LUC has completed a landscape management and maintenance plan (LMP) for Halligarth House on Unst, the northernmost island of Shetland.

Located on a small, remote site of around 2.5 hectares, Halligarth House is the most northerly planned historic landscape in the UK.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) commissioned LUC to produce an LMP for its vision and masterplan for the site.

This comprises “a predominantly self-led visitor experience, which interprets the natural and cultural heritage of Unst, and Halligarth’s former inhabitants”.

The LMP aims to equip the NTS with an understanding of:

• The existing natural and cultural heritage of Halligarth;
• The specific needs and challenges of Halligarth’s designed landscape;
• The works required to bring the designed landscape into a condition which supports the self-led visitor experience; and
• The ongoing management requirements and indicative costs of maintaining the designed landscape.

As a site of national heritage, Halligarth House has played a significant role in Unst’s unique natural and cultural history.

Botanists, doctors, conservationists and authors have used the house as a residence since it was established in 1832.

It also has important nature conservation value, with the woodland and scrub providing shelter for many migratory birds.

LUC’s work on the project continues the passion brought to our company by its founder, Max Nicholson – himself an eminent naturalist. Born in 1902, Nicholson was a pioneer in the fields of environmentalism and ornithology, and was a founder of the World Wildlife Fund.

Learn more about Landscape Planning & Assessment at LUC.