Description

Circa 1900. 2-storey and attic, 6-bay asymmetrical timber hotel of H-plan. Clapboard clad timber framed walls on concrete foundations.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: asymmetrical; 2-bay centre; timber entrance porch with panelled and glazed 2-leaf doors in canted bay to left, multi-pane windows at right under canted timber canopy with cast-iron and timber balustrade. 1st floor; window in bay to left, bipartite in bay to right. Flanking 2-bay gables; bipartite windows in regularly fenestrated left gable; piend-roofed canted timber bay centring right gable, bipartite window centred above, with windows flanking.

W ELEVATION: asymmetrical, 3 bays (grouped 2-1); bipartite windows at ground and 1st floors in bay to outer left, regular fenestration in centre bay offset to left, 2-storey, 4-light canted timber window in bay to outer right.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: asymmetrical, with 2-bay gables advanced at outer right and left. Left gable; single window at 1st floor in bay to right. Right gable; lean-to addition at ground, single window at 1st floor in bay to left, brick stack at gable centre. Irregularly fenestrated centre bays with stair window.

E ELEVATION: mostly obscured by modern alterations; single storey gabled wing projecting to E with variety of modern openings.

4-pane timber sash and case windows. Purple-grey slate roof with red ridge tiles; overhanging timber eaves with decorative timber barge boards to gables. Piend-roofed canted timber dormers with 4-pane timber sash and case windows and plate glass sidelights over centre bays of S elevation and each bay of side elevations. Yellow brick stacks with concrete copes and tapering red cans.

INTERIOR: varnished vertically-boarded pine lining with matching cornices and architraves to walls and ceilings of hall, dining room and some bedrooms. Matching staircase with turned spindles and ball- finialled newels.

Statement of Interest

Hillswick was the terminus for the West Side steamer, and being close to splendid scenery, became a destination for tourists. The hotel was erected for cruise passengers by the North of Scotland, Orkney & Shetland Steam Navigation Co Ltd. The hotel was imported from Norway in kit form. Despite being (effectively) Scandinavian architecture, the hotel has a style now widely recognised as typically Scots due to the popularity of this style in Highland resorts of the 19th century - a style almost unseen elsewhere in Shetland - making this a particularly interesting building in many respects.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56623682

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings