Tradespeople in Sandwick, Shetland

About Sandwick

Sandwick is a scattered parish on the south-west coast of Mainland Shetland, roughly seven miles south of Lerwick, taking in several small settlements along the coast.

The parish includes Hoswick, Levenwick, and Channerwick, and has a combined population of around 1,200 people spread across crofting land running down to the sea.

Mousa Broch, the best-preserved Iron Age broch in the world, stands on the small island of Mousa just offshore — accessible by boat from Sandwick in summer and one of Shetland’s most important archaeological sites.

The area has a community hall, a primary school, and the Hoswick Visitor Centre, which houses displays on local knitwear and community history.

Nearby: Cunningsburgh, Lerwick, Sumburgh, Tingwall

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About Shetland

Shetland is an archipelago of around 100 islands — 16 of them inhabited — lying roughly 110 miles north of the Scottish mainland and 210 miles west of Norway, making it the most northerly part of the United Kingdom.

Lerwick is the capital and only town of any size, a compact and characterful harbour settlement that serves as the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of the islands. Around 7,000 of Shetland’s 23,000 residents live in and around the town.

Shetland’s economy has been shaped by the sea for centuries: fishing remains a major industry, and the arrival of North Sea oil at the Sullom Voe terminal in the 1970s brought prosperity that was carefully managed through a charitable trust that continues to fund services and infrastructure across the islands.

The landscape is treeless, wind-scoured, and dramatic — sea cliffs, voes (narrow inlets), tombolo beaches, and open moorland define the character of the islands, and nowhere in Shetland is more than three miles from the sea.

Shetland has a distinct cultural identity that draws on both Scottish and Norse heritage — the annual Up Helly Aa fire festival, the Shetland dialect, and the fiddle music tradition are central to island life, and the sense of community across the islands is strong and self-reliant.

Nearby: Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire