View source for Unst

{{Short description|Northernmost Shetland Island, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox Scottish island | 
| location_map       = Scotland Shetland
| caption            = Unst shown within Shetland
| coordinates        = {{coord|60.75|-0.89|region:GB_type:isle|display=inline,title}}
| GridReference      = HP600091
| celtic name        = 
| norse name         = Ǫmstr<ref>Pálsson and Edwards (1978) p. 251</ref>
| meaning of name    = 
| area               = {{cvt|46|sqmi|km2}}
| area rank          = 14
| highest elevation  = Saxa Vord, {{cvt|284|m}}
| Population         = 644<ref name=RESAS>{{RESAS}}</ref> 
| population rank    = 19
| population density = 5.3 people/km² <ref name=RESAS/><ref name=Smith/>
| main settlement    = [[Baltasound]]
| island group       = [[Shetland]]
| local authority    = [[Shetland|Shetland Islands]]
| references         = <ref name=Smith>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 481–85</ref><ref name=OS>{{Ordnance Survey}}</ref>
| Image              = Kidna Water - geograph.org.uk - 525714.jpg
| ImageCaption       = Kidna Water
}}

'''Unst''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʌ|n|s|t}}; {{langx|nrn|Ønst}}) 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 [[Shetland Mainland|Mainland]] and [[Yell (island)|Yell]]. It has an area of {{cvt|46|sqmi|km2}}.<ref name=Smith/>

Unst is largely [[grassland]], with coastal cliffs. Its main village is [[Baltasound]], formerly the second-largest [[herring]] fishing port after Lerwick and now the location of a leisure centre and the [[Unst Airport|island's airport]]. Other settlements include [[Uyeasound]], home to Greenwell's Booth (a [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] warehouse) and [[Muness Castle]] (built in 1598 and sacked by pirates in 1627); and [[Haroldswick]], location of a boat museum and a [[heritage centre]].

== Etymology ==
There are three island names in [[Shetland]] of unknown and possibly pre-Celtic origin: Unst, [[Fetlar]] and [[Yell, Shetland|Yell]]. The earliest recorded forms of these three names do carry Norse meanings: {{lang|non|Fetlar}} is the plural of {{lang|non|fetill}} and means 'shoulder-straps', {{lang|non|Ǫmstr}} is 'corn-stack' and {{lang|non|í Ála}} is from {{lang|non|ál}} meaning 'deep furrow'.

However, these descriptions are hardly obvious ones as island names and are probably adaptations of a pre-Norse language.<ref>Gammeltoft (2010) p. 17</ref><ref name=G19>Gammeltoft (2010) pp. 19–20</ref> This may have been [[Pictish language|Pictish]] but there is no clear evidence for this.<ref name=G9>Gammeltoft (2010) p. 9</ref><ref>[http://shetlopedia.com/Norn "Norn"] Shetlopedia Retrieved 23 January 2011</ref> [[Isaac Taylor (priest)|Taylor]] (1898) has suggested a derivation from the [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|Ornyst}} meaning 'eagle's nest'.<ref name=Taylor>Taylor (1898)</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Muness Castle Unst 6484.JPG|thumb|upright=1.0|left|[[Muness Castle]]]]

The Shetland Amenity Trust's "Viking Unst" project excavated and displayed part of the island's Norse heritage. Work was undertaken on three [[longhouses]] – of which 60 are known to be on the island – at Hamar, Underhoull and Belmont. The replica Viking ship ''Skibladner'' can currently be seen ashore at Haroldswick.<ref>[http://www.vikingshetland.com/index.html "Viking Unst"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811021814/http://www.vikingshetland.com/index.html|date=11 August 2012}} Shetland Amenity Trust Retrieved 5 January 2014</ref>
{{OSM Location map
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| caption = Map of Unst, northernmost of the North Isles of Shetland
| minimap = file bottom right| mini-file=Shetland Unst locator.svg
| mini-width=62| mini-height=119
| scalemark=70
<!--text, lat,lon,size,color,angle,gap,radius [,ellipse-factor]-->
| arcA = Bluemull Sound,60.6944,-0.9929,8,blue,-110,-1.3,0.5

