HIKING SCOTLAND'S NORTHERN ISLANDS: ORKNEY AND SHETLAND MAY 9 - 21, 2022 - St. Olaf College
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HIKING SCOTLAND’S NORTHERN ISLANDS:
ORKNEY AND SHETLAND
MAY 9 - 21, 2022
A BRIEF GUIDE TO SITES VISITED
WEDNESDAY MAY 11 MAGNUS KIRK, MAINLAND
BROUGH OF GURNESS The present day church of St Magnus in the parish
Many brochs stood alone, of Birsay was built in 1664, enlarged in 1760 and
but sizeable villages often restored in 1867. It was not the first church on this site.
surrounded those in Excavations in 1982 showed the existence of an earlier,
Orkney. The broch village possibly twelfth century, church of some architectural
at Gurness is one of the sophistication. Scholars disagree whether this is the
most impressive. location of Christchurch where Magnus was burried or
Archaeological Christchurch was on the Brough of Birsay.
excavations in the early 20th century showed that the
village began between 500 BC and 200 BC. SKARA BRAE, MAINLAND
Deep ditches and ramparts defined a large area roughly Skara Brae was first
45m across. An entrance causeway was later added on uncovered in 1850 when a
the east side and a circular broch tower built in the west great storm stripped the
half. A settlement of small stone houses with yards and grass and sand from part
sheds grew up around the broch tower. of the village. An immense
The broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in midden was uncovered,
sometime after AD 100. The site was then a single along with the ruins of
farmstead until around the 8th century. ancient dwellings. The village of Skara Brae is around
It is thought that the body of St Magnus was landed 5000 years old and was inhabited for 600 years
here on its way from Egilsay to Birsay. between 3100BC and 2500BC, before the construction
of either Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids. The
BROUGH OF BIRSAY village comprised a small group of houses built of a
Brough of Birsay is a tidal island to be reached by double skin with refuse packed into the cavity for
causeway. There are Pictish, Norse and medieval insulation. Each house consisted of a single room
remains. Brooches, rings and dress pins found on the divided into separate parts and with a hearth at the
Brough of Birsay suggest that it was a Pictish power centre. To either side were stone beds, dressers and
centre. other furnishings: material goods which give us an
The Norse settled the island 200 years later, in the 9th unprecedented insight into life in Neolithic Orkney.
century, but may have lived peacefully alongside the
Picts. It’s still possible to make out the remnants of
Norse houses, barns and even a sauna. Later, a small
church and monastery were built on Birsay.THURSDAY MAY 12 in Scotland, testimony to the wealth and authority of
MIDHOWE BROCH, Orkney’s Norse rulers. The tower was originally at least
ROUSAY 4m taller than it is today, and comprised five floors.
The broch at Midhowe
is one of around eleven
brochs on Eynhallow FRIDAY MAY 13
Sound and occupies a ITALIAN CHAPEL, LAMB HOLM
commanding position on In October 1939 a
a coastal promontory. The remains of the broch tower, German submarine under
which was probably built towards the end of the first the command of Gunther
millennium BC, stand over 4m high. This central tower Prien entered Scapa Flow
is surrounded by a settlement of stone houses each and sank the British
with its own yard. When the site was excavated in the battleship HMS Royal Oak
1930s much was found to give an insight into life at with the loss of 834 lives.
this time: goods like pottery, stone and bone tools, and In March 1940 Winston Churchill approved the building
also evidence that metal artefacts were manufactured of ‘causeways’ to link the south isles to Mainland Orkney
from bronze and iron. Roman objects such as pottery and so closing off the eastern approaches. Work soon
suggested trade or contact outside the island. started and continued a-pace but a shortage of local
labour was causing delays so in early 1942 Italian
MIDHOWE CAIRN, ROUSAY POWs were shipped in to work on the huge building
This impressive stalled project. Following a request from the camp priest, it was
cairn dates to around agreed that two Nissen huts would be joined together to
3500BC and excavations provide a chapel on Lamb Holm. The huts were
in the 1930s discovered transformed into a beautiful chapel by Domenico
the remains of 25 Chiocchetti and his colleagues.
skeletons along with stone
and pottery goods and ORPHIR ROUND KIRK
animal bones. The chamber is 23m long and was During the early period of
divided into 12 compartments, many of which had stone Norse rule, the Mainland
shelves or benches. The entrance passage leading into parish of Orphir was a
the tomb was deliberately blocked in prehistory when centre of power. Today,
the tomb went out of use, and the chamber filled with the parish contains the
rubble. remains of Scotland’s only
Nothing of the original mound remains at Midhowe but surviving circular medieval
the site is protected by a hangar which afford good church. Built in the late 11th, or early 12th century, the
views of the tomb. Orphir Round Kirk is thought to have been built by Earl
Hakon. Dedicated to Saint Nicholas, its design was
ST MAGNUS CHURCH, EGILSAY inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Magnus was killed on the Jerusalem.
island of Egilsay in 1116. Nearby are the foundations of the Bu, the Earl’s drinking
Bishop William of Orkney hall.
