marry Prince Edward, laterEdward II, of England. Onthe death of her grandfather,Alexander III of Scotland,Margaret had been pro-claimed Queen of Scotlandand her early death was alarge factor in the Wars ofIndependence betweenScotland and England. Shewas not interred in StMagnus Cathedral, but herbody was shipped straightback to Norway.

Margaret was regarded as asaint in Norway afterwards,but never officially, so it isunlikely that the name refersto her. Apparently in 1329 aNorwegian called ThoreHaakonson, whose daughterhad been married to theRegent of Norway at thetime of the Maid's death,sold lands in SouthRonaldsay. It is also knownthat Thore and his wife hadaccompanied the unfortu-nate Margaret on her voy-age. The connection is tenu-ous at best. The word"Hope" is Norse, and hasnothing to do with theEnglish word "hope".

The village was once knownas Rognvaldsvoe, and the StMargaret of the presentname relates to an ancientchapel so dedicated.Whether this is the unfortu-nate little girl is open tospeculation, but the presentkirk is certainly dedicated toa St Margaret.

The Marine-Life Aquariumat Pool Farmhouse “offers aunique opportunity to seeand understand someaspects of the marine envi-ronment”. Live specimensof many of the species offish and shellfish foundlocally are included in theaquarium.

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SOUTH RONALDSAY(ON Rognvalds-ey, Rognvald'sIsle) is one of the most beau-tiful of all the OrkneyIslands and it has a charm ofits own. The island is divid-ed into six parishes, theinhabitants of which eachhave their own nicknames. Itis now joined to Burray bythe Ayre of Cara(ND478949) on the east sideof Barrier No.4, which is theonly man-made ayre in

Orkney. Ayre (ON Eyrr, agravelly beach) in Orkneymeans a sandy or gravellyspit of land enclosing alagoon, which is open to thesea. Udal Law raises inter-esting questions about theownership of this new land.

St Margaret’s Hope (ONHjop, bay) The picturesquevillage of St Margaret'sHope lies in its shelteredbay, with houses built round

the shore very much as inStromness. The older build-ings mostly date from the17th and 18th centuries andthe character has not beenspoilt by new building. Thepier, built in the 18th centuryfor Lobster fishing, wasbusy before the Barrierswere built with ferries andcargo, and is now usedmainly by the car ferrywhich runs to Gills Bay inCaithness as well small fish-ing boats and vessels whichtake divers to explore thewrecks of Scapa Flow.

The Bay is not thought to benamed after the ill-fatedMaid of Norway, Margaret,who died in September1290, either at sea or shortlyafter arriving in Kirkwallfrom Bergen. Aged onlyseven, she was on her way to

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St Margaret’s Hope from the Pier Road

The Old Smiddy, St Margaret’s Hope

ACROSS THE CHURCHILL BARRIERS

Conger Eel at the Marine-Life Aquarium

Ayre of Cara where the sand has built up greatly since 1945

SOUTH RONALDSAY

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saga. A fine circular walkruns around the Dam ofHoxa to St Margaret’s Hopeand back via the road pastthe school. The Wart ontop of Hoxa Hill(ND433935, 60m) is the siteof a ruined chambered cairnand a modern “look out”.

Hoxa Head The road con-tinues up the steep hill to thewest of the Sand o’Wrightuntil it peters out at a smallcar park (ND408933) about0.5km after the HoxaTapestry Gallery, whereLeila Thomson, weaveswonderful tapestriesinspired by the rhythm oflife and landscape ofOrkney, Tel (01856)831395. There is a displayof some of her tapestries andprints of her work can bepurchased. Hoxa Head isthen a short walk from thecar park.

The small lighthouse aboveScarf Skerry was first estab-lished in 1901 as a gas-pow-ered automatic. In 1996 thefine old cast-iron tower wasdismantled and shipped tothe Lighthouse Museum atKinnaird Head It wasreplaced by a much more

efficient, but rather utilitari-an glass-fibre affair. HoxaHead was the site of majorfortifications in both 20th

century wars and is strewnwith military remains.

World War I Four 4-inchquick-firing guns weremounted here in 1915, fac-ing west over Hoxa Sound.The mountings and maga-zines with their protectivetrenches can still be seentoday. The following year 26-inch guns were placed onthe south tip of the headlandto cover Switha Sound.Four 24in searchlights andan observation post complet-ed the battery. The HoxaSound boom defence alsoended here in both wars.

