Pier House Museum

#4767 among destinations in the United Kingdom

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Facts and practical information

The Pier House Museum is a museum in Symbister, Whalsay, in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. The museum is located in the old Pier House, which was once the centre for trade with the Germans and the export of dried and salted fish to the Hanseatic League, an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly over much of Northern Europe between the 13th and 17th centuries. The Germans brought their goods, iron tools, seeds, salt and cloth to barter for dried and salted fish from the island. The old Hanseatic house which had been used by the Germans for several centuries until 1707, was refurbished for the museum, housing artefacts which date from the earlier trading period and providing an important insight into the economy of Shetland at the time. Architecturally it is described as "two-storeyed with crowstepped gables, and an external stone staircase." The house and port nearby are categorised officially as a category B Listed Building. ()

Coordinates: 60°20'32"N, 1°1'30"W

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ScotlandUnited Kingdom

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Day trips

Pier House Museum – popular in the area (distance from the attraction)

Nearby attractions include: Skate of Marrister, Whalsay Parish Church, East Linga, Nista.

1 miN
Island
Skate of Marrister
25 min walk • The Skate of Marrister is a flat ledge that extends about 300 yards from the western shore of Whalsay, in the Shetland islands of Scotland. It is slightly more than 1 mile north-north-west from Symbister Ness off the village of Marrister, in Linga Sound. At low tide the ledge rises 5 feet above the water.
2.2 miNE
Church
Whalsay Parish Church, Whalsay
55 min walk • Whalsay Parish Church or Whalsay Kirk is a Church of Scotland parish church on the island of Whalsay, Shetland Islands, Scotland. It lies to the north of the village of Brough, on the southern part of a promontory known as Kirk Ness, connected to the mainland by a neck of land.
4.8 miE
Island
East Linga
124 min walk • East Linga is one of the Shetland Islands. It lies between Whalsay, and Grif Skerry to the east.
4.8 miNE
Island
Nista
122 min walk • Nista is a small islet of the Shetland Islands of Scotland, situated roughly 2 kilometres east off the coast of Whalsay. It lies to the north of Mooa. The Trota Stack lies just off the north side of the islet. The highest point of the islet is 63 feet.
1.2 miE
Forts and castles
Huxter Fort, Whalsay
32 min walk • Huxter Fort is an Iron Age fortification on the island of Whalsay, in the Shetland islands of Scotland, dating to around 300 BC. It is on an islet in the Loch of Huxter, connected to the shore by a causeway.
3.4 miNE
Archaeological site
Standing Stones of Yoxie, Whalsay
88 min walk • The Standing Stones of Yoxie is a Neolithic site in the parish of Nesting on the northeastern coast of Whalsay, in the Shetland islands of Scotland.
4.2 miE
Island
Rumble
107 min walk • Rumble is a skerry in the Shetland islands of Scotland, situated roughly 4 kilometres east off the coast of Huxter, southeastern Whalsay. It lies 0.75 miles to southwest of East Linga. The main island, also known as Rumble Holm, is 27 feet high.
1.5 miN
Island
West Linga
40 min walk • West Linga is an uninhabited island located between Mainland and Whalsay in Shetland, Scotland.
3.4 miNE
Archaeological site
Benie Hoose, Whalsay
87 min walk • Benie Hoose, also Bunyie Hoose, is a Neolithic site in the parish of Nesting, northeastern Whalsay, in the Shetland Islands of Scotland.
3.4 miNE
Archaeological site
Pettigarths Field Cairns, Whalsay
86 min walk • The Pettigarths Field Cairns is a Neolithic site in the parish of Nesting, northeastern Whalsay, in the Shetland islands of Scotland. It is located approximately 140 metres to the northwest of Benie Hoose. The site contains upright stones as well as masonry.
4.5 miE
Island
Mooa
116 min walk • Mooa is a small islet of the Shetland Islands of Scotland, situated roughly 2 kilometres east off the coast of Whalsay. It lies to the north of Isbister Holm and south of Nista. The highest point of the islet is 63 feet.