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|label1='''UNST'''

|mark-coord2={{coord|60.6874|-1.031}}
|label-size2=12| label-pos2=centre
|mark-size2=0
|label-spacing2=4
|label2=YELL| mark-title2=[[Yell, Shetland]]

|mark-coord3={{coord|60.7468|-0.7980}}
|label3=BALTA
|mark-size3=0
|label-spacing3=2| mark-title3=Balta

|mark-coord4={{coord|60.6709|-0.9105}}
|label4=UYEA
| mark-size4=0
|label-spacing4=2| mark-title4=Uyea

|mark-coord5={{coord|60.6864|-0.9634}}
|label5=Belmont
|mark-title5=[[Belmont, Shetland]]

|mark-coord6={{coord|60.7580|-0.8647}}
|label6=Baltasound
|mark-title6=[[Baltasound, Shetland]]

|mark-coord7={{coord|60.8225|-0.8981}}
|label7=Hermaness ^NNR
|label-pos7=center| label-color7=hard green| mark-size7=0
|mark-title7=[[Hermaness]] National Nature Reserve

|mark-coord8={{coord|60.85369|-0.88837}}
|label8=Muckle Flugga
|label-pos8=left| mark-size8=0
|mark-title8=[[Muckle Flugga]] and [[Out Stack]]

|mark-coord9={{coord|60.7877|-0.8326}}
|label9=Haroldswick
|mark-title9=[[Haroldswick]]

|mark-coord10={{coord|60.818|-0.7747}}
|label10=Spaceport ^launch pads
|mark-title10=[[SaxaVord Spaceport]]

|mark-coord11={{coord|60.8260|-0.8424}}
|label11=Saxa Vord ^Hill| shape-color11=soft green
|label-pos11=top|shape11=triangle| mark-size11=14,8| ldy11=-2
|mark-title11=[[Saxa Vord]]

|mark-coord12={{coord|60.689497|-0.849178}}
|label12=Muness ^Castle| shape12=squareD|mark-size12=9| shape-color12=hard grey
|mark-title12=[[Muness Castle]]

|mark-coord13={{coord|60.671|-0.998}}
|label13=Gutcher| label-pos13=left
|mark-title13=[[Gutcher]]
}}
[[File:Viking ship Unst.jpg|thumb|Skibladner, Unst]]

The remains of pre-12th-century Christian chapels survive on Unst: St Olaf's Chapel, Lund, and Our Lady's Kirk at Framgord, Sandwick on the south east coast.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trail 5: Sandwick to Framgord |url=http://www.shetlandamenity.org/trails |publisher=Shetland Amenity Trust |access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref> Norse-style cross-shaped gravestones stand in the surrounding burial grounds at both Lund and Framgord, and rare "keelstone" burial markers survive at Framgord.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=131 |num2=HP60SW 3 |desc==Unst, Sandwick, Framgord Chapel and Cemetery |access-date=29 June 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Burral and Sandwick |publisher=Unst Heritage Trust booklet available 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Sandwick Archaeology and History |publisher=SCAPE Trust (Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion) pamphlet available 2014}}</ref> Late Norse longhouses have been identified around both bays; the house at Sandwick still retains its cow-shaped byre door.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ritchie |first1=Anna |title=Viking Scotland |date=1993 |publisher=B. T. Batsford Ltd |location=London |isbn=0-7134-7316-9 |pages=122–124}}</ref>
[[File:Cross and keelstone, Framgord Burial Ground.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Small cross-shaped marker with a grave stone shaped like the keel of an inverted ship at the late-Norse Christian Chapel at Framgord, Sandwick.]]

[[James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell]] sailed to Shetland after the [[Battle of Carberry Hill]]. He was at the house of [[Olave Sinclair]], the receiver or [[Sheriff of Orkney and Shetland|sheriff of Shetland]] on Unst, in July 1567 when his enemies arrived in three ships, and he fought a sea battle for three hours before sailing to Norway.<ref>[[Agnes Strickland]], ''Letters of Mary Queen of Scots'' vol. 1 (London, 1842), pp. 244–248</ref><ref>Guy, John, ''Queen of Scots, the True Life'' (2005), p. 360</ref> A later sheriff, [[Laurence Bruce]], built Muness Castle in 1598.

