Sorry I haven't posted for a month! I don't know about you but I get very intrigued by sites with old stone structures. This one, Jarlshof, is in the Shetland Islands off Scotland. Its extensive remains have a history spanning from 2500 BCE to the 1600s. In the 1800s, heavy storms eroded shoreline, exposing the ancient buildings. Except for the Old House of Sumburgh, the rest remained hidden. I imagine this place would be covered in wild grasses and heathers if they weren't keeping it manicured.
The name Jarlshof, meaning “earl’s house”, was invented by Sir Walter Scott for his novel, The Pirate, jarl meaning earl in Norse. The actual name of the site is Sumburgh, from the Old Norse word ‘borg’, meaning ‘fort’, same as the region. Bronze Age settlers left small oval houses with thick stone walls there. Iron Age ruins include roundhouses and a defensive wall around the site. Picts built a complex of wheelhouses. There’s a Viking longhouse and medieval farmhouse.
The site is in the care of Historic Scotland and is open year-round, with longer opening hours during April to September. I love to walk around places with a very old history, to touch the stones and imagine myself living in that time or just sensing the thousands of years of human existence there.
Have any readers been to this place?
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