recognised Magnus’
sanctity 20 years later and
made him a saint. St
Magnus Church was likely
built soon after that. The ruin today is, after St Magnus
Cathedral in Kirkwall, the finest surviving Norse churchSATURDAY MAY 14 STONES OF STENNESS, MAINLAND
THE OLD MAN OF HOY, ISLE OF HOY Sited only a few hundred
The Atlantic coast at metres from the Ring of
Rackwick on the island of Brodgar and the Ness of
Hoy is a spectacular Brodgar are the Standing
landscape and is the Stones of Stenness.
starting point for our walk. Radiocarbon dating
Rackwick itself has some indicates that work on this
fine longhouses and is the monument had started by 3100BC, around the time that
only example on Orkney of a deserted crofting township the ceremonial site at the Ness of Brodgar was under
with all the houses still in place. A track leads from the construction. Virtually no trace of the original henge
village up onto the cliffs towards the remarkable feature survives today and only a few stones are visible, but
of The Old Man of Hoy, a red sandstone pillar the height excavation has revealed that it was about 44m across
of St Paul’s Cathedral. The sea stack stands on a with a ditch 2m deep and 7m wide cut into the bedrock.
solidified flow of black volcanic lava which has Originally, foundations were dug for 12 huge standing
preserved it from erosion by the waves. The pillar stones, the tallest being over 6m high, and all having the
stands 137m high and is almost certainly a quite modern characteristic sharp angled tops. At the centre of the site
feature of the coast. Beyond the Old Man the cliffs rise lies a great stone hearth but the monument has suffered
to reach the summit of Britain’s highest vertical cliffs at so much since Neolithic times that it is impossible to
Brae Brough. accurately reconstruct what it would have looked like.
MAESHOWE, MAINLAND
SUNDAY MAY 15 Maeshowe was
RING OF BRODGAR, MAINLAND constructed on flat land
This is a classic henge near the south of the Loch
site which, along with the of Harray at a time when
Standing Stones of the Stones of Stenness
Stenness, dominates the were already standing a
narrow neck of land short distance away, and
separating the salt water the area was becoming the ceremonial heartland of
Loch of Stenness and the Neolithic Orkney, and this tomb would have been a
freshwater Loch of Harray. dominant feature of the landscape. It is a masterpiece of
The circle is 340ft/104m in diameter and originally Neolithic design and stonework construction, not least in
consisted of 60 monoliths round its circumference, its use of huge monolithic stones, and is considered to
of which 27 standing stones now remain. All of these be one of the supreme achievements of prehistoric
surviving uprights have a characteristically angled top. Europe.This prominent mound in the landscape
A deep, circular ditch 10ft/3m deep and 33ft/10m wide conceals a cleverly constructed chamber, built of local
was hewn from the bedrock to surround the Brodgar flagstone and aligned to the midwinter sunset.The tomb
circle. The site dates from around 3000BC and would is dated to around 2700BC and contains a long stone
appear to mark the central site of religious and social passage leading to an elaborate, stone lined central
ceremonies. chamber with side cells.It is clear from runic inscriptions
on the wall that the tomb was entered by the Norsemen
in the 12th century, and this may explain why the tomb
was found to be empty when it was opened in 1861.ST MAGNUS CATHEDRAL, KIRKWALL that its diameter (15m at the base and 12m at the top) is
In 1135, Earl Magnus slightly smaller than other brochs, and the base of the
Erlendsson of Orkney was wall is so thick that the interior is only 6m across.
canonised. About this Another reason is thought to be that the broch was
time, the revered remains abandoned while still intact so that there was no
of Magnus were taken necessity to use the broch tower as a quarry to build
from Christchurch, in lesser structures. It is still possible to climb the stairs to
Birsay, where they had the top of the tower, allowing a fuller appreciation of the
lain for 20 years, and moved east. construction of the whole.
Their destination was the unassuming little Church of
St Olaf, in a small seaside settlement Kirkjuvagr - or ST NINIAN’S ISLE AND CHAPEL
Kirkwall as it is known now. St Ninian’s Isle is
Some years later, the saint’s relics were moved again accessible virtually all the
- this time transferred into the massive, sandstone time across a natural
cathedral that had been raised in Magnus’s honour. causeway of sand – one
The cathedral has been justifiably described as “one of the finest sand
of the finest and best preserved medieval cathedrals in tombolos in Europe.
Scotland” and it is not difficult to see why. These tombolos, spits and
bars are characteristic of the inner coast and voes of
Shetland and are typical of submerging coastlines as
MONDAY MAY 16 numerous sea inlets are formed and rising sea levels
JARLSHOF rework sediments to produce stunning beaches, bars
At the end of the 19th and tombolos.
century, violent storms laid The chapel on St Ninian’s Isle was first excavated in the
bare the low cliffs at 1950s to reveal the remains of a medieval church built
Jarlshof near the southern in the 12th century and enlarged in the 13th century.
tip of Shetland, revealing The church had been built on the site of an earlier
an extraordinary chapel with accompanying graveyard and it was in this
settlement site covering earlier chapel that the famous Pictish treasure had been
4000 years of human history. Upon excavation the site buried: 28 silver objects and the jawbone of a porpoise
was found to be composed of an amazing sequence of buried around 800AD beneath a slab near the altar were
stone structures: late Neolithic houses, a Bronze Age discovered in 1958 by a schoolboy. The chapel which is
village, Iron Age broch and wheelhouses, 9th century visible is not the earliest chapel on the site.
