Brei Holm
Encyclopedia
Brei Holm is a tiny tidal islet
in the western Shetland Islands
. It is due east of Papa Stour
, to which it is connected at low tide, just outside Housa Voe. It is about a mile off Mainland, Shetland, and not far from the Maiden Stack
.
It was a leper colony
until the 18th century, but it has been suggested that many of the "lepers" there were suffering from a vitamin deficiency and not from leprosy
at all.
Tidal island
A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands many of them have been sites of religious worship, such as Mont Saint Michel with its...
in the western Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
. It is due east of Papa Stour
Papa Stour
Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of under twenty people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares , Papa Stour is the eighth largest island in Shetland...
, to which it is connected at low tide, just outside Housa Voe. It is about a mile off Mainland, Shetland, and not far from the Maiden Stack
Maiden Stack
The Maiden Stack or Frau Stack is a tiny stack in the western Shetland Islands to the north of Brei Holm and east of Housa Voe in Papa Stour....
.
It was a leper colony
Leper colony
A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...
until the 18th century, but it has been suggested that many of the "lepers" there were suffering from a vitamin deficiency and not from leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
at all.