Virkie is the most southerly district of Shetland, other than Fair Isle and is best defined as the area south of the Ward Hill in Dunrossness, also locally referred to as "below da hill" (below the hill), or "da laich Ness" (the low headland).
Virkie encompasses the following settlements; Exnaboe, Toab, Scatness, and Sumburgh.
Virkie is the only place which uses a ZE3 postcode.
There is an Iron Age Broch and Village which was discovered in 1975 in old Scatness, part of Virkie. [1] [2]
Fair Isle, sometimes Fairisle, is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. The most remote inhabited island in the United Kingdom, it is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. The island has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland since 1954.
Jarlshof is the best-known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland. It lies in Sumburgh, Mainland, Shetland and has been described as "one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles". It contains remains dating from 2500 BC up to the 17th century AD.
Sumburgh Head is a headland located at the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland in northern Scotland. The head consists of a 100 m high rocky spur and topped by the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse. In the Old Norse language, Sumburgh Head was called Dunrøstar høfdi, it means "The Head onto the loud tide-race", referring to the noise of Sumburgh Roost. Robert Stevenson was the engineer in charge of building the Sumburgh Head lighthouse. Work started on the building in 1819, and the light was first lit in 1821.
The MV Braer was an oil tanker which ran aground during a storm off Shetland, Scotland, in January 1993, and nearly a week later broke up during the most intense extratropical cyclone on record for the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Braer Storm of January 1993.
Old Scatness is an archeological site on Scat Ness, near the village of Scatness, in the parish of Dunrossness in the south end of Mainland, Shetland, Scotland, near Sumburgh Airport. It consists of medieval, Viking, Pictish, and Iron Age remains and has been a settlement for thousands of years, each new generation adding buildings, and levelling off old ones. Among the discoveries is an Iron Age broch, the Ness of Burgi fort.
Esha Ness, also spelled Eshaness, is a peninsula on the west coast of Northmavine, on the island of Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. Esha Ness Lighthouse is located on the west coast of the peninsula, just south of Calder's Geo. The lighthouse was designed by David Alan Stevenson and commissioned in 1929. The hamlet of Tangwick contains the Tangwick Haa, a former Laird's house that has been a museum since 1987.
The Shetland Amenity Trust is a charitable trust based in Shetland, Scotland. It was formed in 1983.
Colsay is an uninhabited island off the South West coast of Mainland, Shetland. Fora Ness lies to the south, across the Muckle Sound. The highest elevation is 44 metres (144 ft), and there is an ancient cairn on the summit.
Horse Island or Horse Holm, known locally as Da Holm, is one of the Shetland Islands. It lies about 2.3 km west of Sumburgh Head at the south tip of the Mainland, Shetland. In the Norn language, it was called Hundiholmi but was later renamed Horse Holm. It is used as an alignment point by local fishermen for several fishing marks.
Dunrossness, is the southernmost parish of Shetland, Scotland. Historically the name Dunrossness has usually referred to the area on the Shetland mainland south of Quarff. However, in 2016 there were three separate Shetland Community Councils for a) Gulberwick, Quarff and Cunningsburgh; b) Sandwick; and c) Dunrossness. The 2011 census defined Dunrossness as including everybody within the British ZE2 postal code, which goes as far north as Gulberwick. It has the best and largest area of fertile farmland of any parish in Shetland. Dunrossness includes the island of Mousa, Levenwick, St Ninian's Isle, Bigton, Scousburgh, the Lochs of Spiggie and Brow, Boddam, Quendale, Virkie, Exnaboe, Grutness, Toab, Ness of Burgi, Clumlie Broch, Scatness, Sumburgh Airport, Sumburgh Head, West Voe, the islands of Lady's Holm, Little Holm, Horse Holm island and Fair Isle.
Toab is the southernmost village on Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. It is part of Virkie and overlooks Sumburgh Airport. Toab is within the parish of Dunrossness.
Scatness is a settlement on the headland of Scat Ness at the southern tip of Mainland, Shetland, Scotland, across the West Voe of Sumburgh from Sumburgh Head and close to Sumburgh Airport, the Shetland Islands' main airport. Scatness is in the parish of Dunrossness.
The West Voe of Sumburgh,, is the most southerly bay on the Shetland Mainland, located between Sumburgh Head, and the point of Scat Ness.
The Pool of Virkie is a tidal lagoon in the parish of Dunrossness, south Mainland, Shetland.
Lady's Holm is an island off southern Mainland in the Shetland Islands. It is not to be confused with the Maiden Stack, which is also known as "Frau Stack"
Little Holm is a small island to the west of South Mainland in Shetland. It is near Scatness and Lady's Holm. A trawler was wrecked there in 1916.
The Zenith of Iron Age Shetland is a combination of three sites in Shetland that have applied to be on the Scottish "Tentative List" of possible nominations for the UNESCO World Heritage Programme list of sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humankind. The application was made by the Shetland Amenity Trust in 2010, and in 2011 the site became one of 11 successful UK applications to join the Tentative List, three of them from Scotland.
On 23 August 2013, a Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma helicopter belonging to CHC Helicopters crashed into the sea 2 nautical miles from Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, while en route from the Borgsten Dolphin drilling rig. The accident killed four passengers; twelve other passengers and two crew were rescued with injuries. A further passenger killed himself in 2017 as a result of PTSD caused by the crash. An investigation by the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch concluded in 2016 that the accident was primarily caused by pilot error in failing to monitor instruments during approach. The public inquiry concluded in October 2020 that the crash was primarily caused by pilot error.
59°53′N1°18′W / 59.883°N 1.300°W