Norse longhouses, a 13th century medieval farmstead The graveyard demonstrates Christian and pre-Christian
and a 16th century laird’s house as well as a fantastic burial and remained in use until the 19th century.
range of artefacts.
MOUSA BROCH TUESDAY MAY 17
The broch at Mousa STANYDALE TEMPLE
stands 13m high and is Stanydale ‘Temple’ is the
the most impressive and only truly megalithic
best preserved of all structure surviving from
Scotland’s brochs. The prehistoric Shetland. It
broch stands on a low comprises a wall of large
rocky headland on the boulders enclosing a wide
west side of the island of Mousa, opposite the mainland. oval area, which would
Perhaps one of the reasons it has survived so well is have originally been enclosed by a great timber roof.We don’t know what purpose Stanydale served. The THURSDAY MAY 19
archaeologist who excavated the site called it a ‘temple’, VIKING LONGHOUSES, UNST
as the structure is similar to known Neolithic temples in Unst is the most northerly
Malta. However, it could just as easily have acted as a island in Britain, in the
village hall, courtroom or chieftan’s hall. heart of the Viking
seaways, and it is rich in
BROCH OF CULSWICK Viking and Norse remains.
The remains of another broch. The Pictish Broch of The island has the highest
Culswick dates from the Iron Age and looks out on an concentration of rural
awe inspiring view over Gruting Voe and Vaila Sound. Viking site anywhere, including Scandinavia. The
excavation of 3 Viking/Norse settlements in Unst form
LERWICK the centre of the Unst Viking project at Hamar,
Founded as an unofficial Underhoull and Belmont.
marketplace to service In 2010 a replica longhouse was constructed at
17th century Dutch herring Haroldswick with the design based on excavation
fleets, Lerwick took a long results. Adjacent to this is ‘The Skidbladner’, a replica
time to grow. Because of longship copied from the 9th century Gokstad ship
its illegal status (and discovered in Norway. Using dating techniques, soil
alleged immorality!) the science and environmental analysis archaeologists are
straggling hamlet around the shore of Leir Wick (‘muddy able to build up a picture of Viking life in Unst
bay’) was demolished by order of the Scalloway court in
1615 and 1625. UNDERHOULL
Most of the sandstone buildings on the waterfront date The Vikings adapted their
from the 18th century, although a few are older. The building styles to materials
narrow main street still follows the old shoreline but and conditions in Shetland
modern harbour works have been built out in front of and this is evident at
shops and warehouses that once stood in the sea. Underhoull longhouse.
The Iron Age Underhoull
Broch with commanding
WEDNESDAY MAY 18 views to the bays below is surrounded by two massive
ESHANESS defensive banks up to 17m wide.
The Eshaness peninsula St Olaf’s Chapel, down by the beach is a roofless 12th
offers the best section century church, standing in its graveyard. It has a leper’s
through the flank of an window and an early Christian fish symbol carved on a
extinct volcano in Britain. lintel. To the south of the church are eight headstones
The subduction of oceanic in the form of rude stone crosses, thought to be Viking
crust beneath the early graves.
North America of which
Scotland and Shetland were then a part may well have HERMANESS
been the driving force behind both the Eshaness Hermaness is at the most
volcano. The volcano would have borne comparison northerly headland of
with Andean ones of today, being violently explosive in Unst. The magnificent
nature, unlike those of Hawaii, for example. Coastal cliffs are host to more than
erosion in the lavas has produced spectacular 100,000 breeding
landforms, geos, blowholes, stacks and arches and a seabirds. On a small rocky
storm beach. The walk also passes the ruins of a broch island north of Unst stands
and water mills on the burn that drains it. Muckle Flugga Lighthouse. Built between 1855-1857,under the direction of Thomas Stevenson, it took 100
men to build on the precarious 60m fin of rock. A
temporary light was operating from 1854 to protect Her
Majesty’s ships during the Crimean War navigating
through these perilous waters.
FRIDAY MAY 20
FETHALAND
Fethaland, at the northern
tip of Shetland’s mainland,
has a long history of
human settlement, from
pre-historic times right up
to the present. The fishing
station here was
established during the 15th and 16th centuries and was
once Shetland’s largest and busiest Haaf Station. It
became redundant in the 20th century.
At one time around 60 sixareens operated from the
Fethaland ‘haaf’ fishing station (haaf is from the Norse
word ‘hav’ meaning open sea).These were 6 oared craft,
originally imported from Norway, needing 360 men to
crew them. The season lasted from June until August
and workers were housed in drystone huts which remain
to this day. The roofs were made of wood and turf so
that they could be removed to avoid damage from winter
storms.
Fish landed were split open and dried on the beach
before export to market, and from the 17th century,
herring were also landed and salted here.
In Viking times, soapstone was worked on the east side
of Fethaland.You can also read