The [[James Ingram (minister)|Rev Dr James Ingram]] (1776–1879) was minister of Unst from 1821. In the [[Disruption of 1843]], he and most of the Unst population, left the established church and joined the Free Church of Scotland (a very typical pattern in the Highlands and Islands). He erected a new church at [[Uyeasound]], funded by the Countess of Effingham. Ingram retired in 1875 aged 99 and died aged a remarkable 103. His father and grandfather also lived to over 100.<ref>Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church''</ref>

[[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s father and uncle were the main design engineers for the lighthouse on [[Muckle Flugga]], just off Hermaness on the north-west of the island. Stevenson visited Unst, and the island is claimed to have become the basis for the map of the fictional ''[[Treasure Island]]''<ref>[http://www.unst.org/2009/ "Unst: the island above all others"] unst.org Retrieved 15 July 2009</ref> – a claim shared by [[Fidra]] in [[East Lothian]].

In the 1950s, a Canadian sociologist, [[Erving Goffman]], undertook a year of ethnographic research on Unst for his doctoral thesis, which underpinned his best known publication, ''[[The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life]]'' (1956) and the [[Dramaturgy (sociology)|dramaturgy]] approach he developed.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Anthony Elliott |author2=Bryan S. Turner |title=Profiles in Contemporary Social Theory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DU2PBcQsooC&pg=PA94 |access-date=3 March 2014 |date=23 July 2001 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-0-7619-6589-3 |page=94}}</ref>

== Geography and geology ==
The island lays claim to many "most northerly" UK titles: the tiny settlement of [[Skaw, Unst|Skaw]] in the north-east of the island is the [[Extreme points of the United Kingdom|northernmost settlement in the UK]]; [[Haroldswick]] is the site of Britain's most northerly church; the [[Muckle Flugga]] [[lighthouse]], just off the far north of Unst, was opened in 1858 and is the most northerly lighthouse in the UK, situated close to [[Out Stack]], the most northerly rock in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shetland.org/visit/plan/areas/unst|title= Area Guides: Unst|website=Shetland: Islands of Opportunity| author=NB Communication Ltd| access-date=26 June 2025}}</ref> [[Western Norway]] is 200 miles (300&nbsp;km) away.

The islands of Unst and Fetlar are mainly formed of [[ultramafic]] and [[mafic]] [[igneous rocks]] which are interpreted to form part of an [[ophiolite]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.scottishgeology.com/outandabout/classic_sites/locations/unst.html |title=Unst on the Scottish Geology website maintained by the Hunterian Museum |website=www.scottishgeology.com |access-date=5 December 2008 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927104421/http://www.scottishgeology.com/outandabout/classic_sites/locations/unst.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> a section of [[oceanic crust]] from the [[Iapetus Ocean]] which was thrust on top of the ancient continental rocks during the [[Caledonian orogeny]]. This slice of rock is about the length of Unst and nearby [[Fetlar]] and has remained there for the last 420 million years.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Shetland ophiolite – Introduction| publisher=Geopark Shetland| website=shetland.org|url=https://www.shetland.org/geopark/explore/leaflets| access-date =26 June 2025}}</ref> The western side of Unst was not covered by the ophiolite rock so is the original continental basement sandstones that were metamorphosed into [[Gneiss]] and [[Schist]] by the pressure of the Caledonian mountain-building orogeny.<ref>{{cite web|author=Flinn, D| year= 2014| title=Geology of Unst and Fetlar in Shetland. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 131 (Scotland)| publisher=British Geological Survey|url=https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/memoirs/docs/B07309.html| access-date=26 June 2025}}</ref> (see [[Belmont, Shetland]] for further details on the geology of southern Unst)

