Scalloway Castle was built in 1600 by
Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney. It was originally surrounded by water but due to land reclamation, that is no longer the case. The remains of the castle are the most notable feature of the village, located near the quay. (The castle is usually locked, but a key can be borrowed from the nearby Scalloway Hotel or from the adjacent Scalloway Museum.)
Norwegian boatbuilders from
Hordaland, in the areas around
Bergen,
Os, and
Tysnes, built
yoals from about the 16th century.
Oselvar, the traditional small wooden boat of Os, were taken apart and then 'flat packed' for shipping to Scalloway. Instead of sending complicated assembly instructions, they sent boatbuilders to rebuild them. Many of these stayed for years in Shetland, and some married there. To the
Hanseatic merchants from
Bremen and
Hamburg, Scalloway was known as
Schaldewage, and as a good sheltered harbour on the route to
Hillswick. Barbara Tulloch and her daughter Ellen – probably the last witches to be burned in Shetland – were executed on Gallow Hill, overlooking the village in 1690.
Scalloway Public Hall on Berry Road was completed in 1902. During the
Second World War, Scalloway was the home base for, and housed for some time the headquarters of the
Shetland Bus, part of the Norwegian resistance against the
German occupation. It was operated by Norwegian Resistance and British Secret Service who ran small craft to Norway to assist the Norwegians. After the war Scalloway served as harbour of the Shetland-Orkney ferry service (MV
Orcadia) on the Scalloway–Stromness route. After the opening of the
Schiehallion oilfield off the west coast of Shetland, Scalloway took over some functions as a service base for the oil business. ==Education==