The first day we visited Kirkwall, Orkney’s biggest town, was quite rainy, which was why we chose to go there as we hoped to be able to nip in and out of shops as necessary.

St Magnus Cathedral, Britain’s most northerly, was built in memory of St Magnus and to hold his relics.

It dominates the skyline of Kirkwall and is impressive from close up:-

This angle shows Kirkwall’s War Memorial arch to the left:-

Cathedral from churchyard behind:-

Cathedral side door:-

The interior is also impressive, monumental but somehow on a human scale.

Ceiling and window behind altar:-

Stained glass window above main entrance:-

The Unstan Cairn stands near the shores of the Loch of Stenness. It’s signposted from the main Kirkwall-Stromness road. Access is via a farm road/track but there is a small car park by the final path to the cairn.

Unlike some of the neolithic remnants we visited on Orkney we had this one to ourselves.

From northeast:-

From northwest:-

Entrance. There is a latched gate to open before crawling into the chambers:-

Entrance to interior from gate:-

We were surprised and delighted that there was plenty of light inside as it has a modern roof with a skylight.

Interior:-

A side chamber:-

Another side chamber:-

In time-honoured tradition people have carved grafitti onto the stones (as those Vikings did at Maeshowe). Some of this at Unstan is very modern, though. Well, there’s no attendant to stop it:-

This carving may be old though:-

Entrance/exit in natural light:-

Entrance/exit lit by flash:-

Skaill House is Orkney’s biggest mansion house. It overlooks the Bay of Skaill and in its grounds were discovered the remains of the neolithic village of Skara Brae (see earlier posts.) Since the ticket for Skara Brae also conferred entry to the house we had a look round.

Skaill House from path from Skara Brae:-

Skaill House Entrance:-

Skaill House, cartouche above entrance:-

Skaill House Library:-

Skaill House Library circular window. This is the window you can see in the rightmost part of the house in the first photograph above:-

Skaill House Library, books:-

Skaill House, framed crest and flags. The flag and naval ensign surmounting crest of Imperial Germany:-

Skaill House Armada Chest. Many of the ships from the Spanish Armada made their way up round the top of Great Britain (and Orkney) and were wrecked. Some settled in Orkney:-

On one of his voyages Captain Cook’s ship landed at Stromness, and he was entertained at Skaill House. His dinner service from the Resolution was acquired later by the house and can be seen in the press (cupboard) to the left in the photo below:-

One of the house’s past owners had a model of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, built for him and it sits behind glass in a bedroom:-

A son of the house was involved in the British intervention in Russia after the second Revolution of 1917. Photographs and other memorabilia:-