Historic Places in Orkney Islands

Balfour Castle is the most northerly Castle hotel in the world. It is located on the south west of the island of Shapinsay in Orkney. Balfour Castle was the summer house of the Balfour family and was designed by David Bryce an Edinburgh architect. Building commenced in 1847 and completed in 1848. In 1960, the last Balfour in line died, and the castle was taken over by Captain Tadeusz Zawadzki, a Polish Cavalry Officer. The castle is now available for holiday stays accommodating up to 12 guests, and can also be booked for weddings and functions. The castle has two acres of gardens Balfour Castle

Quoyness Chambered Cairn stands as one of Orkney's most impressive Neolithic burial monuments, located on the low-lying peninsula of Elsness on the island of Sanday in the Orkney archipelago. This remarkable Stone Age tomb, dating from approximately 3000 BCE, represents the sophisticated funerary architecture of Orkney's earliest farming communities. The cairn belongs to the Maeshowe-type passage graves, a distinctive regional variant of chambered tomb architecture that showcases the technical skill and social organization of Neolithic Orcadians. Quoyness is particularly notable for its excellent state of preservation and the fact that it can be entered by visitors, offering a rare opportunity to experience the interior of a five-thousand-year-old burial chamber much as its builders left it. The history of Quoyness extends back to the early Neolithic period, when Orkney's agricultural communities constructed elaborate communal tombs for their dead. The cairn was excavated in 1867 by local antiquarian William Traill, who discovered human remains representing several individuals along with pottery, stone tools, and bone artifacts. Further investigations in the early twentieth century revealed that the tomb had been used for collective burial over an extended period, with successive generations adding bones to the chambers. The monument would have served not only as a final resting place but as a focal point for ritual activity and ancestor veneration, anchoring the community to their land and their past. The careful construction and ongoing use of Quoyness suggest it held profound spiritual and social significance for the people who built and maintained it. The physical structure of Quoyness is both imposing and architecturally sophisticated. The cairn measures approximately 14 meters in diameter and stands over four meters high, its grass-covered mound rising prominently from the surrounding landscape. Visitors enter through a low stone passage, about seven meters long, which requires stooping or crawling to reach the central chamber. Inside, the main chamber opens out into a corbelled vault, with six smaller side cells branching off from the central space. The stonework demonstrates remarkable precision, with carefully selected and fitted slabs creating weathertight walls and roofs that have endured for millennia. The atmosphere within is cool, dark, and profoundly atmospheric, the massive stone slabs creating an overwhelming sense of permanence and the weight of accumulated centuries. Quoyness sits in a relatively remote location on the northeastern tip of Sanday, surrounded by the windswept, low-lying coastal landscape characteristic of this part of Orkney. The cairn commands views across the bay toward the small island of Papa Westray, with the wider North Ronaldsay Firth stretching beyond. The surrounding terrain consists of improved grassland used for farming, with the nearby shoreline featuring rocky beaches and tidal zones rich in marine life. The landscape feels expansive and elemental, with big skies, ever-present winds, and a sense of standing at the edge of things. The other archaeological sites on Sanday include the Tofts Ness Bronze Age settlement and various other cairns and standing stones, testament to thousands of years of human occupation in this northern archipelago. Visiting Quoyness requires some planning, as Sanday is one of Orkney's more remote inhabited islands. Visitors must first reach Orkney Mainland, typically via ferry from Scrabster on the Scottish mainland to Stromness, or by air to Kirkwall. From Kirkwall, Orkney Ferries operates regular services to Sanday, with the crossing taking approximately 25 minutes from the terminal at Loth. Once on Sanday, the cairn is located about three kilometers northeast of the main settlement at Kettletoft, accessible via a minor road and then a short walk across farmland. The site is managed by Historic Environment Scotland and is free to enter, though visitors should bring a torch to properly explore the interior chambers. The entrance is kept locked but the key is available from nearby locations on the island, details of which are posted at the site. The best time to visit Quoyness is during the longer days of late spring through early autumn, when ferry schedules are more frequent and weather conditions generally more favorable for travel to the outer islands. However, the monument can be visited year-round for those prepared for Orkney's changeable maritime climate. Winter visits offer their own rewards, with dramatic light and