Shepherd's Stack

Island in Shetland

Scotland

Shepherd's Stack

Papa Stour from Huxter, Sandness Credit: Mike Pennington

Shepherd's Stack, located in the Shetland Islands, is a prominent sea stack rising from the tumultuous Atlantic Ocean. The Shetland Islands are an archipelago located off the northern coast of mainland Scotland. Shepherd's Stack is situated on the eastern coast of the main island, known as Mainland, specifically in the area of Eshaness.

This geological formation is an awe-inspiring sight, standing tall at approximately 30 meters (98 feet) in height. Composed of rugged, weather-beaten basalt, Shepherd's Stack has been shaped by millions of years of erosion from the relentless waves crashing against its imposing structure. The sea stack is known for its distinct columnar jointing, a geological phenomenon where rock formations fracture into polygonal columns due to the cooling and contracting of lava flows.

Surrounded by dramatic cliffs and steep coastal landscapes, Shepherd's Stack is a popular attraction for nature enthusiasts and photographers alike. Its isolated location and breathtaking views make it a perfect spot for capturing the raw beauty of the Shetland Islands. Visitors can witness the sheer power of the Atlantic Ocean as waves relentlessly pound against the stack, creating a mesmerizing display of spray and foam.

Access to Shepherd's Stack is possible via a coastal footpath that winds its way through the stunning Eshaness cliffs. This path offers visitors the opportunity to explore other geological marvels in the area, such as the Dore Holm sea arch and the Grind o' da Navir sea cave. Shepherd's Stack, with its extraordinary formation and rugged surroundings, truly epitomizes the wild and untamed beauty of the Shetland Islands.

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Shepherd's Stack Images

Images are sourced within 2km of 60.316391/-1.704526 or Grid Reference HU1659. Thanks to Geograph Open Source API. All images are credited.

Papa Stour from Huxter, Sandness

Mike Pennington

Kirstan's Hole

Actually, it isn't the Kirstan's Hole (or Christie's Hole) shown on the maps, but a second hole which opened suddenly a few years ago, where previously there had been a depression in the ground, into the same sea-cave system as the original Kirstan's Hole.

Anne Burgess

Plantiecrub near Flaes Point

A plantiecrub is a small walled enclosure in which cabbage seedlings are grown until they are big enough to plant out in croft gardens. They are usually built well away from the croft to protect the seedlings against the crofters' hens.

Anne Burgess

Ruined Meal Mills

Several traditional mills straddle this little burn. Inside the building was a fixed lower millstone, and a rotating upper millstone driven by the water falling on to the paddles below, which were mounted at 45º to the vertical drive shaft.

Anne Burgess

Hurdibrack

The last stretch of the footpath back from the west side of the island. In the middle distance is the wall which crosses the entire island, separating the arable land in the east from the pasture to the west.

Anne Burgess

The Wall

This is the wall which cuts across the whole island. The west side (left) has a steep face to prevent animals climbing over it. The east (right) side has a sloping face so that any animals which have managed to cross it can easily be driven back on to the pasture land.

Anne Burgess

Ruined House

Doug Lee

Ruined house

The number of ruined buildings on the island seem to far outnumber those still habitable or used.

Doug Lee

Road and ruins

This is the main road for the island. Even this close to the pier the ruins of abandoned crofts can be found just off the road.

Doug Lee

View towards Papa Stour Airstrip

The cleared and smoothed ground in the upper right of the image is the airstrip for Papa Stour which is located in HU1759.

Doug Lee

Unnamed Sea Stack Off Breigeo Head, Papa Stour (Big Isle of the Priests)

At less than 20 metres high this little stack is not as impressive as it's compatriots such as a little down the coast HU1461, but facing out onto the North Atlantic the situation is wild and imposing. As with most sea stacks, this has probably formed and survived through being constituted from rock that is more solid and stable than that washed out from around them. In many cases this results in providing ideal rock climbing routes in spectacular locations. In this case, the rock visible in this image is of a good solid nature but as can be seen more clearly in HU1560 : The problem with sea stacks... it is overhanging and in addition lacks much in the way of cracks in which to place rock climbing protection. Taken together these would make this an extremely difficult climb even if top roped. The side of the stack facing away to the right of the image is also overhanging, albeit to a lesser extent, but the rock is somewhat green and slimy making it an unattractive ascent route. Gaining access to the stack also presents some problems. The water foaming around the stack prevents easy access by boat and even on a comparatively calm day such as that pictured here would make swimming to the stack a highly dangerous exercise. The first visit to the top of the stack recorded by climbers is shown in the image HU1560 : The problem with sea stacks.... For this, the only viable route to the stack was by Tyrolean traverse.

Doug Lee

The problem with sea stacks...

The problem with sea stacks is how to get to them. The sea conditions at the base of this one pretty much eliminate the possibilities of swimming. One workable technique used here was to string a 100m abseil rope across the geo laying the rope on the top of the stack. The rope can then be used for a tyrolean traverse to get over to the stack and back from it.

Doug Lee

Ruined meal mill

The image shows the rear of one of the two mills at this location. The image was taken from channel, now waterless, which fed water into the mill.

Doug Lee

Ruined mill

The image shows a view of the front of the mill shown in HU1660 : Ruined meal mill.

Doug Lee

Ruins beside Hamna Voe

There are no inhabited buildings left on this side of the island

Doug Lee

View towards Hurdiback

Doug Lee

Papa Stour Runway

Our flight to Foula today landed first at Papa Stour to drop a lady off who wanted to explore the island on this windy day before collection by plane later this afternoon. The wind sock shows just how windy it was, so we were lucky to get to Foula. We never had enough time to come by ferry to explore Papa Stour properly during our 15 days exploring Shetland.

Rude Health