Jarlshof

Jarlshof Review

In 1897, a huge storm blew away 4,000 years of sand to expose the extensive remains of Norse buildings, prehistoric wheelhouses, and earth houses that represented thousands of years of continuous settlement. It's a large and complex site, and you can roam the remains freely. The small visitor center is packed with facts and figures, and illustrates Jarlshof's more recent history as a medieval farmstead and home of the 16th-century Earl of Orkney and Shetland, "cruel" Patrick Stewart, who enslaved the men of Scalloway to build Scalloway Castle.