fewer fellow visitors, though ferry services may be reduced and subject to cancellation in rough weather. The site can be appreciated in an hour or two, though many visitors find themselves lingering longer, drawn by the profound sense of connection to the distant past that such places evoke. Practical considerations include wearing suitable footwear for potentially muddy approaches and bringing warm, waterproof clothing regardless of season. Among the fascinating details about Quoyness is the discovery during excavation of animal bones within the chambers, including cattle and sheep, suggesting offerings or feasting associated with funerary rituals. The construction of the cairn would have required enormous communal effort, with estimates suggesting the movement and placement of several hundred tons of stone. The corbelling technique used to create the vaulted roof of the main chamber represents sophisticated engineering knowledge, with each successive course of stones projecting slightly inward until meeting at the top. Some researchers have noted astronomical alignments in the passage orientation, though these remain subjects of scholarly debate. The name "Quoyness" itself derives from Old Norse, reflecting the later Viking settlement of Orkney, with "quoy" meaning an enclosed or cultivated area, indicating the site's integration into the agricultural landscape even in medieval times.

The Unstan Chambered Cairn stands on a low promontory overlooking the Loch of Stenness in Orkney's West Mainland, a profoundly important Neolithic monument that has given its name to an entire category of prehistoric pottery. This extraordinary burial chamber, dating to approximately 3400-3000 BCE, represents one of Scotland's finest examples of a stalled cairn, a distinctively Orcadian form of chambered tomb characterized by upright stone slabs that divide the interior into compartments or "stalls." The site occupies a strategic position in one of Britain's most concentrated areas of prehistoric monuments, forming part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UNESCO World Heritage Site, though the cairn itself predates the better-known structures at nearby Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar. The cairn was first excavated in 1884, a relatively early archaeological investigation that nevertheless yielded remarkable finds. Within the stone chamber, excavators discovered the remains of multiple individuals along with a distinctive type of pottery decorated with incised geometric patterns, now known universally as "Unstan Ware." This pottery style, featuring shallow bowls with collared rims adorned with grooved decoration, became a defining characteristic of Orkney's early Neolithic culture and has been found at other sites across the islands. The human remains and grave goods suggest the cairn served as a collective burial place over many generations, with bones being moved and rearranged as new interments were made, reflecting complex funerary practices and beliefs about death and ancestry that we can only partially understand today. Approaching Unstan Cairn, visitors encounter a grass-covered mound approximately 18 meters in diameter, rising modestly from the surrounding landscape yet commanding attention through its evident antiquity and careful construction. The entrance passage, facing southeast toward the loch, leads into a rectangular chamber divided by pairs of upright stone slabs into five distinct compartments. The interior stonework displays the remarkable skill of Neolithic builders, with massive flagstones carefully selected and positioned to create a space that has endured for over five millennia. The chamber's corbelled roof, though partially restored, demonstrates the sophisticated architectural understanding of these ancient people. Standing within this enclosed stone space, one experiences an immediate sense of connection to the distant past, the cool, still air and subdued light creating an atmosphere that seems deliberately designed to separate the world of the dead from that of the living. The surrounding landscape positions Unstan within a sacred geography that must have held profound meaning for Neolithic communities. The Loch of Stenness stretches to the south and east, its waters connecting to the larger Loch of Harray to the north, creating a peninsula of land that seems to have attracted intense ceremonial activity. Less than two kilometers to the southeast stand the Stones of Stenness, one of Britain's earliest stone circles, while the great henge of the Ring of Brodgar lies just beyond. The Neolithic settlement of Barnhouse sits nearby, and the magnificent passage tomb of Maeshowe is visible across the lochs. This concentration of monuments suggests Unstan was part of an integrated ritual landscape where the living and the dead existed in carefully maintained spatial relationships, with burial places, settlements, and ceremonial structures occupying distinct but connected zones. The physical experience of visiting Unstan Cairn remains remarkably intimate compared to some of Orkney's more famous monuments. The cairn sits just off a minor road, accessible via a short walk across gently