While doing the North Coast 500 route we decided to take a side trip to Orkney Mainland. The couple days spent on the island were better than we expected. There is so much to see and do on the island – we really wish we would have planned more days to explore more of the mainland and some of the other nearby islands.
The number of historical sites on the island is amazing. There are standing stones and a fairly intact village all older than Stonehenge! We’re talking 5,000 years old! Crazy…
See our blog post – North Coast 500 – for details about our journey around Scotland’s north coast, as well as our journey to the NC500 route and our journey south back to London.
Ferry to Orkney Mainland
The night before taking the ferry to Orkney, we stayed near the ferry terminal so that we could take an early ferry to the mainland without having to get up too early. We booked the ferry from Gills Bay to St. Margaret Hope. We did look at the ferry options to Stromness, however the St. Margaret Hope ferry was quite a bit cheaper for two adults and a vehicle.
Orkney Mainland Sites
These are the places we visited on Orkney’s mainland:
- Barnhouse Settlement
- Bishop’s Palace and Earl’s Palace
- Broch of Gurness
- Churchill Barriers and Blockships
- Earl’s Palace – Birsay
- Fisherman’s Huts
- Italian Chapel
- Rendall Doocot
- Rerwick Head
- Ring of Brodger
- Skaill House
- Skara Brae Settlement
- St. Magnus Cathedral
- Standing Stones of Stenness
- Stromness Museum
- Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis
Barnhouse Settlement
Near the Standing Stones of Stenness is the Barnhouse Settlement. The settlement was first excavated in 1984 and is a small group of homes from thousands of years ago.
There isn’t as much left of this settlement, but you can still see a few low walls of the original 15 houses. Due to the settlements proximity of the Standing Stones of Stenness , it is thought that the houses could have belonged to the stonemasons who built and used the standing stones circle.
Bishop’s Palace and Earl’s Palace
While we were in Orkney the Bishop’s Palace and Earl’s Palace were closed to the public due to covid-19. Even though we couldn’t go inside we were able to wonder around the outside and peak in the windows.
Broch of Gurness
At the Broch of Gurness you can explore the grand broch surrounded by a small village settlement. The 65 feet diameter broch is around 2,000 years old. When you visit the sight you can explore the village and the broch, all along the coast of the mainland. The village is fantastic and you can get a real feel for the layouts of the houses.
Churchill Barriers and Blockships
The Churchill Barriers are four concrete causeways that blocked the eastern approaches to the naval anchorage of Scapa Flow. Most of the labour for the causeways was completed by the Italian prisoners of war (the same prisoners that built the Italian Chapel).
The causeways are now used to connect Orkney mainland with the isles of Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm, Burray, and South Ronaldsay.
As you drive over the causeways you can see the blockships sticking out of the water. The blockships were used prior to the causeways being built, however they proved inadequate when a German submarine entered the Scapa Flow undetected and sunk the HMS Royal Oak, killing 834 men.
The blockships sitting in the water is a great site to see as you drive over the causeways. It’s also a great place for wreck diving.
Earl’s Palace – Birsay
The Earl’s Palace in Birsay was built in the 16th century by Earl Robert Stewart, the half-borther of Mary, Queen of Scots. Unfortunately, with the overthrow of the Stewart earls in 1615 the palace was not used very long and by 1700 the roof was missing and the palace was left to ruin. Having been left for many years, there is still a lot of the palace remaining. The outer walls are still standing and many sections are still quite high. You can see the doorways between rooms and fireplaces within the rooms. It’s a great ruin to wander around and explore the areas of the palace.
Near the Earl’s Palace, you can continue further down the road to the parking lot for the Brough of Birsay, an uninhabited tidal island. You can walk to the island during low tide and will find Pictish and Norse settlements as well as a modern lighthouse.
Fisherman’s Huts
Along the cliffs edge you will find three stone huts used by fisherman to store boats and equipment. The huts are over 100 years old, but were restored in 1984. Near the huts is an old winch used to pull the boats in from the water. The huts are somewhat interesting, but the surrounding area is stunning with amazing rock cliffs. We walked further around the cliffs to a bed of rock slabs that were absolutely beautiful.
Italian Chapel
We loved the Italian Chapel and the story of the Italian prisoners of war that were on the island during World War II. The prisoners of Camp 60 wanted to build a place of worship and were given permission by authorities to use two huts. They somehow transformed these basic huts into a magical chapel using materials available from the camp.
The chapel has a beautiful exterior at the entrance. From the front you wouldn’t know that it’s the entrance to a fairly basic, ugly hut. And it’s even better inside the chapel where you’ll see hand-painted walls and ceilings by one of the prisoners, Domenico Chiocchetti. The paintings are amazing.
At the end of the war Chiocchetti and the other prisoners were promised that the chapel would remain and be looked after once they were gone. Amazingly, Chiocchetti returned to the chapel years after the war to share the chapel with his family.
What an amazing thing to come out of such a terrible time.
Rendall Doocot
The Rendall Doocot, or dovecote, is located in the parish of Rendall. After seeing my first dovecote in the medieval village of Dunster in Somerset (see 15 Day Itinerary in the West Country (UK) for more information), I was excited to see another one here on the island. The design of the dovecotes look like large beehives, but my favorite part is all of the nesting holes inside the structure. It’s quite beautiful.
