Day 4 of our cruise (I am not counting the days at sea). We have arrive in Kirkwall Orkney Islands and moored at Kirkwall Pier. Something of the history of Kirkwall coming from Wikipedia tells us that “Kirkwall (Scots: Kirkwa, Kirkwaa, or Kirkwal; Norn: Kirkavå; Scottish Gaelic: Bàgh na h-Eaglaise) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga, it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub with ferries to many locations. It is the centre of the St Magnus International Festival and is also a popular stopping off point for cruise ships. St Magnus Cathedral stands at the heart of the town.”
This did not help us with the deciding what we wanted to do with our limited time in Kirkwall. So we looked at the history of the town and Wikipedia provided the following “The town was first mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046, when it was recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason, the Earl of Orkney …..
In 1486, King James III of Scotland elevated Kirkwall to the status of a royal burgh, and in time it would return a Burgh commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland. After Union with England it combined with other towns to form the Northern Burghs, sending a single MP to Parliament. In 1918, the Parliamentary Burgh of Kirkwall merged into Orkney and Shetland.” We made our way to the heart of the town and St Magnus Cathedral.
There is something like 9,000 people living in the Orkneys as at its last census. Tourism, particularly cruse ship tourism contributes to its economy and the Orcadians have been loyal Brits over the years. The street furniture portrayed a remembrance to fallen soldiers in a very useful memorial. Then there is St Magnus Cathedral. I have inserted our map that we used to guide our search and you will see that the Cathedral in “the heart of the town”.
The website for the Cathedral commences with these words “St Magnus Cathedral known as the ‘Light in the North’ was founded in 1137 by the Viking, Earl Rognvald, in honour of his uncle St Magnus who was martyred here in Orkney. The Cathedral belongs to the people of Orkney and its doors are open to all.” The Cathedral has been maintained utilising its interior to give the visitor its history through the headstones of the many people through the centuries brought to rest at the church. My pictures below walk you through the building.
Some of the raw nature of the materials used in building the cathedral portray a genuiness that many of the ostenatious churches we have seen didn’t. This is a church where people worship not a monument to the faith occupying the building. We had purchased a booklet entitled “Reminisciences of the Cahtedral Church of St Magnus since 1846 by an eye witness” the witness was Samuel Baikie. The researcher preparing the booklet was George Burgher and published between 1990 and 2001. In my pictures you will see the tombstone of William Balfour Baikie August 1825 and the booklet records the restorative work undertaken by Samuel. It contains a floor plan of the deceased remains laid to rest in the church as at 1769 and other restorations performed through to the publishing of the booklet.
The cathedral is in Broad St at the corner of Palace St. The name of the street suggested we would find more and we did. The Bishops Palace and the Sherriff Court. The Bishop’s Palace, Kirkwall is a 12th-century palace built at the same time as the adjacent St Magnus Cathedral. It housed the cathedral’s first bishop, William the Old of the Norwegian Catholic Church who took his authority from the Archbishop of Nidaros (Trondheim). The ruined structure now looks like a small castle. Originally, it is thought to have been like a typical Royal Norwegian palace, with a large rectangular hall above store rooms and a tower house as the Bishop’s private residence. Wikipedia shows the Bishop’s Palace, seen from St Magnus Cathedral tower and I have copied this photo to the collage of photos below.
We also encountered the Kirkwall Sheriff Court. The Sheriff Court in Kirkwall continues to serve as the main court for the Orkney Islands, dealing with complex matters that surpass the jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace Court (for minor offenses) but aren’t severe enough for the High Court (murder, treason). We found the Cathedral coffee shop which included a film on the history of St Magnus, the Cathedral and the Bishops Palace. The coffee shop was a mixture of uses and the parish offices.
Refreshed we made our way to the bus station in Junction Rd intending to travel to a church constructed by WW2 Italian prisioners of war and onto St Margarets Hope on Ronaldsay. This was a local bus which provided transport for the islanders and tourists alike. My pictures below take you on the trip with us. The countryside has a likeness to Shetland – scattered stone farm houses and lots of sea views. By the time we arrived at the stop for the Italian Chapel, I was exhausted and the thought of an 800 metre walk to and from the chapel did not appeal. Preparing for this blog and researching the history of the chapel, I regret not making the time. Next time might be different. The POWs were not assisted in making the chapel but by 1943 the structure pictured below had been constructed.
We remained on the bus until it reached its terminus – St Margarets Hope. The village by the sea was a collection of houses plus the post office. My last photo is the Post Office/Convenience store/ Accommodation booking centre – you name it. With such an evocative name I was disappointed. There was some disagreement about the bus journey and whether we should stay aboard to travel on. Unfortunately we didn’t stay on (my fault). It is likely we would have gone onto Burwick on the southern point of Ronaldsay but the information we didn’t have was when would it return to Kirkwall and would it be in time to reboard our ship.
We returned to Kirkwall and then to the ship. I was ready for a nap. Although it felt as though we had done little in Kirkwall, I was very happy to lie down in the cabin and soon was dreaming of the adventure tomorrow. All will be revealed in “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – DAY 5 SS NIEUW STATENDAM – Outer Hebredies – Isle of Lewis and Harris”
glendon1954 