Landsat-5 satellite image
The location of the Orkney Islands off
the north coast of northern Scotland in
Great Britain.
ORKNEY
ISLANDS
59°N 3°W
+
NORTH
ORKNEY
Papay
North
Ronaldsay
Westray
Sanday
Faray
Eday
Landsat-5 satellite image
The Orkney islands of
Scotland. The named islands
make up the portion of Orkney
included in Penn State’s North
Orkney Population History
Project.
A view over the island of Eday, north Orkney. Because of its higher elevations and wetter climate, Eday has abundant
natural deposits of peat, which was once cut and exported to the rest of north Orkney for use as fuel.
An abandoned farmhouse on the island of Faray, north Orkney. Archaeological surveys of old farmsteads and detailed
mapping of the physical landscape allow us to link demographic records on households to the sites they once occupied.
The abandoned croft complex of Ha’ouse on the island of Westray, the single most complicated of the
farmsteads included in our historical archaeological survey. Behind it is the tidal bay called The Ouse, where the
original Viking settlers landed in the tenth century. Like most place names in north Orkney, Ouse and Ha’ouse
are Norse (Scandinavian) in origin and probably date to the Viking period.
Turnips (introduced
in the 19th century)
Bere, an old Scottish landrace of barley
The staple food and fodder crops of
nineteenth-century Orkney
Potatoes (introduced in the 17th or 18th century)
Black oats
North Ronaldsay sheep, a rare and ancient breed once confined to the Orkney Islands.
Most of the year they are kept on the shingle (stony beachfront) where they graze on
seaweed. Ancient stone walls keep them away from cultivated land.
Feeding hens in north Orkney, c. 1900
Commercial work in
north Orkney, c. 1900
Burning seaweed to produce kelp, a source
of alkali for the production of glass and
industrial dyes.
Spinning wool to make
knitted goods for sale.
A lobster fisherman
on his way to work.
Packing dried fish(mostly cod and saithe) for
export.
Hoisting cattle onto a steamer, c. 1900.
A page from the 1870 register of deaths for the island of Sanday. “Vital” registers of births, marriages, and deaths,
along with census data, allow a detailed reconstruction of the demography of north Orkney from the mid-nineteenth
century to the present.
Traditional farm buildings in Orkney
A reconstructed
farmhouse
interior in
Orkney. Drying
fish hang over
the fireplace, in
which peat is
burning. The
barrel to the left
is for brewing
ale. Note the
flagstone floor.
A traditional box bed, South Hammer,
Westray. To keep warm, up to eight people
(adults and children) would sleep in such a
box bed with its shudders closed.
An old byre (cattle shed), Sangar, Westray.
Huge slabs of flagstone were erected on
edge to form cattle stalls.
An old barn with
a cylindrical
grain-drying kiln,
Nether Brough,
Westray.
Orkney farm work, c. 1900
Women plowing with a horse and pony
Singling neeps (thinning turnips) with hoes
Harvesting grain with a scythe. The women in the background are tying sheaves.
A womna grinding oats with a
quernstone, c. 1900.
Harrowing by hand, c. 1900
Hired laborers on a large Orkney farm, c. 1900
Making haystacks , c. 1900
The abandoned croft of North Skaill, Westray. The house is fairly “modern”, dating from about 1920.
Cott, a very old farmstead on the deserted island of Faray. Note the flagstone roof.