County in Scotland
Orkney
Orkney has a 5,000-year-old village older than the pyramids, a Viking cathedral built from red sandstone, and more Neolithic wonders per square mile than almost anywhere in Europe.
Key information
- County
- Orkney
- Nation
- Scotland
- Population
- about 22,000, 2022 estimate
- Area
- around 70 islands, roughly 20 of them inhabited
- Known for
- Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, Scapa Flow, St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney fudge and Ba' games
- What locals are called
- Orcadians
- Famous people
- George Mackay Brown, Edwin Muir, John Rae, Stanley Cursiter
About Orkney
A village older than the pyramids
Start with Skara Brae, on the Bay of Skaill on the Mainland, the biggest island. Its stone houses were lived in from around 3180 BC, which makes them older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza. The houses have stone beds, stone dressers and even drains. They survived because they were buried in sand until a fierce storm in 1850 stripped away the turf and revealed them. Skara Brae is one part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, a World Heritage Site. It also includes Maeshowe, a chambered tomb aligned so that the setting midwinter sun shines down its passage. Vikings broke in during the 12th century and left runic graffiti on the walls, including boasts about treasure and a carving of a walrus-like beast. Nearby are the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar, a vast stone circle about 104 metres across. The Ness of Brodgar, a huge temple complex, was excavated between 2003 and 2024.
When Orkney belonged to Norway
Orkney was Norse for centuries. Vikings settled in the 9th century, and the islands were ruled by powerful earls who held them under the Norwegian crown. Their story is told in the Orkneyinga Saga. The most famous earl is Magnus Erlendsson, killed around 1117 on the island of Egilsay. He was later hailed as a saint. His nephew Rognvald founded St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall in 1137 in his memory, and its red and yellow sandstone still dominates the town. Orkney only passed to the Scottish crown in 1468-69, when it was pledged as part of the dowry of Margaret of Denmark, who was to marry James III. The money was never paid, and the pledge became permanent. The Norse legacy remains in place names ending in -ay (island) and -wall, and in dialect words that sound more Scandinavian than Scots.
The sea fortress of Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow is a vast sheltered anchorage. It was the main base of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet during the First World War and of its Home Fleet during the Second World War. The Grand Fleet was disbanded in 1919. Seventy German ships of the High Seas Fleet arrived at Scapa Flow in November 1918, and later arrivals brought the total interned there to 74. On 21 June 1919, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered them to be scuttled rather than surrendered. Most of the fleet sank, and the wrecks later made the Flow one of the world's great wreck-diving sites. In October 1939 a German U-boat slipped through Kirk Sound and sank HMS Royal Oak, with the loss of 835 lives. Winston Churchill then ordered barriers to block the eastern channels. They were built partly by Italian prisoners of war, who also made the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm from two Nissen huts. It is one of Orkney's best-loved sights.
Orcadians, Ba' games and other local ways
Locals are Orcadians, and they will tell you they are Orcadians first. A famous local saying is that someone from the islands might say they are going to "Scotland" when they travel south, though many of the islands' ties are to the sea rather than to the mainland. The Kirkwall Ba' is a vast, shoving street game played every Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Two sides, the Uppies and the Doonies, fight to get a cork-filled leather ball to opposite ends of town. Traditionally, your side reflected where in Kirkwall you were born; today it is generally inherited through family allegiance. A game can last for hours. Stromness has its own midwinter traditions too. The Orkney Folk Festival and the St Magnus Festival, founded in 1977 with the composer Peter Maxwell Davies as a driving force, keep music at the heart of island life. The Orkney dialect and place names are another part of the identity, with distinct words and a lilt all of their own.
Eating and drinking at the edge of the map
Orkney's grass-fed beef, lamb, cheese and seafood are well known, and Orkney Cheddar has a loyal following. Orkney fudge and ice cream also travel far beyond the islands. Bere, an ancient barley, is milled for bannocks and bread. Two distilleries, Highland Park and Scapa, both in Kirkwall's neighbourhood, make some of Scotland's best-known island whiskies. Highland Park is a long-established single malt distillery in Kirkwall. The islands also have a strong craft brewing scene, with beers from Orkney Brewery. A classic local taste is an Orkney crab or scallop, eaten almost straight from the boat.
Famous Orcadians and island firsts
The poet and novelist George Mackay Brown, from Stromness, drew on Norse saga and island life for decades. Edwin Muir, born in Deerness on Orkney Mainland, moved with his family to Wyre when he was four and became one of Scotland's most admired poets of the 20th century. John Rae, a doctor born at the Hall of Clestrain in Orphir, on Orkney Mainland, explored the Canadian Arctic for the Hudson's Bay Company and in 1854 brought back the first reliable news of the fate of Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. Painter Stanley Cursiter, from Kirkwall, later became Keeper of the National Galleries of Scotland. Orkney has had a strong record in renewable energy, too. The European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness tests wave and tidal devices, and the islands often generate more electricity from renewables than they use. The Old Man of Hoy, a 137-metre sea stack, is one of the tallest in Britain and a famous test for climbers.
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