Gungstie Farmhouse And Steading With Pony Pund, Isle Of Noss

This is a farm complex dating to around 1870, situated on the Isle of Noss. It includes a pony pund (enclosure), a farmhouse, and a beehive kiln. The square pony pund has raised wallheads at the corners, and a near continuous lean-to shelter with a heavy Bressay stone slated roof and flagstone flooring. There are stone walls forming breeding enclosures in the centre of the pund, with drystone walls enclosing the adjoining fields. A beehive grain-drying kiln stands to the north.

The farmhouse is a single-storey, three-bay building with a single-bay extension to the west. It features harl-pointed rubble walls and stacks. The original part of the house has a doorway with a blind panel above the centre, a window to the right, and windows in the west extension. There are two windows in the east gablehead, and a doorway and window in the west gable. Timber sash and case windows are fitted, and the roof is covered with purple-grey slate; one ridge stack and two corniced gablehead stacks are present.

This complex represents the location of the first pony stud in Shetland, established in the early 1870s by the 5th Marquis of Londonderry to supply pit ponies to his coal mines in County Durham. The Londonderry ponies were highly regarded for their strength and short stature. The steading is comparable to those at Swinister and Garth (Delting), and Kirkabister (Yell). Restoration work was carried out on the pony pund and kiln in 1986.