Birsay coastal path to the Fishemens hut and the Whale bone marker post SCO 5775


Birsay has been settled continuously since Neolithic times more than 5000 years ago, and Birsay has remains and reminders from every chapter of this long history. Earliest are the chambered cairns and standing stones; in the Iron Age tall stone towers called brochs were built for reasons still unknown. Later, the Picts lived here, as archaeologists have found from their house sites and workshops. Most famously, the Norse swept all before them, as place names and the ruins of buildings testify. The Norse blended with the incoming Scots leaving a record of activity up to the present day.


Size: 3732px × 5619px
Location: Birsay North West Mainland Orkney Scotland
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1116., access, ancient, area., bastard, beautiful, bird, birsay, broch, brother, building, built, buried, car, cathedral, centre, centuries, church, coast, coastal, colonies, construction, convenient, days, earl, earls, fame., farm, fishing, foul, foundations., good, grounds, historic, history, james, king, land, magnus, mainland, murder, neolithic, norse, north, orkney, orkneys, palace, parish, parking, peace, peoples, pictish, picts, power, protection, public, quiet, refuge, reigns, richness, robert, route, ruin, saga, scenery, scenic, scotland, services, shelters, st, st., stands, stewart, stone, stopper, style, testimony, thorfin, today, traditional, trail, viking, walk, west, wind