Unst was once the location of several [[chromite]] quarries, one of which was served by the now-disused [[Hagdale Chromate Railway]] from 1907 to 1937.<ref>Simms, Wilfred F. (1997) ''The Railways Of Shetland'' {{ISBN|0-9528881-3-0}}</ref> Unst is the [[Type locality (geology)|type locality]] for the mineral [[theophrastite]], a nickel-magnesium variant of the mineral, {{chem2|(Ni,Mg)(OH)2}}, having been discovered at Hagdale in 1960.<ref>Livingston, A. and Bish, D. L. (March 1982) "On the new mineral theophrastite, a nickel hydroxide, from Unst, Shetland, Scotland" ''Mineralogical Magazine'' '''6''' No. 338</ref>

On 7 January 2007, Unst was shaken by an [[earthquake]] measuring 4.9 on the [[Richter magnitude scale|Richter scale]], which at the time was assessed by the [[British Geological Survey]] as "the largest earthquake of its kind in the area for 10 years".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/6242347.stm |title=Earthquake at sea shakes island |date=8 January 2007 |via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

== Economy and transport ==
[[File:Unst Bus Shelter.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|The [[Unst Bus Shelter]]]]

Ferries link [[Belmont, Shetland|Belmont]] on the island to [[Gutcher]] on [[Yell (island)|Yell]] and Oddsta on [[Fetlar]].

The [[Unst Bus Shelter]], also known as Bobby's Bus Shelter after a child who saved it from removal, is a [[bus shelter]] and [[bus stop]] near the village of [[Baltasound]] which is equipped with home comforts such as a television set, and is maintained by local residents.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unstbusshelter.shetland.co.uk/ |title=Unst Bus Shelter |access-date=8 January 2008 |archive-date=5 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405141441/http://www.unstbusshelter.shetland.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Unst is also home to the Promoting Unst Renewable Energy (PURE) [[Wind-Hydrogen Hybrid Power Systems|Wind Hydrogen]] project,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pure.shetland.co.uk/ |title=PURE hydrogen project |access-date=4 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204182817/http://www.pure.shetland.co.uk/ |archive-date=4 February 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> a community-owned clean energy system based on [[hydrogen production]]. This project is part of the Unst Partnership, the community's [[development trust]]. The Pure Energy Centre was formed using the skills and knowledge gained during the PURE Project and has installed hydrogen systems in diverse locations.<ref>[http://www.shfca.org.uk/member_details/34/ "PURE Energy Centre Ltd"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202152018/http://www.shfca.org.uk/member_details/34/ |date=2 February 2014}} SHFCA Retrieved 21 January 2014</ref>

At the southern end of Unst, above the island's ferry terminal, stands [[Belmont House, Shetland|Belmont House]]. Dating from 1775, Belmont has been described as "possibly the most ambitious, least-altered classical mansion in the [[Northern Isles]]".<ref name=inventory>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=GDL00054|desc=BELMONT HOUSE |access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> It was restored between 1996 and 2010 by a charitable trust, who now operate the building as a venue for hire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belmontunst.org.uk |title=Belmont House |publisher=Belmont Trust |access-date=25 August 2011}}</ref>

The island's population was 632 as recorded by the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]],<ref name=NRS>{{NRS1C}}</ref> a drop of over 12% since 2001 when there were 720 usual residents.<ref>{{GRO10}}</ref> During the same period [[List of Scottish islands|Scottish island]] populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23711202 "Scotland's 2011 census: Island living on the rise"] BBC News Retrieved 18 August 2013</ref>
By the time of the 2022 census the population had increased slightly to 644.<ref name=RESAS/>

In 2016, the island was the subject of Series 11 of [[BBC Two]]'s ''[[An Island Parish]]''.<ref name=island>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b075zzy8 |title=BBC Two – An Island Parish, Series 11 – Shetland, Your People Shall Be My People |publisher=BBC |access-date=4 April 2016}}</ref>

The island has an airstrip, the [[Unst Airport]], which has been decommissioned as an airport, has no regular flights and is only used for emergencies.

