Photos and the City

Author: Ursula Schmitz

Broch of Deerness

It was a sunny day, perfect for a little walk to the Broch of Deerness, or better said, another day, another broch.

It is a lovely walk along the coastline of the Deerness Peninsula right in the East of the Eastern side of Mainland Orkney.

Starting at “The Gloup” – a collapsed sea cave – the walk

winds its way along the craggy coastline, offering beautiful views out over the North Sea, the island of Copinsay. (Orkney.com)

First view of the Broch – can you spot it? Today it lies on the top of a large rock stack standing detached from the nearby cliffs, with only low remnants of the narrow neck of land that once connected it to the cliffs.

There is a (very) narrow path leading down the cliffs and then up the rock to the broch, but it was closed due to landslides.

So what exactly is the Brough of Deerness? That’s a very good question that no one has yet fully answered. Some feel it started life as an iron age clifftop fortification. Some feel the focus was as a pre-Norse Christian settlement and point as evidence to a number of circular features found in the 1930s: (Undiscovered Scotland)

Excavations in the 1970s unearthed the structure we can see today, the ruins of a chapel dating back to the pre-Norse period.

It was re-established on the same site in the Viking era, in the years around 1100, and continued in use until the 1500s and still later as a place of pilgrimage. (Undiscovered Scotland)

The Brough of Deerness is a well-preserved Viking Age settlement set atop a c. 30 m high sea stack in Orkney’s east Mainland, Scotland. The summit of the stack is crowned by the ruins of a c. tenth- to twelfth-century chapel and the earthworks of approximately 30 associated buildings. (Department of Archeology)

I continued my walk along the coastline for a bit before cutting back towards the start of the walk.

03/05/2022
Evie

My first stay in Orkney was at a lovely croft near Evie, with this stunning view of Roosay. My home was the former cattle stable and was very cosy and neat. I enjoyed visits from the cats of the croft and from the poultry or better said the very curious chickens.

On my second day in Orkney, I went to a peninsula in the east of Orkney, Durness. On the way I stopped at a beach, I can´t remember which one it was, but it was stunning!

My cute little home in Evie and one of the curious but very friendly chickens.

26/04/2022
Kirkwall

After exploring the Broch of Gurness I made my way to Kirkwall, the largest town in Orkney. It was just a short drive along the coastline.

Officially a Royal Burgh since 1486, Kirkwall’s name comes from the Norse ‘Kirkjuvagr’, meaning ‘Church on the bay’, and a Viking spirit still runs through the town, focused on the magnificent St Magnus Cathedral. (Orkney.com)

Kirkwall has a lovely town centre filled with independent shops and cafés. Stroll around the harbour and take a peek into Orkney Museum, where some of the finds from the Broch of Gurness are exhibited.

The Bishop´s Palace and Earl´s Palace

The ruins of two remarkable buildings are site by site next to St. Magnus Cathedral.

The medieval Bishop’s Palace was built around the same time as St Magnus Cathedral, in the early 1100s. The builder may well have been Bishop William the Old, crusader and friend of Earl Rognvald, St Magnus’s nephew and patron of the new cathedral. (Orkney.com)

Earl´s Palace

Bishop´s Palace

The ground floor of the quite simple two-storey hall house is quite intact and offers an interesting view of former times.

St. Magnus Cathedral in the back.

Across the road is Earl´s Palace built in 1603 by Patrick, Earl of Orkney – one of Orkney’s most notorious rulers.

His Renaissance palace was built to impress and featured a first-floor hall with elaborate staircase, inner, outer and guest chambers and accommodation for staff. Huge fireplaces dominated the main hall. The Earl’s Palace incorporated the Bishop’s Palace into a larger complex in the heart of this old Viking town. (Orkney.com)

St. Magnus cathedral

St. Magnus Cathedral, the light of the north, dominates Kirkwall’s skyline, it is one of the most iconic buildings in Orkney.

This stunning Romanesque cathedral, made from striking red and yellow sandstone, was founded in 1137 and took around 300 years to complete. It was dedicated to Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney. (Orkney.com)

Magnus’s bones are held at the Cathedral, the only church in the country known to hold the bones of its original saint. And the only complete Medieval cathedral in Scotland.

21/04/2022