List of Orkney islands explained

This is a list of Orkney islands in Scotland. The Orkney archipelago is located 16km (10miles) north of mainland Scotland and comprises over 70 islands and skerries, of which 20 are permanently inhabited. In addition to the Orkney Mainland there are three groups of islands. The North and South Isles lie respectively north and south of Mainland. The Pentland Skerries are a group of small islands in the Pentland Firth, a dangerous stretch of water between mainland Scotland and the larger islands of Orkney, through which run the strongest tidal streams in Britain.[1] The Island of Stroma is often mistakenly included with the Orkney Islands, but is part of Caithness.

The definition of an island used in this list is that it is 'land that is surrounded by seawater on a daily basis, but not necessarily at all stages of the tide, excluding human devices such as bridges and causeways'.[2] There are four islands joined to the Orkney Mainland by a series of causeways known as the Churchill Barriers. They are South Ronaldsay, Burray, Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. In addition, Hunda is connected to Burray by a causeway.[3] The barriers were constructed by Italian prisoners-of-war as a means of preventing enemy submarine access to the vast natural harbour of Scapa Flow after the sinking of HMS Royal Oak by a German U-boat in 1939 with the loss of 883 lives. The Italian prisoners constructed a small Roman Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm as a place of worship during their incarceration.[4]

Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone, which is about 400 million years old, and was laid down in the Devonian period.[5] The islands have good agricultural qualities and have been continuously inhabited for thousands of years,[6] as evidenced by the World Heritage Site of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and there are numerous lighthouses as an aid to navigation.[7] The European Marine Energy Centre, which is located at Stromness, is currently testing various wave and tidal energy devices from Billia Croo on the Mainland and Eday.[8] The islands all fall within the Orkney Islands Council area. Most of the larger islands have development trusts that support the local economy.[9] [10]

The total population of Orkney increased from 19,245 in 2001 to 21,349 at the time of the 2011 census.

Main list

This is a list of islands with an area greater than 15 hectares (approximately 37 acres). Records for the last date of settlement for the smaller uninhabited islands are incomplete, but all of the islands listed here would have been inhabited at some point during the Neolithic, Pictish or Norse periods.

'Ward Hill' or a variant thereof is very common as the name of the highest point on the island. These locations are named after those high places used for the lighting of warning beacons.[11]

IslandGroupArea (ha)[12] Population[13] Last inhabited[14] Highest point[15] Height (m)[16]
AuskerryNorth Isles854West Hill18
Brough of BirsayMainland160unknownBrough Head42
BurraySouth Isles90340980
Calf of EdayNorth Isles2430unknown54
Calf of FlottaSouth Isles160unknown16
CavaSouth Isles1070199338
CopinsaySouth Isles7301970sBroad Lee70
DamsayNorth Isles18[17] 0unknown11
EdayNorth Isles2745160Ward Hill101
EgilsayNorth Isles6502635
EynhallowNorth Isles7501842-9030
FaraSouth Isles29501960sThomson's Hill43
FarayNorth Isles18001940s32
FlottaSouth Isles 87680West Hill58
GairsayNorth Isles2403102
Glimps HolmSouth Isles550unknown32
GraemsaySouth Isles40928West Hill62
Helliar HolmNorth Isles350196728
Holm of FarayNorth Isles270unknown19
Holm of GrimbisterNorth Isles16[18] 38
Holm of HuipNorth Isles240unknown18
Holm of PapaNorth Isles210unknown15
Holm of ScocknessNorth Isles220unknown18
HoySouth Isles13468419[19] Ward Hill479
HundaSouth Isles1000unknown41
Inner HolmSouth Isles217
Lamb HolmSouth Isles40See below194520
Linga HolmNorth Isles5701842-9018
Muckle Green HolmNorth Isles280unknown28
Muckle SkerryPentland Skerries340199420
North RonaldsayNorth Isles 6907223
Orkney MainlandMainland5232517162Mid Hill271
Papa StronsayNorth Isles74013
Papa WestrayNorth Isles91890North Hill48
RousayNorth Isles4860216Blotchnie Fiold250
Rysa LittleSouth Isles33019th century[20] 20
SandayNorth Isles5043494The Wart65
ShapinsayNorth Isles2948307Ward Hill64
South RonaldsaySouth Isles4980909Ward Hill118
South WallsSouth Isles1100See HoyGallow Tuag57
Start PointNorth Isles240unknownMount Misery8
StronsayNorth Isles3275349Burgh Hill44
SwithaSouth Isles41020th century?[21] 29
Sweyn HolmNorth Isles170unknown15
SwonaSouth Isles9201974Warbister Hill41
TresnessNorth Isles4028
WestrayNorth Isles4713588Fitty Hill169
WyreNorth Isles3112932

