Fara
Fara is a small, uninhabited island located in Scapa Flow, the great natural harbour of Orkney in the far north of Scotland. It lies roughly in the central-southern portion of Scapa Flow, between the islands of Hoy to the west and the Orkney Mainland to the north, and it sits at postcode KW16 3NT. Though tiny and largely overlooked by casual visitors to Orkney, Fara holds a remarkable place in the maritime and military history of the region, and for those with an interest in quiet, windswept island landscapes and the echoes of the First World War, it represents a compelling and seldom-visited destination.
The island stretches to around 180 hectares and is largely low-lying, covered in rough moorland grass, heather, and the kind of sparse, weathered vegetation that characterises the Orcadian landscape. At its highest points the ground rises only modestly above sea level, offering sweeping, unobstructed views across Scapa Flow in every direction. In clear weather — and Orkney's light can be extraordinary, with long summer evenings turning the water a deep, burnished gold — the silhouettes of surrounding islands including Hoy, with its dramatic hills, and the southern shore of Mainland Orkney, are sharply visible. The island has no trees, as is typical of these northern islands, and the wind is an almost constant presence, shaping the land and the experience of anyone who sets foot on it.
Fara's most significant period of historical importance came during the First World War, when Scapa Flow served as the main anchorage of the British Grand Fleet. The island was used by the Royal Navy during this period as a support base, and the remnants of habitation from that era — including the foundations and ruins of buildings associated with naval operations — can still be found on the island. Prior to its military use, Fara had a small civilian population, as did many of Orkney's smaller islands, but the community declined over the twentieth century and the island is now entirely unpopulated and uninhabited. The ruins of a small chapel and evidence of earlier settlement speak to a longer human story on the island.
Scapa Flow itself is one of the most historically resonant stretches of water in the world. It was here, in June 1919, that the interned German High Seas Fleet — some 74 warships anchored after the Armistice — was scuttled by its German crews under the command of Admiral Ludwig von Reuter in one of the most dramatic acts of naval self-destruction in history. Several of those wrecks remain on the seabed of Scapa Flow and are now among the most celebrated dive sites in Europe. Fara sits amid this extraordinary underwater graveyard, and the waters around the island share in that haunted, historically layered character.
Visiting Fara requires some planning, as there is no regular ferry service to the island. Access is typically by private boat or chartered vessel from Stromness or Houton on the Orkney Mainland. Stromness, the nearest substantial settlement, is a beautiful and characterful town with good facilities for visitors, including accommodation, restaurants, and a ferry terminal connecting to the Scottish mainland at Scrabster. The town is also home to the Stromness Museum, which holds significant collections relating to the natural and maritime history of Orkney, including material related to Scapa Flow and the German fleet. Visitors to Fara should be well-prepared for remote conditions, bringing appropriate clothing for wind and rain, sturdy footwear, and sufficient food and water, as there are no facilities whatsoever on the island.
The best time to visit Fara, as with much of Orkney, is between late spring and early autumn, when the weather is most forgiving and the long northern days offer remarkable light. Midsummer brings the famous Orkney simmer dim, the twilight that never quite becomes full darkness, which bathes the Flow and its islands in a soft, otherworldly glow. Birdlife on and around Fara is rich, with various seabirds nesting on the moorland and shorebirds frequenting the coastline, making it of interest to naturalists as well as historians. The surrounding waters are also home to seals, and occasional cetacean sightings are not uncommon in the broader Flow.
Fara is one of those places that rewards the effort required to reach it with a genuine sense of remoteness and stillness. Standing on the island, surrounded by the broad grey-blue expanse of Scapa Flow, with the wind moving through the heather and the faint outlines of wartime ruins in the grass, it is easy to feel the accumulated weight of the centuries and to understand why this quiet stretch of northern water has played such an outsized role in history. It is the kind of place that leaves a lasting impression precisely because it asks something of the visitor — in effort, in imagination, and in willingness to simply be present in a landscape of great age and silence.