1 Watsness (The Haa)

The Haa at Watsness is a two-storey, three-bay former manse of the Shetland 'haa house' type, built between 1780 and 1833. It is located around 5 miles west of the village of Walls (Waas) on the west coast of Mainland Shetland. It has a large rectangular walled enclosure to the south, a detached outbuilding to the west, and to the northwest, a former stable with two adjoining outbuildings forming a U-plan. The buildings are constructed from locally sourced stone.

The front (south) elevation of the house has a pitched stone porch offset slightly to the right of centre. Windows in the flanking bays and three windows at first floor are symmetrical and set towards the centre of the building. The gables have moulded skews and coped chimney stacks. The west gable is blind. The north roof pitch is grey slate. The interior, seen in 2018, retains fully timber-lined walls and ceilings to most rooms. There is a central timber staircase with carved newels and handrail and an upper landing. Some timber fireplaces and timber shutters survive. A fixed timber ladder stair accesses a large single attic space which has thick rafters and collar beam ties.

The rectangular dry-stone walled enclosure to the south of the house is largely intact and has a timber gate to its north side.

The detached outbuilding to the west is complete to wallhead with a later corrugated cement roof. The former stable is gabled with a partial flagstone floor and a timber door to the east elevation. The walls have been raised slightly using cinder block and the roofing is also corrugated cement sheet. The two buildings adjoining the stable have been modified, probably around 1940, while retaining a significant proportion of their rubble walls. The southernmost outbuilding has a concrete rib and cement sheet roof, while the northernmost building has a round Nissen hut type corrugated roof and two sea-facing window openings.

Later 20th century alterations to the house include a pebble-dash render, a single-storey outshot with half-piended roof to the east gable and a flat-roof concrete porch to the north elevation. Timber sash and case windows have been replaced with side-hung casements with a non-traditional glazing pattern. The slate to the south roof pitch has been replaced with felt tile. There is also a raised concrete path with metal handrail.