=== Saxa Vord ===

Saxa Vord is the highest hill on Unst at {{convert|935|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite news|last1=MacLeod|first1=Angus|title=Island faces bleak future as RAF abandons base|work=The Times|date=22 July 2005|page=25|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> It holds the unofficial British record for [[wind speed]], which in 1992 was recorded at {{convert|197|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} — just before the measuring equipment blew away.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Storm – New Year 1991/92 Part 1 |url=http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2010/07/storm-new-year-199192-part-1.html |website=A history of RAF Saxa Vord |date=10 July 2010 |accessdate=27 July 2019}}</ref>

==== RAF Saxa Vord ====
The weather station which recorded the windspeed was part of [[Royal Air Force]] [[Radar|radar station]] [[RRH Saxa Vord|RAF Saxa Vord]], which temporarily closed in 2006, with the loss of more than 100 jobs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4177716.stm |publisher=BBC |date=24 August 2005 |title='No funds' for closing radar base |access-date=8 January 2008}}</ref>

In April 2007, RAF Saxa Vord's domestic site, plus the road up to the Mid Site, was purchased and renamed "Saxa Vord Resort" by Highland entrepreneur Frank Strang. Strang's company Military Asset Management (MAM) "specialises in the regeneration of redundant or surplus Defence Assets".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.militaryassetmanagement.co.uk/concept.html |title=Military Asset Management |publisher=Military Asset Management |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309211037/http://www.militaryassetmanagement.co.uk/concept.html |archive-date=9 March 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The base was converted to a tourist resort and natural and cultural heritage centre. In 2013, Saxa Vord had self-catering holiday houses, a 26-bedroom bunkhouse, restaurant and bar, leisure facilities and a guided walks/evening talks programme.<ref name=resort>{{cite web |url=http://www.saxavord.com |title=Saxa Vord Resort |access-date=30 January 2013}}</ref>
Three local businesses relocated their premises to the Saxa Vord site: Unst Cycle Hire, [[Valhalla Brewery]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.valhallabrewery.co.uk |title=Valhalla Brewery |access-date=6 November 2007}}</ref> and Foord's Chocolates, Shetland's only chocolatier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foordschocolates.co.uk/ |title=Foords Chocolates |access-date=6 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019144731/http://www.foordschocolates.co.uk/ |archive-date=19 October 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

A few years later the radar station resumed operations as [[RRH Saxa Vord|Remote Radar Head Saxa Vord]].
====Distillery====
[[Saxa Vord distillery]] is a gin and whisky distillery on Unst.<ref name=Wishart>{{cite book |last=Wishart |first=David |date=2020 |title=Whisky Classified. Choosing Single Malts by Flavour |publisher=Pavilion Books |page=263 |isbn=978-1911595731}}</ref>

==== Spaceport ====
In 2017, Frank Strang established the [[Shetland Space Centre]] Ltd and proposed that Lamba Ness would make a suitable launch site for rockets taking satellites into polar orbits.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-41977256 |publisher=BBC Scotland |title=Unst in Shetland to aim for space programme |date=14 November 2017 |access-date=16 November 2020}}</ref> In October 2020, the proposal was given more substance by the announcement that the [[UK Space Agency]] had given its approval and that [[Lockheed Martin]] was intending to use the site as a UK base for its rocket launches.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://orbitaltoday.com/2020/11/02/the-race-is-on-as-the-uk-goes-ahead-with-the-approval-of-the-shetland-space-centre/ |publisher=Orbital Today |title=The Race Is On As The UK Goes Ahead With The Approval Of The Shetland Space Centre |date=2 November 2020 |access-date=16 November 2020}}</ref>

Despite its name, the location of "SaxaVord Spaceport" is near the easternmost point of Unst, several kilometers removed from Saxa Vord hill.

In January 2021, plans were submitted for three rocket launch pads<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-55704869 |title=Shetland space launch plans submitted |publisher=BBC |date=18 January 2021 |access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref> and the UK [[Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom)|Civil Aviation Authority]] (CAA) announced on 17 December 2023 that SaxaVord had been granted a spaceport licence "to host up to 30 launches a year", making it "the first fully licensed vertical spaceport in Western Europe."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-12-17 |title=Shetland is first UK spaceport for vertical rocket launches |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-67741864 |access-date=2023-12-18}}</ref><ref>[https://www.caa.co.uk/newsroom/news/saxavord-granted-spaceport-licence-by-uk-civil-aviation-authority/ SaxaVord granted spaceport licence by UK Civil Aviation Authority] UK Civil Aviation Authority, 2023-22-17.</ref>

== Wildlife ==
Unst is important for its seabird colonies, including those at [[Hermaness]] [[national nature reserve (United Kingdom)|National Nature Reserve]]. It is also known for its plant life, including the [[Norwegian sandwort]] and [[Shetland Mouse-ear]], the latter unique to the island.

