The parish includes the settlements of
Skeld,
Westerwick and
Culswick. It contains the islands of
Vementry and
Papa Little together with a number of smaller islets, on the south side of
St Magnus Bay, and comprehends a mainland district of about ten miles by eight between that bay and
Scalloway Bay. The coast is partly bold, and cavernous; the seaboard is cut into sections by long bays; and the interior is mostly an assemblage of knolls and hillocks, with a profusion of heath and interspersions of moss. The area of the parish is given as 162.4 km2. Antiquities include
standing stones,
burial monds and
Old Norse fortifications, as well as church ruins and burial grounds. St Mary's Chapel in Sandsting was once the main church for the parish of Sandsting. The medieval church, which was built no later than the sixteenth century, now stands in ruin. ==Etymology==