The soil is fairly fertile, but the lack of running water meant that, unusually for Shetland, the islanders resorted to building a windmill to grind corn.
Geological features on the island include caves and natural arches.[6]
Olaf Sinclair, foud (a kind of magistrate) of all Shetland lived here in the 16th century.[7]
The island's ruined windmill is an unusual sight in the Shetland Islands, especially as some have pointed out, that the Dutch were amongst the archipelago's most frequent visitors.[8]
At the censuses of 1871 and 1881 South Havra had a population of 32 and 35, respectively.[9] The island has been uninhabited since 1923.[10] Previously the population was big enough to support a school.[3]
^ abAnderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN0-901824-25-9
^Munro, David; Gittings, Bruce (2006). Scotland: an encyclopedia of places & landscapes. Glasgow: Collins. p. 435. ISBN9780004724669.
^David Munro & Bruce Gittings, Scotland: An Encyclopedia of Places & Landscapes (Collins, 2006), p. 435.
