Shetland Museum & Archives — Attraction in Lerwick

A great museum, very well worth a visit.

There's a strange lack of Viking stuff here, which they tell us is because they didn't go in for making art but I've seen more about Vikings in Dundee museum.

That aside, there's some excellent permanent exhibitions. There's the story of Shetland which tells of the formation of the islands and the growth of the culture of the islands. This includes a broad and fascinating section on geology, with samples of many types of rock found here.

There's even some modern art, with a wind driven soundscape outside the front entrance which changes with the wind. Random clips of people talking are played. Arty farty stuff, novel and well worth a few minutes to listen to it.

It's called museum and archive and before I wrote this review I was asked if I thought just museum would be a better description. The answer is no. There's an extensive archive of books, other documents and sound recordings which you can go and study if you wish in the archive room. All museums have additional items not on display, which they study, sometimes put on display for special events or lend to other museums but it's not a common thing to allow everyone access to them in an archive...

We normally don't go to a lot of museums when we travel, but decided to visit the Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick and were completely blown away. First of all, this is exactly the kind of museum we do enjoy - with lot of artifacts on display, but not enough to make it feel stuffy. Moreover, and more importantly, the amount of text/information given about each display is appropriate and just the right amount to make you feel that you learned something without having to become an expert on the subject. There's some interactive exhibits as well for those who enjoy that. Secondly, it's FREE! What?!? Ok, sometimes even free things actually end up costing you more than money (=your precious time) but we so enjoyed this visit that we actually ended up making a small donation at the door. Everything else would have felt wrong and we highly recommend any visitor to Lerwick to go visit, even if you're normally not...

An excellent museum focussing on Shetland life, from an early age to more recent times. There is a wide range of exhibits, re-creations of early housing, boats, knitwear especially from Fair Isle, audio and video recordings as well as hands on items that visitors can try. The building is bright and airy, a conversion and (possibly ) an addition to a former working dock. Outside there are a number of fishing boats -sail and oar powered as well as engine driven. On the dockside there are speakers playing sound tracks associated with seafaring and fishing....... quite unusual but most effective. On the upper floor, adjacent to the upper gallery, is a licensed cafe/restaurant ....... great chowder, as well as other dishes. Last hot food orders at 2.00 p.m. closes at 3.00 p.m. Good views from the large picture windows. Should be on your must see list if...