South Walls
South Walls is a small peninsula — technically an island at high tide, though connected to the Orkney mainland by a narrow causeway — situated in the far north of Scotland, off the southern coast of Hoy, in the Orkney archipelago. It lies within Scapa Flow, one of the most historically significant bodies of water in the British Isles. Though modest in size and sparsely populated, South Walls carries a remarkable weight of history and possesses a wild, elemental beauty that rewards those who make the effort to reach it. The peninsula's landscape is shaped by wind, sea, and a geology of Old Red Sandstone that gives the cliffs and fields a warm, ruddy hue entirely distinct from the grey limestone of many other northern Scottish shores.
The most significant historical feature on South Walls is Hackness Martello Tower and Battery, a Napoleonic-era fortification built between 1813 and 1815 to guard the western approaches to Scapa Flow during the wars with France. The tower is one of only a handful of Martello towers built in Scotland, and it survives in exceptional condition. It stands alongside a gun battery and a later lookout tower, together forming a compact but impressive defensive complex. The site was built at a time when the Royal Navy was using Scapa Flow as a major anchorage, and the threat of enemy vessels slipping through the straits of Hoy Sound made the southern end of South Walls a strategically critical location. Though it saw no direct enemy action during its original operational period, the site was reactivated in both World Wars when Scapa Flow once again became central to British naval operations.
During the First World War, Scapa Flow served as the main base for the British Grand Fleet, and the waters around South Walls were busy with naval traffic. It was here, in June 1919, that the interned German High Seas Fleet was scuttled by its own crews in one of the most extraordinary acts of mass naval self-destruction in history — the ships going down within sight of these shores. During the Second World War, the fortifications on South Walls were again manned, and the landscape still bears the traces of this martial past in the form of concrete emplacements, ruined huts, and the general atmosphere of a place that has known urgency and purpose beyond its quiet appearance today.
In person, South Walls has the serene, slightly melancholy quality common to remote Scottish islands — a sense of having been left behind by the modern world, but not unhappily so. The land is low-lying and largely agricultural, with stone dykes dividing fields of rough grass and occasional patches of heather. The coastline is varied, offering sheltered sandy bays on the inner Scapa Flow side and more exposed, wave-battered cliffs toward the south and west. The air carries the distinctive salt and kelp scent of Orkney, and the skies — enormous here, uninterrupted by any significant high ground — are frequently dramatic, shifting rapidly between brilliant clarity and Atlantic cloud. Curlews, oystercatchers, and great skuas are regular companions, and the waters around the peninsula support grey seals that can often be seen hauled out on rocks at low tide.
The surrounding area is rich in interest. To the north lies the island of Hoy, to which South Walls is connected by the causeway at Longhope village, and beyond Hoy's dramatic moorland interior rise the great red sandstone cliffs of St John's Head and the famous sea stack known as the Old Man of Hoy. The village of Longhope itself, though small, has its own powerful story: it was the home station of a lifeboat that was lost with all hands in a tragic storm in 1969, one of the worst lifeboat disasters in the history of the RNLI. A memorial to the crew stands in the local churchyard and is a place of quiet pilgrimage for many visitors.
Hackness Battery is managed by Historic Environment Scotland and is open to visitors, making it the primary draw for most people who travel to South Walls specifically. Access to the island begins with the ferry crossing from Houton on the Orkney Mainland to Lyness on Hoy, or alternatively from Stromness to Moaness. From Lyness, a road runs south across Hoy to the causeway connecting to South Walls. There is no public transport to speak of, so visitors will need a car or bicycle. The roads are single-track with passing places and are quiet but require care. The Hackness site itself involves a short walk from a small parking area and the ground can be uneven, so sturdy footwear is advisable.
The best time to visit is between May and September, when the ferry services are more frequent and the weather, while never guaranteed, is at its most hospitable. Midsummer in particular offers extraordinarily long days — South Walls sits at nearly 59 degrees north, and the "simmer dim," the long northern twilight, lasts almost the whole night. This gives the landscape a luminous, otherworldly quality in the late evening hours. Winter visits are possible for the hardy, and the stormy seas and empty skies have their own appeal, but ferry sailings are reduced and some services may be cancelled in severe weather. Whatever the season, visitors should dress for wind and rain and treat the extra calm days as the gifts they are.