World War II In 1939 theWWI battery was upgradedand rebuilt. The 6-inchmountings were re-usedwith the addition of observa-tion towers, and moresearchlight enclosures werebuilt, as well as a largecamp. The battery was oper-ational in September 1939,but working continued until1942. The 6-in Mark VIIBL guns here fired a 45kgshell over 12.5km.

In May 1940 two 12-pounders were emplacednear the lighthouse to defendthe boom. They werereplaced by two twin 6-pounders at which time thebattery was named Balfourafter Thomas Balfour, thefirst commander of the

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Old Smiddy The OldSmiddy in St Margaret’sHope is now a museum,with many artefacts from thetime when every area had itsown blacksmith. It was builtin 1880 and was run for twogenerations by the Hourston

family from Quoybanks inHerston, after WilliamHourston bought it in 1905.Making and repairing agri-cultural implements andshoeing horses were theprincipal functions of theblacksmith.

The village also has one ofthe best eating places inOrkney, The Creel Inn andRestaurant. Alan andJoyce Craigie’s award-win-ning restaurant should not bemissed by lovers of goodfood. The en-suite roomshave sea views. Intendingdiners should reserve toavoid disappointment. Tel(01856) 831311.

Boys’ Ploughing Match InAugust the Boys' PloughingMatch is held. Traditionallythis was held in spring, but itwas shifted to suit visitorsand weather. The peedieboys (and now girls as well)dress up as horses andparade with their ploughmento be judged. After theparade, the boys and theirfathers or grandfathers pro-ceed to the Sand o'Right(ND425935) and have aploughing match.

This is an exact replica ofthe ploughing matches stillpopular among farmerstoday. The miniatureploughs are often handeddown for many generationsand while the tradition onlysurvives in South Ronaldsaynow, there are records ofsimilar events on otherislands in the past.

To the north of this bay, isthe Howe of Hoxa (ONHaugs-eid, MoundIsthmus), a ruined broch(ND425940), where EarlThorfinn Skull-splitter wasburied about AD 963,according to the Orkneyinga

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ACROSS THE CHURCHILL BARRIERS

Balfour Battery at Hoxa Head mounted two twin 6-pounders

Hoxa Head lighthouse was replaced in 1996 4-inch gun mounting from WWI at Hoxa Head

SOUTH RONALDSAY

The girls are the “horses” at the Boys’ Ploughing Match

The Boys’ Ploughing Match takes place at the Sand o’Wright

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Cara leads to the attractivelittle bay of Honeysgeo withits sandy beach and slipway.The headland of Grimnessmakes a pleasant walk insummer with its wild flow-ers and fine views toCopinsay in the north andthe Pentland Skerries in thesouth. Skipi Geo has a finesmall sandy beach.

To the south the grimremains of the Irene still lit-ter the rocks. It was this shipwhose distress callslaunched the Longhope andKirkwall lifeboats on thefateful night of 17th March1969. The “TGB” was cap-sized of South Ronaldsaywith the loss of all hands,while the Irene driftedashore below Grimness. Itscrew were rescued withoutincident by breeches buoyfrom the shore.

South Parish Further southon the island there arepanoramic views from thecar park at the top of OladBrae (ON A-flot, flatground beside a burnND445879, 87m), beside anindicator panel. The viewfrom the top of the Ward

Hill (ND455887, 118m) iseven better. A coastaldefence radar site in WorldWar II, this remains animportant communicationssite.

Windwick is a bay south-east of Olad Brae with aruined chapel dedicated to StAndrew. Grey Seals comeashore to pup in autumn nearhere below the cliffs, which

are nearly 90m high at HestaHead to the north. This isalso a good place for findingmigrant birds when the con-ditions are right. It was herein January 1918 that twoBritish destroyers ran intothe cliffs at full tilt, withonly one survivor.

The coastal walk southwardsto the Tomb of the Eaglespasses dramatic cliff

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Orkney & ShetlandFencibles in 1793. The twin6-pounder had a rate of fireof 120 rounds per minuteand a range of 4,700m andwas designed to defendagainst motor torpedo boats.Although the Hoxa gunsnever saw action, a similarbattery destroyed five ItalianMTBs at Valetta in 1941 intwo minutes, suggesting thatthey would indeed havebeen effective if theGermans had attempted sucha raid on Scapa Flow.

