It is low-lying and, with a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone overlain by boulder clay, fertile, causing most of the area to be used for farming.

Haswell-Smith suggests the root may be hjalpandis-øy (helpful island) owing to the presence of a good harbour, although anchorages are plentiful in the archipelago.

[5] Blaeu's 1654 Atlas Novus includes a map of the island and names it Siapansa Oy, but the descriptive text lists it as Shapinsa.

According to Tacitus, the Roman general Agricola subdued the inhabitants of the Orkney Islands, and a local legend holds that he landed on Shapinsay.

Arthur Buchanan’s granddaughter married James Fea, who supported the Jacobite rising of 1715; his house was burned by Hanoverian troops in revenge.

More than 3,048 tonnes (3,000 long tons) of burned seaweed were produced per annum to make soda ash, bringing in £20,000 for the inhabitants.

[6] Tenants were required to enclose and drain the land or pay for the estate to do it in the form of a surcharge added to their rents.

Various church elders complained about what they considered to be immoral behaviour at a social event (men were allowed to dance with women) so Balfour had them evicted from the island.

[29][30] Other buildings he added to the island include the porter's lodge (now a public house called The Gatehouse), a water mill, a school, and a gasworks that remained operational until the 1920s.

[10] The gasworks is in the form of a round tower with a corbelled parapet of red brick and carved stones—including one possibly removed from Noltland Castle on Westray, which is inscribed with the year 1725.

With the end of the Napoleonic Wars, which led to cheaper sources of soda ash becoming available from continental Europe, the kelp industry collapsed by 1830.

In 1917, during the First World War, the 836-tonne (823-long-ton) Swiftsure was hit by a mine 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Haco's Ness and sank in 19 metres (62 ft) of water with the loss of a single life.

A twin six pounder emplacement at Galtness Battery on the coast at Salt Ness protected the Wide Firth from German torpedo boats.

[Note 3] The trend towards more intensive farming began to be partially reversed by the end of the century as more environmentally friendly practices were encouraged by government and European Union grants.

Some of the land is managed under a Habitat Creation Scheme, which aims to encourage natural vegetation, wild flowers and nesting birds by limiting grazing and reducing the use of chemical fertilisers.

[40] The shorter ferry crossing times enabled Shapinsay residents to work in Kirkwall, making it a "commuter isle".

[42][6] The island has several ayres, or storm beaches, which form narrow spits of shingle or sand cutting across the landward and seaward ends of shallow bays.

Helliar Holm is a tidal islet at the eastern entrance to the main harbour at Balfour; it has a small lighthouse and a ruined broch.

The freshwater Lake Orcadie existed on the edges of these eroding mountains, stretching from Shetland to the southern Moray Firth.

[10][47][48] The island's bird life is rich in waders such as curlew and redshank, found at The Ouse and Veantro Bay, and gull and tern colonies on the rockier shores and cliffs.

Pintail, shovelers and whooper swans are regular summer visitors, and there are breeding populations of shelducks, hen harriers and Arctic skuas.

The two largest are on the grounds of Balfour Castle and the southwest shore of Loch of Westhill 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) to the north.

A local landmark due to its high visibility when approaching the island by sea, the building is now in a serious state of disrepair, the roof having collapsed.

[56] In common with the other Orkney islands, Shapinsay is fertile agricultural land, with farms specialising in beef and lamb which export thousands of cattle and sheep annually.

[69] In 2022–23 Shapinsay Renewables Ltd., which operates the wind turbine, made a gift aid payment of just under £134,000 to the development trust.

[74] Balfour Castle was run as a hotel by the family of Captain Tadeusz Zawadzki, a Polish cavalry officer, but is now in use as a private house.

[77][41] Between 1893 and 1964, the island was served by the steamer Iona which was originally owned by John Reid and purchased by William Dennison in 1914.

After 1964, the converted trawler Klydon [78] and then the Clytus, an ex Clyde pilot vessel operated by the government-owned Orkney Islands Shipping Company[79] ran on this service.

[87] In December 2006, the pupils staged a joint Christmas show with a school in Grinder, Norway, 875 kilometres (544 mi) from Shapinsay.

Cubbie Roo's Lade is a pile of stones on the shore near Rothiesholm Head, the westmost point of Stronsay.