The population of the tidal islet of Holm of Grimbister was not recorded by the 2001 census,[22] although it was inhabited in 2010 and probably earlier.[23] It did appear in the 2011 tables.[13]

The population of Inner Holm in 2001 was one, although the figure was included in the total for Mainland at the time of the 2001 census.[13]

Lamb Holm is "included in the NRS statistical geography for inhabited islands but had no usual residents at the time of either the 2001 or 2011 censuses".[13]

Papa Stronsay had usually resident population of 10 in 2001[22] but was apparently not permanently inhabited in 2011.[13]

Smaller islets and skerries

This is a continuing list of uninhabited smaller Orkney islands (many of which are called "Holm" from the Old Norse holmr, meaning a small and rounded islet),[24] tidal islets only separated at higher stages of the tide, or skerries which are only exposed at lower stages of the tide.

In the vicinity of:

The remote islets of Sule Skerry and Sule Stack, which lie 37miles west of the archipelago form part of Orkney for local government purposes.

See also

References and footnotes

General references
Specific references and notes

Notes and References

  1. Lawrence, Martin (2003) The Yachtsman's Pilot: North and East Scotland. St Ives. Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson, p. 108.
  2. Various other definitions are used in the Scottish context. For example the General Register Office for Scotland defined an island as 'a mass of land surrounded by water, separate from the Scottish mainland' but although they included islands linked by bridges etc. this is not clear from this definition. Haswell-Smith (2004) uses "an Island is a piece of land or group of pieces of land which is entirely surrounded by water at Lowest Astronomical Tide and to which there is no permanent means of dry access". This is widely agreed to be unhelpful as it consciously excludes bridged islands.
  3. Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm are also occasionally referred to as 'Lambholm' and 'Glimsholm'. See for example Wenham, Sheena "The South Isles", in Omand (2003) p. 210.
  4. Wenham, Sheena "Modern Times" in Omand (2003) pp. 108-9.
  5. McKirdy, Alan Gordon, John & Crofts, Roger (2007) Land of Mountain and Flood: The Geology and Landforms of Scotland. Edinburgh. Birlinn.
  6. http://walking.visitscotland.com/walks/orkneyshetland/ "Walk in Scotland: Orkney and Shetland"
  7. http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Main/ "Lighthouse Library"
  8. http://www.emec.org.uk/ "EMEC Orkney"
  9. http://www.dtascot.org.uk/content/directory-of-members "Directory of Members'
  10. http://www.orkneytoday.co.uk/news_item.asp?newsItem=2287 "Orkney Communities are doing it for themselves"
  11. http://www.orkneyjar.com/placenames/pl-root.htm "Orkney Placenames - natural elements"
  12. Haswell-Smith (2004) Scottish Islands save those indicated with a separate footnote.
  13. National Records of Scotland (2013)
  14. For uninhabited islands indicates the last known date of permanent, year round settlement. Information is from Haswell-Smith (2004) Scottish Islands save those indicated with a separate footnote.
  15. Haswell-Smith (2004) Scottish Islands and Ordnance Survey maps.
  16. [Ordnance Survey]
  17. An estimate based on Ordnance Survey maps.
  18. http://www.argyll-yachtcharters.co.uk/Scottish%20Islands.pdf Rick Livingstone’s Tables of the Islands of Scotland
  19. Neither the 2001 nor 2011 censuses list South Walls as an island, but include the population total in Hoy.
  20. Wenham, Sheena "The South Isles" in Omand (2003) p. 208.
  21. Haswell-Smith (2004) maintains there is no written record of any post-Neolithic habitation, although Sheena Wenham ("The South Isles" in Omand (2003) p. 208) states the island supported a community "into the 20th century".
  22. General Register Office for Scotland (2003)
  23. Ross, Calum (3 Mar 2010) "Tory candidate pulls out of race for city seat at general election". Press and Journal. Aberdeen. Retrieved 26 Feb 2012.
  24. Waugh, Doreen J., "Orkney Place-names" in Omand, (2003) p. 119.