There are panoramic viewsfrom the Pentland Firth toScapa Flow from here.Good fishing can be had offthe rocks, as the shore issteep-to and a strong tideruns past. Perhaps for thisreason a small pod of

Harbour Porpoises often fre-quents the area. Othercetaceans are occasionallyalso seen from here.

Herston The village ofHerston (ND420920), builtfor the Herring fishing about1830, is a delightful spot,while the Oyce of Herston isa good spot for waders andwildfowl. HarraboroughHead (ND415905), with thepeculiar “altar” feature, is anexcellent place to seePuffins. A coastal path runsnorth to Herston and southto Sand Wick, where a finestanding stone overlooks thebay. A ruined broch,“Weems Castle”, guards thesouth side.East Side Overlooking thePool of Cletts, St Peter'sKirk (ND470909), is an

interesting old church withpews which run the length ofthe building with the pulpiton the east wall. Thisarrangement was formerlycommon, but there are veryfew churches like this inOrkney now. The area ofPaplay is likely to be anoth-er place where there was anearly Christian settlement.During 19th century renova-tions a Pictish symbol stonewas found built into one ofthe windows as a lintel.

There is the stone stump ofan old windmill over thegraveyard wall. The nearbybeach at Pool of Cletts andfurther south, Newark Bay,is very fine on a good sum-mer's day and can be spec-tacular when there is a bigeasterly sea running. Abovethe beach modern standingstone was put up to celebratethe Millennium, while fur-ther up the hill the SorquoyStone may be 5,000 yearsolder. It is one of Orkney’stallest at over 4m high. It isalso known as the PapleyStone.

Grimness The road imme-diately south of the Ayre of

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“Irene” at Grimness in 1969 - the cause of the Longhope lifeboat disaster

The beach at the Poll of Cletts is very attractive

ACROSS THE CHURCHILL BARRIERS

Clett of Crura and Hesta Rock, Windwick, scene of a WWI naval disaster

Standing stone above Sand Wick

“The Altar” at Harrabrough Head is a curious rock formation

St Peter’s Kirk retains the old layout with the pulpit on the south wall Pictish symbol stone from St Peter’s

SOUTH RONALDSAY

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John o’Groats Ferry Thepassenger ferry, which runsin the summertime to Johno'Groats, departs from theFerry Terminal at Burwick,taking about 45 minutes tocross. Buses meet all cross-ings. Cetaceans such asKiller Whales, other speciesof dolphins and HarbourPorpoises may sometimes beseen from the ferry.

The boat serving thePentland Skerries lighthousewas based in the tarred shednear St Mary’s Kirk formany years. A very strongtide rips past the LotherRock at the mouth of thisbay and spectacular seasbreak here in a storm. Alight beacon on top of a 12mtower was installed on it in1910.

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scenery. At Halcro Head(ND474856, 64m) there is aGloup, a partially collapsedcave, while there are a seriesof large geos in the cliffs tothe south. The energetic cancontinue round the coast toBurwick. Liddel Loch is agood place to see wadersand wildfowl. Very littlenow remains of the broch atBrough on the east side ofBurwick.

Tomison's Academy(ND857445), an imposingdisused school at the southend of the island, was builton the bequest of WilliamTomison (1739-1829), whomade a fortune working forthe Hudson's Bay Companyin Northern Canada, eventu-ally being made one of the

Company's Governors, hav-ing started as a lowly "BayBoy". Tomison was buriedin his own garden at DundasHouse, across the road.

Mowatt’s Smiddy was builtin 1862, and has now beenrenovated, having been runby the same family for fourgenerations. Apart from afascinating collection oftools and blacksmith’s arte-facts, it is also licensed forweddings.

Walk A circular walk fromBurwick past the oldCoastguard lookout andreturning via Liddle Farmcan take in the Tomb of theEagles and the nearby BurntMound, returning toBurwick via the road. There

are good views across thePentland Firth to thePentland Skerries andCaithness. Off Old Head,where two tides meet, theseas can be spectacularlyrough.

At Castle of Burwick(ND435842), there areremains of ramparts andditches on the narrow pieceof land connecting the smallheadland to SouthRonaldsay. Traces of struc-tures dating from the 1st mil-lennium BC may be a ruinedbroch.

