Helliar Holm
Helliar Holm is an uninhabited island off the coast of Shapinsay. It has a 42 foot tall lighthouse, which was built in 1893. At very low tide there is a causeway from Shapinsay over to Helliar holm, people have walked across but it is a very slippery walk! The lighthouse known as Helliar Holm was built at the end of the 18th Century by brothers Charles and David A Stevenson. It was manned up until its automation in 1967 when the last keeper left the island. The lighthouse was going originally to be built on the little island halfway between Kirkwall bay and Shapinsay, called Thieves Holm, but was decided to build it on Helliar Holm. Thieves holm, thought to have once been used as a place to banish thieves and witches, has no lighthouse, but now does have a small light on the North side of the island.