sloping grassland. The site is managed by Historic Environment Scotland and entry is free, though access to the interior chamber requires obtaining a key from a nearby custodian, a system that helps preserve the monument while ensuring genuine visitors can experience its interior spaces. This arrangement means the cairn rarely feels crowded, allowing for contemplative visits where one can truly absorb the monument's atmosphere without the press of tourist groups. The requirement to collect a key also adds a small element of adventure and personal responsibility to the visit, making the experience feel more like a genuine exploration than a passive tourist attraction. The best times to visit Unstan combine practical weather considerations with the atmospheric qualities that enhance appreciation of prehistoric sites. Orkney's long summer days, when sunlight extends well into the evening, allow for unhurried exploration and the chance to observe how light enters the chamber at different times. However, the quieter shoulder seasons of late spring and early autumn often provide clearer views across the lochs and more dramatic skies that emphasize the cairn's relationship to its landscape setting. Winter visits can be atmospheric but require preparation for Orkney's sometimes fierce weather, including strong winds and limited daylight hours. Regardless of season, the cairn's position means visitors should be prepared for exposure to wind coming across the open water and treeless terrain characteristic of these islands. Access to Unstan requires traveling to Orkney itself, which involves either a ferry crossing from the Scottish mainland or a flight to Kirkwall. Once on the Orkney Mainland, the cairn lies along the road connecting Stromness to the central part of the island, making it easily reachable by car in about fifteen minutes from Stromness or twenty-five from Kirkwall. The site has limited parking just off the roadside, and the short walk to the cairn crosses grazing land where livestock may be present. The interior of the chamber requires some stooping and care on uneven surfaces, making it potentially challenging for those with mobility limitations, though the exterior mound and its landscape setting can be appreciated without entering the chamber itself. Visitors should bring a torch to properly see the interior details even during daylight hours. Among the fascinating aspects of Unstan is how it demonstrates the distinct cultural identity of Neolithic Orkney while also showing connections to wider Atlantic traditions of megalithic tomb building. The stalled cairn design appears to be a specifically Orcadian innovation, yet the underlying concept of communal burial in stone chambers links these islands to monuments found from Ireland to Brittany to Scandinavia. The Unstan Ware pottery found here shows how material culture could define communities and mark territorial or group identities in ways that transcend simple utilitarian function. Recent analysis of the human remains has revealed evidence of complex mortuary practices including the circulation of ancestral bones between sites, suggesting the dead continued to play active roles in Neolithic society through their physical remains serving as connections between places, times, and communities.

Skara Brae on the west coast of Mainland Orkney is the finest Neolithic village surviving in western Europe and one of the most remarkable prehistoric sites in the world, a settlement of eight stone-built houses connected by covered passages and preserved in extraordinary completeness by the sand dune that covered and protected it for five thousand years until a storm in 1850 exposed the site to the modern world. The houses, their stone furniture, hearths and fittings still largely intact, provide a uniquely direct and intimate insight into daily life in a Neolithic farming community of approximately 3100 to 2500 BC. The stone furniture of Skara Brae is the feature that most immediately distinguishes it from other prehistoric sites. Because the settlers had no timber available for furniture on the treeless Orkney landscape, they built their beds, shelves, dressers and hearths from the same flat flagstone that provided their building material, and this stone construction has preserved household arrangements that would normally have long since decayed. The dresser of the largest house, a stone cabinet of two shelves facing the entrance, is one of the most vivid surviving objects from prehistoric domestic life anywhere in Europe. The site lies at the edge of the Bay of Skaill, the beach immediately adjacent, and the proximity of the Neolithic village to the sea it would have overlooked five thousand years ago gives the site a quality of temporal compression. The stone walls of the houses, their interiors visible from the viewing path above, feel inhabited rather than abandoned, the permanence of the stone construction creating a sense of presence that the decayed remains of similar settlements elsewhere rarely achieve. Skara Brae is part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, which also includes the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe chambered cairn.