St Mary's Church, the siteof one of the earliest chapelsin Orkney, has an interestingold graveyard. Inside thereis a curious stone with a pairof footprints carved in it,which is said to have comefrom Caithness. Severalinteresting old tombstonesadd to the atmosphere of thisinteresting old kirk, the keyto which is available nearby.In 1627 a report to BishopGraham mentions a StColmis Chapel at the Lochof Burwick, but this has nowdisappeared.

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ACROSS THE CHURCHILL BARRIERS

OVER THE BARRIERSATTRACTIONS

LAMB HOLMItalian ChapelLobster HatcheryWWII gunsiteGLIMPS HOLMWeddel Sound beachesBURRAYWest and East BrochsWWII gunsiteEchnalochFossil & Vintage CentreSt Laurence KirkBu SandsHundaBeach at no.4 BarrierSOUTH RONALDSAYAyre of CaraHoneysgeoMarine-Life AquariumGrimnessSt Margaret’s HopeOld SmiddyCreel RestaurantPotteryCraft WorkshopSand o’RightHowe of HoxaHoxa Tapestry GalleryHoxa HeadWidewall BayHerstonHarrabrough HeadSand WickSt Peter’s KirkPool of ClettsWindwickTomison’s AcademyMowatt’s SmiddyTomb of the EaglesLiddle burnt moundSt Mary’s KirkCastle of BurwickBurwick

Blacksmith WS Mowatt at his smiddy

The Lother Rock and the Pentland Firth

WHEEMSBOTHY

Orkney StoneCompany

Eastside, SouthRonaldsay KW17 2TJ

Tel (01856) 831537

Small Hostel on anOrganic Farm with a Felt &

Print Artist’s Studio. Produce for sale.

Viewforth,St Margaret’s Hope

Tel/Fax (01856)831462www.orkneystone.com

Traditional skills are use to handwork Orkney Flagstone.

Mirrors, plates & water features.Commissions welcome.

SOUTH RONALDSAY

The Brough of Burwick is a coastal defensive structure

St Mary’s Kirk, Burwick is on one of the oldest Christian sites in Orkney Stone with incised “feet”

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The southern compartmenthad a floor made from a sim-ilar large stone with heapedbones but no skulls. Thespace below it which wasfilled with human and eaglebones. There is also a shelf,about 1.2m above the floor.The west wall survives to aheight of over 2m withoutcorbelling, and is bowedslightly outwards betweenthe orthostats. It seems thatthe tomb may have beenbuilt in several stages overseveral centuries. Workseems to have started hereabout 3150 BC and the tombmay have been in use for aslong as 800 years.

Skull & Bones Skulls andpiles of bones line the sidesof the main chamber, andthere was a large pile of bro-ken pottery facing theentrance passage. The twowestern side cells had manyskulls inside but little else.Analysis of over 16,000human bones suggested thatat least 338 people wereburied here. Few had livedto more than 28, and only5% reached 40. The break-down was 185 adults, 62teenagers, 70 children and24 babies. Men averaged

1.7m and women 1.6m andwhile they muscles werewell developed, nearly halfsuffered from osteoarthritis.

Sea Eagles Particularlyinteresting was the discov-ery of the carcasses andabout 70 talons of at least 10White-tailed Sea Eagles(ON Erne, Haliaeetus albi-

cilla), in association with thehuman bones. The birdsmay well have been of spe-cial importance to these peo-ple, and perhaps symbolisedthe group, as dogs seem tohave done to those buried atCuween in Firth. They mayalso have been part of theexcarnation rites. Most ofthe human bones were

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The Tomb of the Eagles(ND469843) is a Neolithicchambered cairn, and onethe very few to have beenexcavated in recent times.Now covered by a protectiveconcrete dome, this impres-sive cairn resembles the oneat Unstan in Stenness. Bothare “hybrid” cairns, withstalled main chambers likethe Orkney-Cromarty type ,but also with side-cells ofthe Maeshowe type.The tomb was discovered by

the farmer, Ronald Simison,in 1958. While looking for asuitable rock from which toquarry a stone strainer post,he became curious aboutsome stones which weresticking out of a moundoverlooking the coast. Aftera little digging he found thecourses of a wall.

Nearby were several finelymade artefacts including abeautiful small mace head, astone knife, three polishedstone axes, a broken cannelcoal ring and a polishedalbertite button. The nearestsource of these minerals inthe Moray coast, or perhapsBrora, where coal wasmined until recently.

