Shetland Pilgrimage, SCIO

Welcome to the Shetland Pilgrimage website! This is an ecumenical initiative, set up by members of the Shetland churches to promote the Christian heritage of Shetland.

Shetland St Magnus Way

Shetland is proud of its Scandinavian heritage. One of the goals of our Shetland Pilgrimage group is to create a northern extension to the Orcadian St Magnus Way. We hope to establish a route which will start from Muckle Flugga in Unst and run to Scalloway, ending - via the Lerwick to Kirkwall ferry - at St Magnus' Cathedral in Orkney. The Orkneyinga Saga and the Magnus' Saga tell us that pilgrims from Unst, Fetlar and elsewhere in northern Shetland were among the first to visit the shrine of St Magnus after his martyrdom on the island of Egilsay in 1117. The North Isles are particularly rich in Viking age archaeological sites, many of which can be visited.

Shetland Pilgrim Way

The group has also adapted an unfinished proposal to establish a "Shetland Way" through the length of the main island. Our route is distinctive in that it seeks to link the major early Christian sites in Shetland - St Ninian's Isle, Papil, Mail, Cullingsburgh, Noss and the Kame of Isbister. It is a pilgrimage to explore the world of the Northern Picts.

The start and end points of the Mainland sections can all be reached by public transport and so the bus routes are given and the names of the stops. These stages can be walked as individual day trips. For the more adventurous, wild camping gives you the freedom to walk the islands from end to end.

The Red route on the map links the Early Christian sites and runs from south to north on Mainland; the Blue route runs north to south and links the major Viking sites and medieval church dedications to St Magnus and to St Olaf. The last stage leads to Scalloway, the ancient capital of Shetland in the Norse period and the major medieval port for boats to Orkney. The rational for the two directions is that earliest Viking settlers approached from the north, and the first Christian missionaries arrived from the south. The distribution of archaeological pilgrim sites reflects this.

The two routes intersect at Scalloway, Tingwall and Voe and it is possible to combine sections to walk a continuous path from Sumburgh Head to Muckle Flugga.

Pilgrimage is not just about reaching a goal. The journey is also important and the links in the sidebar are there to point you in new directions to explore the natural treasures of Shetland: dramatic coastal landscapes, whales, nesting sea birds - and the amazing sky above us!

The Shetland Bus, 1940-45

The Shetland St Magnus Way also commemorates the three places linked particularly with the Norwegian Resistance Movement in the Second World War - Lunna, Kergord and Scalloway.

Shetland Churches walking together

Finally, we also want to provide an inter-church forum where you can find information on what is happening around the islands and further afield.