On the island, the commonly seen [[Great skua]] is known as the "bonxie".<ref name=island/>

== Notable people ==
[[File:NSC SHMA ART 2007 7-001.jpg|thumb|[[James Ingram (minister)|James Ingram]] by Otto Leyde (1872)]]
*[[Walter Sutherland (Norn)|Walter Sutherland]] (died c. 1850), a former inhabitant of the northernmost cottage in Britain, was reportedly the last native speaker of the [[Norn language]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
*[[Thomas Barclay (minister)|Thomas Barclay]], born on Unst in 1792 was a [[Principal of the University of Glasgow]].<ref name="gustory">{{cite web |title=Thomas Barclay |url=http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH0252&type=P&o=&start=0&max=20&l= |publisher=University of Glasgow |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-date=13 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313184826/http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH0252&type=P&o=&start=0&max=20&l= |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Laurence Edmondston]], born in Shetland in 1795, was a medical doctor and GP for Unst.
*[[John Gray (master mariner)|John Gray]] (1819–1872), born on Unst, Captain of the [[SS Great Britain|SS ''Great Britain'']]
*[[Thomas Edmondston]], born on Unst in 1825, was a botanist.
*[[James Ingram (minister)|James Ingram]] (1776–1879), Presbyterian minister who spent most of his life working in the parishes of Fetlar and Unst. Ingram wrote the ''New Statistical Account'' of the parish of Unst in 1831; his father-in-law and Thomas Mouat of Garth wrote the ''Old Statistical Account'' in 1791.
*[[May Moar]] was born on Unst in 1825 and gained an [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution|RNLI]] medal.
*[[Jessie Saxby]], born on Unst in 1842, was a folklorist and writer.
*[[Sinclair Ferguson]] (born 1948), theologian and preacher, was [[Church of Scotland]] minister on Unst.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sinclair B. Ferguson |url=https://banneroftruth.org/uk/about/banner-authors/sinclair-b-ferguson/ |publisher=Banner of Truth Trust |access-date=26 October 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Scottish islands}}
*[[List of islands of Scotland]]
*[[Society of Our Lady of the Isles]]

== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
*Anderson, Joseph (ed.) (1893) ''[[Orkneyinga Saga]]'' Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie Edinburgh: James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint) {{ISBN|0-901824-25-9}}
*Gammeltoft, Peder (2010) "[http://www.medievalists.net/2011/01/18/shetland-and-orkney-island-names-%E2%80%93-a-dynamic-group/ Shetland and Orkney Island-Names – A Dynamic Group]" ''Northern Lights, Northern Words'' Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar
*{{Haswell-Smith}}
*''Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney'' Trans. [[Hermann Pálsson]] and Edwards, Paul (1978) London: Hogarth Press {{ISBN|0-7012-0431-1}} Republished 1981, Harmondsworth: Penguin {{ISBN|0-14-044383-5}}
*Sandison, Charles – ''Unst: My Island Home and its Story'' Shetland Times 1968 [repr. 1975]
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JTVFbT3TnsC&q=Ornyst&pg=PA284 |title=Names and Their Histories: A Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature |author=Isaac Taylor|author-link=Isaac Taylor (priest) |year=1898 |publisher=BiblioBazaar |isbn=9780559296673 |access-date=25 May 2010}}

== External links ==
*{{commons category-inline}}
*{{wikivoyage inline}}
*{{Official website|http://www.unst.org/ }}
*[http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/dialects/nis.html Recordings of Unst Scots]

{{North Isles}}
{{Shetland}}
{{Islands of Scotland}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Unst| ]]
[[Category:Islands of Shetland]]
[[Category:National Trust for Scotland properties]]
[[Category:Renewable energy in Scotland|PURE]]
[[Category:Geological type localities of Scotland]]
[[Category:Norn language]]
[[Category:Parishes of Shetland]]