Getting to Mousa Broch? How to Visit Mousa Broch?
The Mousa Boat offers the only organised tours for visitors to Mousa. These lovely local providers sail from Sandsayre at Sandwick (South Shetland). They have a small visitor centre office which they open shortly before the tours depart. We strongly recommend you book your evening tours in advance.
Remember that all tours are weather dependant!
- The journey on the Mousa Boat lasts approximately 15 minutes (1/2 a mile from the pier)
- Wear sturdy shoes and wet weather gear for your visit to the island
- Payments in cash only
- Torch for evening visits
Why not kayak to Mousa Broch? Read about our Simmer Dim Adventure to Mousa Broch
How to Visit Mousa Broch by kayak?
Yes you can kayak across the straight to Mousa and walk to the Broch – read more avout our wee wild adventure to Mousa here
Mousa Broch Tours
This local family provide both daylight trips (Broch) and dusk trips (Storm Petrels). Of course they also offer short cruises for those a leisurely trip around the local waters of the area.
Mousa Broch Visitor Information
The Broch itself is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. It is free to visit but of course the difficulty is how to get to this remote island.
Mousa Broch is only open in the summer months, April to October. (Special circumstances e.g. weather may lead to the Broch being closed).
Visiting Mousa Broch (in 2024) is free! There is a gate at the entry to the Broch which is not locked (summer months).
FREE TO VISIT
Mousa Broch History
The most intact Broch in Scotland (they exist nowhere else!), Mousa Broch is unique. You will find Brochs scattered throughout Scotland but none or so impressive as Mousa Broch. Presumably it’s remote location allowed it to survive mostly intact whilst others were scavenged by locals for building materials or destroyed in conflict or fire or simply abandoned and left to decay naturally.
Two historical accounts mention Mousa Broch including Egil’s Saga (AD900) and the Orkneyinga Saga (AD 1153).
8 bewildering facts about Mousa Broch
- Age of Mousa Broch – dating from approximately 2000 years ago (400BC – 100AD)
- Height of Mousa Broch – 13.2 meters tall
- Width of Mousa Broch – 15.3 meters at it’s base, 12 meters at it’s top
- Thickness of the walls – 5 meters
- Who built Mousa Broch – Iron Age people of Scotland
- What was the purpose of Mousa Broch – we might never know! The iron age fort would certainly have provided protection from attack, an impressive refuge
- How many floors within Mousa Broch – originally Mousa Broch is believed to have had 3 floors at least 2
- Multistory living Mousa Broch – evidence of two scarcements (a ledge or step in a wall) exist in Mousa. This is where the wooden floors would have been supported (long rotten)
10 amazing insights to Mousa Island’s History
- The name Mousa comes from Old Norse. Mósey which translates to ‘Mossy Island’
- The island is 1.5 miles (2.5km) long and approximately 1 mile at it’s widest (1.6km)
- The heighest point of Mousa Island is 180 ft (55 meters)
- The latitude of Mousa is 60° north, which is the same as Helsinki and Oslo
- The last family left Mousa in 1853 (The Family Smith)
- in 1774, Mousa had a population of 70 people (crofts)
- There is the remnants of a Norse Water Mill on Mousa
- The well preserved building on Mousa is the former Laird’s House (1783). A sort of luxury prison for the Laird’s wife, to keep her from drinking!
- Sandstone was quarried on Mousa and used to build not only the Mousa Broch but flagstones for the streets of Lerwick
- Mousa Broch was used by smugglers in the 19th century (hiding gin and tobacco)
Visiting Mousa and the RSPB reserve
The RSPB reserve on Mousa is especially famous for its breeding storm petrels. The storm petrels nest in the crevices of the ancient Mousa Broch and nearby stone dykes. The storm petrels are best observed during special night trips. Mousa Broch and the nearby dykes are home to approximately 2.6% of the worlds population of these unique birds.
Additionally, the island hosts other seabirds such as Arctic terns, black guillemots, and great skuas.
The stone dykes is also a great place to see the indigenous Shetland Wren. A subspecies of the Eurasian Wren. The Shetland Wren is darker, a stouter bill and longer, stronger legs.
The surrounding waters are teeming with marine life, including Harbour and Grey Seals and occasional sightings of porpoises. The RSPB reserve on Mousa offers a pristine natural environment where visitors can experience the rugged beauty of the Shetland Islands and the rich biodiversity that thrives in this remote and protected area.
Don’t forget to leave a donation in the donation box.
FREE TO VISIT
Secrets of Simmer Dim on Mousa Island