Unearth Orkney's unique history, wildlife, islands, activities and culture by taking time to browse our Orkney blogs.
St Nicholas’ Round Church, also known as the Round Kirk of Orphir, was built by Earl Hakon Paulson on his return from Jerusalem in about 1122 AD, next to his drinking hall at the Bu in Orphir. The apse is all that now remains of the only surviving round church from this time in Scotland….
The Ring of Brodgar is located on a small isthmus between the Lochs of Stenness and Harray and is a circle of 27 standing stones (which originally comprised of 60 stones). These stones are not as tall as the nearby Standing Stones of Stenness (varying in height from 2.1 metres to a maximum of 4.7 metres)…
HMS Royal Oak was a Revenge-class battleship of the British Royal Navy built in 1914 and a veteran of the First World War. The Royal Oak had extra armour and guns, which made her one ofthe best equipped of the Revenge class, but the additional weight caused her to sit lower in the water, lowering…
Scapa Flow, which in Old Norse means ‘bay of the long isthmus’ is a large – 312 square kilometres (120 sq mi) – natural harbour sheltered by the Orkney Mainland, and the islands of Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy.Most of it is shallow, about 30 metres (98 ft) deep, and it is large enough…
In the winter of 1850, a severe windstorm hit Britain, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. On the west coast of Orkney, at the Bay of Skaill, the waves and wind stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, known in Scottish as a ‘howe’, revealing an intact village, albeit without roofs. The howe…
The Standing Stones of Stenness is a Neolithic monument built between 5,400 and 4,500 years ago on the mainland of Orkney. They stand before a stream between the seawater Loch of Stenness and the freshwater Loch of Harray. The stream is now bridged, but at one time was crossed by a stepping stone causeway. Across the…
St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall and is a central part of Orcadian life. It occupies the centre of Kirkwall – the street opposite – Broad Street – is Kirkwall’s main shopping street and the location where the Ba is first thrown in the air on Christmas and New Year’s Day. The cathedral…
The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age settlement which began sometime between 500 and 200BC. The centre of the settlement features a broch; which is a massive circular tower with thick walls. This was likely 10 metres tall at one point and had an internal diameter of 20 metres. The interior of the broch…
Westray, the ‘Queen O The Isles’ and it’s neighbour, Papa Westray, though remote are both extremely rewarding islands to visit, because of the wealth of sites to visit. Westray is an island rich with farmland, and has beautiful beaches and seabird cliffs to the North. One boat goes out in a stormAnd the seaBrims it…
