Above the winding shoreline track which became Commercial Street, development was tightly packed into a patchwork of narrow lanes. In the 19th century, new docks to accommodate the fishing fleet were created to the north of the town. At Freefield, Hay's dock was the centre of Shetland's fishing industry and the largest ship built in Lerwick, the barque `North Briton', took to the water here in 1836.
By the late 19th century, the more prosperous citizens were moving from the old part of town to flatter land west of the Hillhead and continued to expand to become a thriving and welcoming place of around 7,600 people serving all the 23,000 inhabitants of Shetland.
There's a wide range of accommodation, a choice of good places to eat, pubs and clubs to suit most tastes and some of the most advanced indoor leisure facilities in Britain. Lerwick is also an excellent place to sample Shetland's internationally celebrated musical heritage. The islands are best known for their fiddle music, but there's a wealth of talent embracing a wide range of styles.
