Brei Holm

A small uninhabited drying island lying immediately off the west coast of the island of Papa Stour in Shetland, Brei Holm is located just to the south of the entrance to Housa Voe. The island is surrounded by cliffs and is cut through by natural tunnels and sea-caves. There was a Leper Colony until the middle of the 18th century and the foundations of buildings known as the 'Leper Houses' remain. It is now thought that the individuals who were confined here were actually suffering from a vitamin deficiency and not leprosy.


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