Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary
Sanctuary Gardens

home 
  news updates 
recent visitors
wildlife rescues
Shetland Wildlife
 volunteers  
   future plans
Da BodCafe
The Booth
 activities
 find us
 archives
 contact us
click to donate
 
Sanctuary gardens – a work in progress

The sanctuary is based in a 400 year old Hanseatic trading post that was extended in the mid 19th century to become a laird’s house with a walled garden. John Anderson and his wife Euphemia Merrylees had 11 children and employed 130 people in fishing, agriculture, knitwear and other industries.

John Anderson was a keen gardener and planted a stand of trees that are still with us, though they are not very tall for being more than 150 years old.

Since we opened the sanctuary we have been making slow but steady progress in the gardens, especially since the café closed during the week. We are getting closer to our dream of a garden that will be a sanctuary for people coming to visit and spend time in.

 

Peats stacked ready for the cafe fire.


Vegetables and herbs being grown for the cafe kitchen.
   
The sanctuary's stone circle has been completed. We have added a page to the site to share the story of how it was built. Click below to view.

                   building the stone circle

 
The main features are the seal pools and the otter pen where we keep our resident creatures prior to release. In recent years we have built a stone circle, where a couple were married last year, and a wooden decking picnic area. The garden is a venue for weddings and functions, such as a Mindstretchers nature playday we held recently.

We have created a willow coppice and have started making willow sculptures, beginning with a bower and a living fence around the newly planted Silver’s wood, dedicated to our one long term common seal resident who died in 2008.

We have a fire pit where we have barbecues and ceremonies and a collection of marine mammal bones for people to see.

Our future plans include a hot tub, a pond and an aromatic garden of herbs to attract frogs and insects as well as people.

 We are a Scottish Charity - SC 020979       Website Design and Production by Spindrift Crafts             Copyright Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary