Law Ting Holm
The small promontory at the north end of the loch of Tingwall, the "Ting Holm", was the site of Shetland's local parliament until the late sixteenth century. Shetland's "Lawthing" was an assembly where local people and officials tried offenders, interpreted the law, and enacted new legislation.
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Law Ting Holm
Although there are documents concerning meetings of the lawthing at Tingwall from 1307 onwards, the only record we have of a meeting taking place on
the holm itself dates from 1532. It is likely that the officials sat at a roughly constructed stone table on the holm, and delegates on the slope
underneath the church. The holm must have been a draughty place for a parliament - it is likely that in harsh weather the delegates met in the church.
At the end of the sixteenth century the lawthing site was abandoned, and in 1602 we find Shetland's head court meeting at Earl Patrick's new castle in Scalloway. After Patrick's time there were no more lawthings, and in the 1700s local landowners tore up the stones on the holm so that it could be used to pasture sheep.
Find out more about the archaeology of the Law Ting Holm at:
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