Undiscovered Scotland

 

Lunna Kirk is a lovely church. Located at Lunna, where Lunna Ness is almost made an island by East and West Lunna Voes, Lunna Kirk probably dates back at least in part to the 1100s and is by far the oldest building in use for Christian worship in Shetland.

The church has an unusual structure, with both of the side walls supported by a series of massive buttresses. An unusual feature on the east side of the church, which is likely to date back to a major rebuild of the structure in the 1300s or 1400s, is a lepers' squint, designed to allow lepers to hear the service and see the altar without physically coming into contact with the congregation.

In 1701 the church was declared redundant following a reorganisation of parishes in Shetland and it was thereafter used as a burial place for the Hunter family, lairds of the area. It resumed duty as a parish church from 1753 and the interior and many of the details date back to what seems at least to have been a major renovation, if not a partial rebuild, then.

Today Lunna Kirk lies at the foot of the hill topped by Lunna House, the home of the Hunters at the time. Nearby is what at first appears to be the shell of another church, though this turns out to be a fishing booth. Below the fishing booth is a shingle beach, largely man-made to allow fish to be dried when the booth was in use.

The interior of Lunna Kirk is superb. A pulpit stands against the south-east side wall, almost on a level with the gallery that extends around the other three sides of the church. At ground floor level wooden stalls are arranged so all eyes are on the preacher.

Access to the gallery is via an exterior stair on the south-west end wall. The gallery itself fits within the sloping ceiling of the kirk.