Publication Account
Date 1997
Event ID 1017073
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017073
This substantial ruin was the former parish church, and it is clear from the mound on which it stands that it was built on the site of an earlier medieval church. Balliasta, Norwick and Lund were the three original parish churches of the island, but only Balliasta was demolished and rebuilt in the 18th century. The church has been much altered over the years. It is a simple rectangular building, which was extended at the east end, re-using in original doorway. The inside face of the wall shows holes for timber hoists, which suggests that there was once a wooden gallery and explains the fact that there are windows at two levels. One of the lower windows in each of the north and south walls has been extended to ground level in order to act as a doorway to the burial lairs that were established within the ruined church. There are memorials of the Edmondston family of Buness belonging to the 19th and 20th centuries. A low opening at the east end of the north wall may have given lepers the chance of benefitting from services.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Shetland’, (1997).
