Leaving Lanark on the Friday evening we travelled by minibus to Wick. The following morning we caught the Pentland Ferry from Gills Bay to the Orkney mainland. Over the next 2 days we had the opportunity to see some of the best archaeological sites in Scotland including; Maes Howe, Skara Brae, the Stones of Steness and the Ring of Brogar stone circle.
Skarra Brae was discovered 1850. The site contains 8 houses of a common design and would have been home to 40 to 50 people. Habitation began around 3100BC and continued for 600 years.
There are a number of tombs on the islands contemporary with Skarra Brae. Unstan chambered cairn was first excavated in 1884. It contained 30 broken bowls of what is now known as Unstan ware pottery. The Tomb of the Eagles, Isbister is slightly later, having been built before 3000BC, it was filled around 2500BC. Excavation found skulls and other human bones from 338 individuals, some of these skulls were deformed. Additionally many stone and flint tools were found and most significantly there were many claws of sea eagles, it is believed that this would be the sacred animal of this tribe.
The most spectacular tomb on the island is Maes Howe which was built before 2700 BC and is of a type unique to Orkney. The structure is100ft long and 24ft high. The entrance passages is aligned south west and is illuminated by the with mid-winter equinox. This can be seen live through a webcast. Any artefacts in Maes Howe were cleared by the Vikings, who probably used it as a shelter and filled it with earth when they left. There are 30 different Viking Runes around the chamber.
There are 2 major ceremonial sites in the vicinity of Maes Howe. The Stones of Stennes date to 2900BC, there were originally 12 stones. The stones comprising the Ring of Brogar are smaller, but more numerous. There were originally 60 stones in the ring and the whole structure was surrounded by a ditch originally 3m deep and 9m across.
We also visited later sites dating to the Bronze Age. At the Liddle Bronze Age House cooking was achieved by placing heated stones in water tanks. The burnt mound were the broken stones were discarded was clearly evident. At the Rennibister Earth House it was possible to explore the chambers that had one been sited beneath an earth round house. The chamber was used for storage and contained the bones of 6 adults and 12 children.
The islands came under Norse occupation from around 800AD and it was not until 1468 that Orkney became part of Kingdom of Scotland. The Broch of Birsay is a Pictish and settlement. There are a number of 9th-10th Century Norse long houses along with a Romanesque Church from the 12th Century.
Orphir Round Church is a further product of the Vikings. It is Scotland's only remaining Mediaeval round church and the round design is believed to be based on the Church of Holy Sepulchre. The most significant ecclesiastical build on the islands is St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. This was founded 1137 by Earl Rogvald-Kali, the nephew of Earl Magnus. Magnus was murdered 1116 and the remains of both Magnus and Rogvald are interned in the Choir. The construction of the cathedral took 300 years and it contains a well preserved Choir, which is unusual for a Protestant Church.
The Italian Chapel on Lambholm is the only relic of Camp 60, the home to Italian prisoners captured in North Africa and taken to build the Churchill barrier. It dates to 1943 when two Nissen huts were made available to Domenico Chiocchetti. The altarpiece in the chapel is based on the Madonna of the Olives by NicoloBarabina. There are for channels into Scapa Flow, which was the British Nay's main deep water anchorage. It was considered secure but in 1939 Lt Commander Prien navigated his U-boat into Holm sound at high tide and sank the Royal Oak with the lose of 800 hands. In order to secure the anchorage the four channel were blocked with 66,000 blocks of 5 and 10 tonnes. The total length od the barriers is 1.5 miles.
On a very foggy Monday morning we retraced our journey,
catching the noon ferry and after a photo opportunity at John O'Groats we
returned to Lanark by 10pm.