The cairn had been deliber-ately infilled with rocks in

antiquity and the roofdestroyed. The doorways tothe side-cells and theentrance passage has X-shaped stones placed acrossthem to stop ingress of rub-ble. One male burial wasfound within this in-fillalong with 15 talons andbones of a Sea Eagle.

Eventually he fully excavat-ed the tomb. The archaeolo-gist, John Hedges later tookthe study of the many arte-facts. Apart from the north-east cell, which had beenbroken into previously, thecontents were mostly intact.The main chamber is about8m long and is divided intothree stalls by two pairs oforthostats. The backs of theend compartments areformed from large uprightflagstones. Another, smallerupright stone set into thefloor separates the spaces.

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The exterior from the northeast before being roofed over

The first artefacts found on the north side of the mound White-tailed Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

SOUTH RONALDSAY

Sea Eagle bones and talons recovered from the tomb

The cairn from the south - it overlooks a rugged and rocky coast

R Simison points out where he discovered the tomb Skulls in one of the side-cells before removal

THE TOMB OF THE EAGLES

South end compartment One of the many skulls

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weathered, suggesting thatthey were placed in the cairnonly after the flesh hadgone.

Large numbers of sheep andcattle bones from joints ofmeat rather than whole ani-mals as well as many fishbones were also present.Plant remains included seedsof Emmer Wheat, bothhulled and naked 6-rowBarley and many weeds ofcultivation.

Pottery The 26kg of potteryremains included at least 46broken Unstan Ware pots.They seem to have been bro-ken outside and burnt beforebeing deposited inside.Tools including a stoneploughshare, or ard, andhammerstones were foundas well as parts of limpetshells which may have beena necklace.

The entrance passage runs ata slight angle to the mainchamber and survives to alength of 4m. It is about70cm wide and 80cm highwith a huge lintel at theinner end, which is 1.5mlong. At sunrise in late Apriland mid-August the sunshines directly down thepassage and lights up thearea where the pottery was

found. For the whole of thisperiod it shines in at around05:30. Interestingly sunriseis visible throughout theyear from here.

The outside of the cairn isD-shaped, and has a diame-ter of about 31m, the westside being built into the sideof a natural mound. It isencased in rubble supportedby stone walls. Much of theeast side has been lost to thesea.

The museum at Liddle isfascinating. Not only canskulls, tools and other arte-facts be examined in a waynot possible anywhere else,but the original excavatorand his family tell the story.

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Liddle Burnt Mound Onthe way to the Tomb of theEagles is Liddle BurntMound (ND465841). Thisconsists of an oval building,within which is a big hearth,and a large central water-tight trough. The burntmound was built up by thedumping of many cracked,fired stones and ash. Therewere very few artefactsbesides a few pieces of poorpottery.

The trough appears to havebeen used for boiling jointsof meat, the water beingheated using stones from thefire. Lacking strong cook-ing pots, but with plenty ofpeat for fuel, the samemethod was used to cook

meat in the Hebrides up tothe 18th century.

Dating from the late BronzeAge, the early 1st millenni-um BC, this site has thrownlight on the probable func-tion of the several hundredsuch burnt mounds in the

Northern Isles. They arenearly always sited close towater sources. They mayalso have been used assaunas or bath houses. Thisone is unusual in having theremains of a building aroundthe trough and hearth.

Interior from the north, the entrance is on the left

SOUTH RONALDSAY

The burnt mound near Liddle

SOUTH RONALDSAY,ORKNEY• Family-run museum -ideas about life in Neolithic & BronzeAge Orkney• Handle 5000 year-old artefacts• Visit the Neolithic tomb in its mag-

nificent clifftop setting• Discover the Bronze Age burnt

mound and its secrets• Refreshments and Orkney crafts for

sale• Allow 2 hours for a relaxed visit• OPEN ALL YEAR

March - 10:00 - 12:00April-October – 09.30-18:00Nov-Feb – visitors welcome byarrangement

• ADMISSION CHARGE

www.tomboftheeagles.co.uk Tel. 01856 831339

Composite plan of the Tomb of the Eagles

THE TOMB OF THE EAGLES

Interior of the tomb from the south end,the entrance is in the centre

Unstan Ware pottery Unstan Ware pottery

Button and broken ring Stone cleaver

Sea Eagle talons

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