with coastal cliffs...
and Balta Sound
Balta Sound
Balta Sound is a sound on the east coast of the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The sound is sheltered from the North Sea to the east by the uninhabited island of Balta.The settlement at the west of the sound is Baltasound....
. It has an area of 80 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
.
There is a natural arch
Natural arch
A natural arch or natural bridge is a natural geological formation where a rock arch forms, with an opening underneath. Most natural arches form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until...
on the eastern side of the island.
Balta Island Seafare and Skaw Smolts are the most northerly fish farm and fish hatchery in Britain.
History
Historic remains on the island include the ruinsRuins
Ruins are the remains of human-made architecture: structures that were once complete, as time went by, have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction...
of a broch
Broch
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs include some of the most sophisticated examples of drystone architecture ever created, and belong to the classification "complex Atlantic Roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s....
and of a Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
dedicated to Saint Sunniva. There are no census records of more recent inhabitation.
John MacCulloch
John MacCulloch
John MacCulloch FRS was a Scottish geologist.-Biography:MacCulloch, descended from the MacCullochs of Nether Ardwell in Galloway, was born in Guernsey, his mother being a native of that island. Having displayed remarkable powers as a boy, he was sent to study medicine in the university of...
visited Balta in May 1820 to carry out the Trigonometrical Survey for the Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
. Balta was the northernmost station of the zenith sector.
The Balta Light, at the southern tip of the island was one of the first concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
structures in Shetland. The lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
was designed by David Stevenson
David Alan Stevenson
David Alan Stevenson was a lighthouse engineer who built twenty six lighthouses in and around Scotland.Born into the famous Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers, son of David Stevenson, brother of Charles Stevenson, and nephew of Thomas Stevenson, he was educated at Edinburgh University...
and built in 1895. It was demolished in 2003 and replaced by a small solar-powered light.