The pre reformation Tankerness House in Kirkwall is now home to the Orkney Museum, but has a wealth of history of it's own. Opposite St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall is Orkney's finest town house, … [Read more...]
Malcolm Laing – Historian
May 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Malcolm Laing was a Scottish lawyer and historian born in Orkney to Robert Laing and Barbara Blaw in 1762. A blue heritage plaque marks the now seemingly insignificant site in Kirkwall. Born at his … [Read more...]
St. Magnus Cathedral
November 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A large part of the imposing and magnificent St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall has stood for over 850 years. In 1137, work started on this church built of red and yellow sandstone, to house the … [Read more...]
Stromness Parish church Barometer
May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Housed within a concrete and glass frame outside a church in Orkney, is a public barometer. Standing around 1m high and kept under lock and key the scientific equipment is an unusual sight to see … [Read more...]
Groatie Hoose, Kirkwall
May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Within the high walls at the rear of Tankerness House, the home of the Orkney Museum, is the unusual building called the Groatie Hoose. Set as a focal point to the well manicured lawns and tended … [Read more...]
Earl’s Palace, Birsay
April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The ruins of the Earl's Palace in Birsay, are a mere shadow of a grand reformation residence that once stood oppressively over the local Orcadians. Around 1565, Robert Stewart, the illegitimate son … [Read more...]
Rendall Doocot
October 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The Rendall Doocot (dovecote) was built in 1648 on the Hall of Rendall estate to house pigeons. Doocot is the Orkney word for Dovecote and the Rendall Doocot in Evie, is built in the Beehive … [Read more...]
The Ridgeland, Kirkwall
A heritage plaque on a fairly insignificant building on a Kirkwall street indicates the site of a 17th century Town Hall and Prison. On the corner of Albert Street and The Strynd, … [Read more...]