Little Roe
Little Roe is a small island located in the Shetland Islands of Scotland, situated in the body of water known as St Magnus Bay. It lies close to the larger island of Muckle Roe, from which it takes its name — "Roe" deriving from the Old Norse word meaning "red," a reference to the distinctive reddish hue of the local granite and sandstone that characterises much of this part of Shetland. Little Roe is one of the many small uninhabited islands that pepper the coastline of mainland Shetland and its surrounding archipelago, making it a place of raw, windswept natural beauty rather than a settlement of any kind. Its coordinates place it just off the western coast of Shetland, in a region defined by dramatic sea lochs, rugged headlands, and the ever-present sound of breaking Atlantic swells.
The geology of this part of Shetland is ancient and compelling. The reddish granite and coarse sandstone that give the Roe islands their name were formed hundreds of millions of years ago, and they form a distinctive visual contrast against the dark waters of St Magnus Bay. The island itself is low-lying but rocky, with coastal margins shaped by millennia of wave erosion and the action of North Atlantic storms. Like many of Shetland's smaller islands, Little Roe would have been known intimately to Norse settlers who colonised the islands from around the ninth century onwards, and the Norse naming convention preserved in its name is a direct inheritance from that era of settlement.
In terms of physical character, Little Roe is a classic example of a Shetland holme — a small rocky islet that appears in different lights as brooding, serene, or magnificent depending on the weather. On clear days, the island can be seen reflecting the pinkish and rust-coloured tones of its rock against the grey-blue water of the bay. In summer, patches of sea thrift, grass, and other hardy coastal vegetation cling to the rocky surface, softening its edges with colour. The sounds are dominated by the sea — the slap and surge of waves against rock, the cries of seabirds, and the wind that rarely drops to true silence in this part of the world.
The surrounding area is among the most scenically dramatic in the British Isles. Muckle Roe, the large neighbouring island, is connected to the Shetland mainland by a bridge and offers walks along cliffs of striking red granite. St Magnus Bay stretches to the west, named after the martyred Norse earl Magnus Erlendsson whose memory is deeply embedded in Orcadian and Shetlandic culture. The nearby village of Brae on the mainland is the main settlement in this part of Shetland, offering basic services, and the broader Northmavine peninsula to the north contains some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in Shetland, including the famous cliffs at Eshaness.
Visiting Little Roe itself would require access by small boat, as there is no causeway or ferry connection, and it is essentially an uninhabited rocky islet without any facilities. The wider area around Muckle Roe and Brae is accessible by road from Lerwick, the capital of Shetland, which lies roughly 35 kilometres to the south. The drive from Lerwick along the A970 takes around 35 to 40 minutes. Shetland itself is reached by ferry from Aberdeen operated by Serco NorthLink Ferries, a journey of around 12 hours, or by flights into Sumburgh Airport from various Scottish and English cities. The best time to visit this part of Shetland is between May and August, when daylight hours are extraordinary — in midsummer, darkness barely falls — and wildlife including puffins, skuas, and gannets is abundant.
Shetland's small islands and holms like Little Roe serve an important ecological function as undisturbed nesting and resting sites for seabirds and grey seals. Without human habitation or predators, they become refuges for wildlife that would otherwise be disturbed. The broader Shetland archipelago contains over 100 islands, of which only 15 or so are inhabited, meaning places like Little Roe are part of a vast, largely wild seascape that remains one of the least visited and most unspoiled environments in the United Kingdom. For those who make the considerable journey to this remote corner of Britain, the sense of space, geological time, and natural life is genuinely profound.