Crofthouse Museum

The Shetland Crofthouse Museum is now closed for the season and will reopen in May 2025.

Head down to the delightful setting of Dunrossness and step back in time as you enter the traditional 19th century thatched crofthouse.

Opening Times: view the Shetland Crofthouse Museum's opening times here.

Admission: The Crofthouse Museum is free to visit, with donations welcome.
Group Tours: For groups of eight people and over please email us to book.
Note: small charge of group tours.

The Shetland Crofthouse Museum is operated by Shetland Museum and Archives.

The property is presented in the style of how it would have looked in the 1870s. Smell the peat fire, discover the box beds and try to set the traditional Shetland mouse trap. The crofthouse also has a lovely garden.

Hear our knowledgeable custodians tell stories about how it would have been to live in a typical crofthouse and what families would have to have done to make a living from the land.

Location
The Shetland Crofthouse Museum is situated in Dunrossness, Boddam and is easy to reach by public transport. Click here to view the ZetTrans website for the latest timetables and information.


Accessibility: Due to the nature of the building it is not suitable for wheelchair access. Entry to the crofthouse site is down a narrow, steep sloped track with three steps at the start of the path. The doorways into the interior of the buildings are narrow, the door-lintels are low and the floor is uneven.

Group Tours
For groups of six people and over please email us to book. Please note the Crofthouse Museum's capacity is 15 people - larger parties can be split, while one group has the tour the other can explore the gardens and surrounding area.

Crofthouse Museum Blog Posts

Shining a light on Ann Harriet Pottinger this International Women's Day

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Old style islands courtships

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The Eyjarskeggjar

The images of Up Helly Aa go like this – the burning longship, arms and armour, and bearded men. The present Jarl Richard Moar has ...

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A Fragment of Viking-Norse Life

One of the results of years of peat-cutting in Shetland is that occasionally interesting objects are revealed. So it was the case in ...

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The funny story behind some of Lerwick's street names

In the 1880s Lerwick was changing rapidly. As the great herring fishery of that era developed, there were new streets, and potential ...

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Film celebrating the achievements of Johnnie Notions launched by Shetland Museum and Archives

A new film which brings to life the incredible story of 18th century inoculation pioneer and Shetland crofter Johnnie Notions has been ...

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Keep a look out for Skeklers this Halloween

We had a great time at our recent Skeklers Hat workshop with local artist Eve Eunson in preparation for Halloween.

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Preparing for the herring – photos from the archives

George Gen and Sarah Mackintosh, members of our Visitor Experience team have pulled together a selection of photos from our online ...

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Talking Toevakuddis

Hazel Hughson, Barbara Ridland and Joan Fraser explored the use of cloth to pay taxes in a series of thought-provoking art forms in ...

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The Coronation

The Coronation of 2 June 1953 is a long way away now, in a vastly different world and culture. True, a major war was going on, but the ...

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Research team examines Shetland's Hanseatic ceramic collection

During the global pandemic, we saw the impact that change and disruption caused to international trade and supply of goods, but it was ...

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30th anniversary of the Braer oil disaster

January in Shetland is usually dark, wet, and stormy, enlivened by a few celebrations of Old Christmas and New Year. The excitement ...

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Shipwrecks in Shetland - the latest

We were delighted to have maritime archaeologists, Colin and Paula Martin back with us last week to record finds from three East India ...

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Who's afraid of the njuggel?

Halloween wouldn’t be the same without a fair sprinkling of supernatural beings such as ghosts, vampires and werewolves, but ...

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The Elvira

Stories of shipwreck have long occupied the Shetland imagination. One Shetlander, R. Stuart Bruce (1873-1951), devoted much of his ...

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