Not only is Windhouse Shetland’s most haunted house, but it has also been suggested that this is the most haunted house in the UK.
Windhouse is in the island of Yell, Shetland’s largest trio of North Isles, and just a short ferry ride from the Mainland. The ruined house sits on the crest of the hill on the approach into Mid Yell. Its foreboding silhouette, dominating the skyline.
Windhouse, commanding views in all directions, is the site of an ancient settlement. The house itself has its foundations in an Iron Age broch, and recent excavations have revealed a burial site within the gardens of the house. Steeped in mystery and legend, Windhouse attracts both historian and ghost-hunter, keen to unpick the magic of this iconic house.
The list of ghosts alone is impressive – if not a little spine-tinglingly scary. In no particular order, there is the: Lady in Silk – thought to be the skeleton of a woman with a broken neck discovered under the floorboards at the foot of the staircase. A tall, cloaked man who passes through the wall in the kitchen. A child – a baby’s skeleton was found in the walls during alterations at one stage. A black dog who prowls the bedrooms – although the first floor and roof have now fallen in, so there is no telling where the dog may now roam. There’s the taxman – obviously – and finally, a pedlar who was found under flagstones at the door. I’m sure this list is not exhaustive, but it does make for bone-chilling reading.
Another famous story, which will make the blood run cold says that nobody can survive a night in Windhouse on 24th December. It continues that, on one 24th December, a shipwrecked mariner turned up at Windhouse, and upon arrival found the inhabitants leaving. They explained that nobody could survive this night, “no mortal was ever found alive who attempted to sleep in it on this particular night but was slain by some unknown being.” The mariner decided to stay, and in the night came to blows with a “thing” from the sea that he plunged an axe into, killing. He buried it in an enclosure nearby, and it is believed to be there still…
Whatever the truth, this once-majestic building with the armorial crest of the Neven family above the door, was once a grand home – and whatever the truth, it’s an eerie and thought-provoking place to pass.