Balta, Shetland

Balta, Shetland
Location
Norse name	Baltey
Meaning of name	Old Norse for
Balta, Shetland Balta shown within Shetland
OS grid reference	HP661081
Physical geography
Island group	Shetland
Area	80 ha (198 acres)
Area rank	162 ^[1]
Highest elevation	44 m (144 ft)
Administration
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Council area	Shetland Islands
Demographics
Population	0

References	^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Balta Island Lighthouse
South end of the Isle of Balta and lighthouse
Coordinates	60°44′25″N 0°47′41″W / 60.740416°N 0.794599°W / 60.740416; -0.794599
Year first constructed	1895 (first)
Year first lit	2004 (current)
Automated	2004
Foundation	concrete basement
Construction	metal skeletal tower (curren) concrete tower (first)
Tower shape	square parallelepiped tower covered by aluminium panels with light on the top (current) cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern (first)
Markings / pattern	white tower
Height	6.5 metres (21 ft)
Focal height	17 metres (56 ft)
Light source	solar power
Range	white: 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) red: 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) ^[6]
Characteristic	Fl WR 10s.
Admiralty number	A3828
NGA number	3524
ARLHS number	SCO-014^[7]

Balta (Old Norse: "Baltey"^[5]) is an uninhabited island in Shetland, Scotland.

Geography

Balta lies off the east coast of Unst and Balta Sound. It has an area of 80 ha.

There is a natural arch on the eastern side of the island.

Balta Island Seafare and Skaw Smolts are the most northerly fish farm and fish hatchery in Britain.^[8]

History

Historic remains on the island include the ruins of a broch and of a Norse chapel dedicated to Saint Sunniva. There are no census records of more recent inhabitation.^[3]

John MacCulloch visited Balta in May 1820 to carry out the Trigonometrical Survey for the Ordnance Survey. Balta was the northernmost station of the zenith sector.^[9]

Lighthouse

The Balta Light, at the southern tip of the island was one of the first concrete structures in Shetland. The lighthouse was designed by David Stevenson and built in 1895. It was demolished in 2003 and replaced by a small solar-powered light.^[10]

Footnotes

↑ Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
↑ National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013) (pdf) Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland - Release 1C (Part Two). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland’s inhabited islands". Retrieved 17 August 2013.
1 2 Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
↑ Ordnance Survey. "Sheet 1 - Shetland Islands (Yell & Unst) - Ordnance Survey One-inch to the mile maps of Great Britain, Seventh Series, 1952-1961". National Library of Scotland. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
1 2 Anderson, Joseph (ed.) (1873) The Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. Edmonston and Douglas. The Internet Archive. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
↑ Balta Sound Light Lighthouses Explorer. Retrieved 30 May 2016
↑ Balta Sound The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 30 May 2016
↑ "Balta Island Seafare". Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
↑ Derek Flinn (1981). "John MacCulloch, MD, FRS and his Geological Map of Scotland: His Years in the Ordnance. 1795–1826". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. London: The Royal Society. 36: 91. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1981.0006. JSTOR 531659.
↑ Marter, Hans J. (10 November 2003). "Historic lighthouse to go". shetland-news.co.uk/Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

External links

Northern Lighthouse Board

East cliffs of Balta

Muckle Head

North Isles, Shetland Islands

Inhabited islands	Fetlar Unst Yell

Other islands	Balta Brough Holm Gloup Holm Haaf Gruney Hascosay Huney Linga Muckle Flugga Out Stack Sound Gruney Urie Lingey Uyea

Towns and villages	Aywick Baltasound Belmont Burravoe Copister Cullivoe Gloup Gutcher Houbie Haroldswick Mid Yell Skaw Ulsta Uyeasound West Sandwick

Points of interest	Belmont House Brough Lodge Burgi Geos Daal of Lumbister Hermaness Muness Castle Old Haa Museum RAF Saxa Vord Unst Bus Shelter Valhalla Brewery

Lighthouses of the Northern Lighthouse Board

Scotland (except principal island groups)	Ailsa Craig Ardnamurchan Bass Rock Bell Rock Buchan Ness Cape Wrath Chanonry Corsewall Covesea Skerries Crammag Head Davaar Duncansby Head Dunnet Head Fidra Fife Ness Girdle Ness Holy Island (Outer) Inchkeith Isle of May Kinnaird Head Mull of Galloway Mull of Kintyre North Rona Noss Head Pladda Rattray Head Rubh Re St Abbs Head Sanda Scurdie Ness Stoer Head Strathy Point Stroma Sule Skerry Tarbat Ness Turnberry Minor lights

The Hebrides	Barra Head Butt of Lewis Dubh Artach Eilean Glas Flannan Islands Haskeir Hyskeir Lismore Monach Neist Point Ornsay Rinns of Islay Rona Ruvaal Scarinish Skerryvore Tiumpan Head Ushenish Minor lights

Orkney	Auskerry Brough of Birsay Cantick Head Copinsay Hoy Sound (High) Hoy Sound (Low) North Ronaldsay Noup Head Pentland Skerries Start Point Tor Ness Minor lights

Shetland	Bressay Eshaness Fair Isle North Fair Isle South Firths Voe Foula Hoo Stack Muckle Flugga Out Skerries Point of Fethaland Sumburgh Head Ve Skerries Minor lights

Isle of Man	Chicken Rock Douglas Head Langness (minor light) Maughold Head Point of Ayre Thousla Rock (minor light)

Coordinates: 60°45′N 0°47′W / 60.750°N 0.783°W / 60.750; -0.783

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