Hidden Scotland
Sign in
The stone walls and low passage of the Ness of Burgi blockhouse on its grassy headland.
Shetland Islands

Ness of Burgi

An Iron Age block fort on a narrow headland

Visit website
Welcome

The Ness of Burgi is a narrow headland at the south-eastern tip of Scatness, next door to Sumburgh, and on its end stands one of the rarest kinds of ancient building in Scotland: a blockhouse fort, of which only three are known for certain, all of them in Shetland.

The walk out is part of the visit, a clamber over rocks and along a narrow causeway with the sea on both sides.

The blockhouse is a solid drystone wall across the headland, entered by a low, covered passage that makes everyone stoop. Inside are two oval, corbelled cells on either side of the entrance and the ruins of a third, like a guard chamber, and the passage still shows the checks and bar holes where a door once stood. Cliffs fall to the sea on three sides, and two rock-cut ditches and a broad rampart guard the landward neck. Nobody knows quite why it was built; it is thought to be Iron Age, from the time of the brochs.

Close byOld ScatnessAn Iron Age village found by accident while building the airport road.2 min by roadSee itA reconstructed Iron Age house at Old Scatness, its turf roof and doorway, a cooking pot outside.
Before you go

Free and open all year.

At the south-eastern tip of Scatness, off the A970 near Sumburgh. About two miles there and back, roughly an hour; the way is over rocks and uneven ground, so wear strong shoes, and leave it for a calm, dry day.

Getting there
Scatness, off the A970 near Sumburgh.
Walk
About 2 miles there and back; an hour.
Going
Rocks and a narrow causeway; strong shoes.
Where it is

Scatness, near Sumburgh.

Close byNear Sumburgh.
  1. Visitor walks among stone walls and hearth of an Iron Age broch settlementScatness BrochAn Iron Age village, dug and explainedUnder a mile2 min by road
  2. The round walls of a wheelhouse below the laird's house, Jarlshof.JarlshofFour thousand years of settlement at Shetland’s southern tip, one layer on another.2 miles3 min by road
  3. Geese flying over Sumburgh Head, the lighthouse on the skyline.Sumburgh Head LighthouseA Stevenson light on the cliff, with puffins below.3 miles9 min by road
  4. Red foghorn atop a white lighthouse building overlooking the seaSumburgh Head3 miles9 min by road
  5. The long thatched Crofthouse Museum and its stone dykes under a blue sky.Crofthouse MuseumA thatched croft house of the 1870s at Boddam in the South Mainland, with its peat fire and box beds; free, and open in summer.4 miles7 min by road
Directions
A reconstructed Iron Age house at Old Scatness, its turf roof and doorway, a cooking pot outside.AttractionsOld Scatness0.8 miles
The sweep of sand round the Bay of Quendale beyond a green field.AttractionsQuendale Beach5.7 miles
Quendale Mill's stone buildings and water wheel round a gravel yard.AttractionsQuendale Mill5.7 miles
Grey seals hauled out on the pale sand at Rerwick, the sea at the edge.AttractionsRerwick and Scousburgh Sands6.5 miles
The pale sand and breaking waves of Levenwick bay, green headlands on either side.AttractionsLevenwick7.9 miles
The white sand tombolo curving out to St Ninian's Isle, the sea on both sides.AttractionsSt Ninian’s Isle8.6 miles
High cliffs rising from a deep blue sea across the bay from Maywick.AttractionsMaywick11 miles
The blue and white front of the Hoswick Visitor Centre on the village street.AttractionsHoswick Visitor Centre13 miles
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.

Get Issue 13Read it here
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.