Visit Us
Shetland Museum & Archives is open. Drop in and visit us, no booking is necessary.
Free to visit - As always, entry to the Museum and Archives is free but now more than ever we need your support - please consider making a donation.
Online Resources
Inside Visit Us
Crofthouse Museum
The Shetland Crofthouse Museum is now closed and will reopen in May for the 2026 season.
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Archives Searchroom
The Archives searchroom is a comfortable, quiet space which is open to anyone who wishes to find out more about a particular subject, or just browse books, newspapers or records in the collection.
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Closed: Hays Dock Café
It is with regret that we announce the closure of 'Hay's Dock by The Dowry', which was operated by Beervana Ltd. Unfortunately, despite efforts to remain open, securing the necessary staff has not been possible which has resulted in a mutual end of t...
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Activities
Whatever your reason for visiting us at Shetland Museum and Archives, there are a range of activities on offer to ensure you can make the most of your time with us.
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Hay's Dock
Shetland Museum and Archives sits on Hay’s Dock; the last remaining area of original dock on the Lerwick waterfront, which is now category B listed. This is a perfect setting to highlight the strong heritage connection with the sea.
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Public Art
Shetland Amenity Trust commissioned over 60 individual artworks as part of its Shetland Museum and Archives Public Art Project. These are on show throughout the building and dock, some even appearing alongside the artefacts and documents in the galleries and Archives.
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Accessibility
We want to make sure we continue to offer an excellent experience for all visitors with additional needs .
Read moreVisit Us Blog Posts
Celebrating the Buggiflooer Beanie launch
What a buzz we had on Friday evening at the launch event of the new Shetland Week Patron Alison Rendall and her ...
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Our bog butter is going 'home' for the season!
Our bog butter is going 'home' for the season - and will be on display in the Old Haa, Yell as part of their summer exhibition about ...
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A tribute to Ian Bairnson
Ian Bairnson, who died on 7 April, was certainly one of the more remarkable people from Shetland, born here on 3 August 1953.
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Help shape the future of the past at Old Scatness
Shetland Amenity Trust is beginning to gather thoughts and views on the long-term future of Old Scatness and is inviting the public ...
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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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Immersive new art installation pays tribute to Shetland’s wadmal
Shetland Museum and Archives continues its wide-ranging programme of exhibitions with the opening of a new art installation ...
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Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2023
As part of #ScottishApprenticeshipWeek2023 we wanted to shine a light on Jordan Clark, who is one of two staff currently working his ...
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First Shetland Heritage Conference a great success
Last weekend over 80 delegates took part in discussions to help us shape the future for Shetland’s local culture and heritage. ...
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Celebrating World Book Day with Shetland's Oldest Known Book - Boece
For anyone who wants to read about Shetland, the archives is a good place to come. Our book collection, we like to think, is perhaps ...
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Shetland heritage conference – shaping the future together
Shetland Amenity Trust and Shetland Heritage Association have come together to host their first joint Heritage conference in March. ...
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Don't Stop Me Now - Up Helly Aa 2023
Hit's been a miss. They last visited in 2020, last Tuesday in January as always, and just before the deluge. That last Tuesday in 2021 ...
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The ‘Harriet’ unveiling honours phenomenal fundraising effort
Last night saw the official unveiling of the ‘Harriet’ portrait at a civic ceremony at Shetland Museum and Archives (Sunday 29 ...
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Special UHA 2023 Events and Extended Opening Times
Visit the Shetland Museum and Archives during Up Helly Aa week - discover our world renowned collections, explore our Viking past and ...
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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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