Photos and the City

Tag: Orkney

Saint Margaret’s Hope

After spending some time in the Ring of Brodgar, I continued along the road further down south, crossing the Churchill barriers until I arrived at Saint Margaret’s Hope on the island of South Ronaldsay.

St. Margarets Hope is the third largest settlement in Orkney and it is a lovely little town down in the south.

Having the sea as your back garden – walking around the picturesque streets of St Margarets´s Hope.

It was probably named after Malcolm III’s wife, who became St Margaret after her death in 1093. (Undiscovered Scotland)

There is also a little chapel dedicated to St. Margaret. But it might also be a different Margaret who named the town. In 1290 Margaret, Maid of Norway sailed from Norway to England to marry Edward, the son of Edward I of England but her boat got off course and landed in St Margaret´s Hope in Orkney, where the eight-year-old Margaret died from the effects of sea sickness.

Churchill barriers

The Churchill Barriers are 4 causeways with more than 2km. They link the Orkney Mainland in the north to the island of South Ronaldsay via Burray^[2] and the two smaller islands of Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. Built between 1940 and 1944 as naval defences to protect the anchorage at Scapa Flow, but also became links between the islands in 1945.

It was the sinking of HMS Royal Oak more than 80 years ago that set in motion plans to build these four concrete causeways. A German U-boat crawled into Scapa Flow in October 1939 and fired torpedoes at the slumbering battleship, resulting in the loss of 834 lives. (Orkney.com)

Besides the barriers, one can still see the wrecks of blockships previously used to block the channels into Scapa Flow en route. And there are stunning beaches filled with Orkney pepples.

17/05/2022
Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar is one of the biggest stone circles in the UK – it is only one of two in the Ness of Brodgar, the heart of the Neolithic Orkney.

The 27 remaining stones have a height between 2 metres to almost 5 metres and form a circle with a diameter of 103.6m. Once there probably stood 60 stones in this circle.

The Ring of Brodgar was surrounded by a ditch that used to be a few metres deep and accessible via two causeways and probably dates from between 3000BC and 2500BC.

The Ness of Brodgar was a meeting and a ceremonial place – surrounded by hills this land between the two lochs feels like a natural amphitheatre.

The Ring of Brodgar may have been involved in ceremonies celebrating the relationship between living and past communities. It’s also been suggested that the sites in the surrounding area were used for observations of the moon from the Ring of Brodgar,
(Historic Environment Scotland)

The Ring of Brodgar is right in the Heart of the Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. Besides the Ring, the site also includes Maeshow, Skara Brae and the Ring of Stenness and the adjacent standing stones. The Ring of Brodgar is the youngest built and was built about 500 years later than the other ones.

The stones came from seven different quarries in Orkney and it is believed they were transported on a bed of algae.

It is a beautiful walk around the area, there are also 13 burial mounds. And as there is so much more to see at the Ness of Brodgar I came back a few days later.

12/05/2022
Skaill House

It was the owner of Skaill House, William Watt, the Laird of Breckness, who discovered Skara Brae in 1850 after a big storm. Watt was an ambitious hobby archaeologist and started the excavation of the Neolithic settlement. He unearthed four of the buildings.

After visiting Skara Brae I also did a walk around Skaill House, right next to the settlement. Skaill House is a stunning 17th-century mansion in Orkney with beautiful views all around.

Overlooking the spectacular Bay of Skaill, the house was originally built in 1620 by Bishop Graham and has been added to by successive Lairds over the centuries. (Orkney.com)

The house was opened to the public in 1997 after a careful restoration and resembles the family home from the 1950is.

Captain Cook’s dinner service, Neolithic and Iron Age finds, Stanley Cursiter paintings, the Bishop’s original bed, and many other items of interest collected by the twelve Lairds of Skaill can be seen around the house. (Orkney.com)

Entry to Skaill House is included with the entry to Skara Brae, or if you´re a member of Historic Environment of Scotland the entrance is free, but I would recommend booking a slot for your visit.

10/05/2022