This doocot was built in the mid 1600s and was used to house pigeons. The pigeons can enter the doocot through the hole in the roof of the building and use the small holes inside for nesting.
At the Rendall Doocot you are able to open the door and take a peek inside. Be prepared for the birds to hurry off – luckily they exit through the top hole and not the door! Inside there is tons of bird poo covering the floor of the building, but if you can look past that you can climb into the door and take a look inside. It’s quite nice to see an old doocot still being used as designed.
Rerwick Head
Not only does Orkney have really, really, really old stuff to look at, it also has a fascinating war history. The Royal Navy was stationed on the islands during both World Wars.
At Rerwick Head there was a gun battery camp and a number of other buildings, including a lookout, that can still be seen today. The camp buildings are in the middle of a field along the water’s edge. You can park your car near the gate, walk across the fields, and explore the buildings. Not all of the buildings are open for exploring inside, some are in really bad shape, but others you can walk in and have a look around.
Amongst the buildings you will see the lookout posts and ammunition bunkers. In two of the bunkers you can see the compass markings on the floor used by the crews. There’s quite a few buildings to walk through, with great views over the water.
Ring of Brodger
Not far from the Standing Stones of Stenness is the Ring of Brodger. This is another stone circle, however there are 36 out of 60 stones remaining in this circle. The stones are quite large, however you can’t get as close to these stones (to really get a feel of the height) as you can at the Standing Stones of Stenness.
Skaill House
Skaill House is next to Skara Brae so it’s a good (and convenient) idea to do them together. Skaill House was owned by the 7th Laird William Graham Watt who discovered and did the original excavation of the Skara Brae settlement. The family doesn’t live in the house anymore (they do live locally though) and have opened the doors to visitors.
At the house they do have a falconry display/show, but unfortunately it was already closed by the time we arrived.
Skara Brae Settlement
The Skara Brae Settlement is over 5,000 years old! It is one of Europe’s most complete Neolithic villages. And, the best bit, was that it was found by chance after a storm in the 1850s.
Before you view the settlement along the Bay of Skaill, you walk through a museum with information based on archaeological findings. You get to see some old artefacts that were found on the site and learn a bit more about the people that lived here. The information within the museum is well done – there are two types of information provided, details that they know and details that they cannot fully confirm.
It’s incredible as to how the settlement was found – there was a bad storm in the 1850s and the local landowner was exploring the area to determine any damage caused by the storm. The storm had uncovered some of the settlement foundations, so the land owner dug a bit further and an entire settlement was found! How crazy is that? Just think of all the unfound things still out there…
After the museum, you are directed outside, where there is a replica of one of the houses from the discovered settlement. Unfortunately while we were there the replica was closed (due to covid) so we were unable to view it. We instead headed straight towards the cliff edge to see the actual settlement.
The houses discovered are amazing. The items within each house gives you a real picture of how this ancient civilization possibly lived.
Around the settlement there were two guides available for questions. We started talking to them and they were full of useful information about the settlement. They are both archaeologists themselves, or at least studying to be, so they have a real passion for learning and sharing as much information about the settlement as possible. We happened to be the only ones there at the time so they chatted to us for a long time, sharing their views on how the inhabitants lived in the settlement, as well as some of the other amazing finds throughout the island.
We ended up walking around the settlement a couple of times, taking everything in. We did ask about the setup of the houses and we were told that what we see is very similar to how they were found. You can easily see the bed frames, a shelving unit, and the hearth (right in the heart of the house). Each house was laid out very similarly to each other.
St. Magnus Cathedral
This large, red stoned cathedral can be seen as you approach the town of Kirkwell. The exterior is lovely, using light colored stones to create a great design around the cathedral. The cathedral is only open on certain days at the moment and unfortunately we were not there on one of the days. We could only view the cathedral from the outside.
Standing Stones of Stenness
The Standing Stones of Stenness may be the earliest henge monument in Britian – over 5,000 years old! There are only four stones still standing in what would have been a 12 stone circle. Three of the standing stones are huge – they are extremely tall, but not very thick. The fourth stone is quite a bit smaller (especially compared to the others).
Stromness Museum
We thought it would be a good idea to get some history about the island, so the museum was the first thing we did when we arrived. The museum was much better than expected. There are several different sections within the museum and the displays are well laid out and full of information.
Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis
As an added bonus, while we were on Orkney island, we got to see the Northern Lights. There are several apps and/or websites, and Facebook groups (including the Orkney Aurora Group) that you can use to determine if the aurora will be visible where you are. I had an app installed and as we were sitting in our hotel room I got a notification that the aurora was likely to be visible. So at about midnight Ben and I headed out to the Standing Stones of Stenness to see if we could see anything.
We got extremely lucky – the aurora was actually visible by eye (and not just a camera). It wasn’t overly bright by eye but there was a definite green glow in the sky. We got some great photos with the standing stones in the foreground and the green glow in the background.
Conclusion
We absolutely loved Orkney and it was probably one of our favorite places from our entire trip. There is so much to see around the mainland that you would need several days available, plus some additional time to visit the other islands (also with several sites). Orkney is definitely on the list to visit again.