The Old Red Sandstone bedrock of most of Orkney provides an easy
source of superb building stone, with the result that a very high standard
of drystone building was achieved from earliest times onwards. Where
else can you find 5,000-year-old houses surviving to roof level as at Skara
Brae and Knap of Howar? Monuments in mainland Orkney are described
first, followed by those in the smaller islands (the Tourist Information
Office in Kirkwall will be pleased to advise about inter-island travel, and
there are leaflets about most islands). The terms 'brough' and 'broch' are
pronounced in the same way and derive from the same Old Norse root,
burg meaning stronghold, but, confusingly, a brough is a defensible island
or promontory, whereas a broch is a stone-built tower.

Borwick Broch, Yesnaby

HY 224167. About 7 km. N. of Stromness on the A967, fork left on the B9056
and take the first minor road W. to Yesnaby. Walk over the Hill of Borwick and round
the bay to the broch on the headland.

The grandeur of the cliffs at Yesnaby and the beautiful situation of the
broch makes this a memorable walk. The seaward side of the broch is
badly eroded but the landward side and the entrance are well preserved,
displaying a high standard of drystone masonry to a height of almost 3 m.
A guard-cell is visible on the right of the entrance passage. The site was
excavated in the C19, revealing traces of buildings between the broch and
a defensive wall across the headland, and the artefacts, including a Pictish
comb, demonstrate that the use of the site continued into the mid-first
millennium AD. The small bay to the immediate south of the broch is one
of the few landing-places for boats along this inhospitable west coast.

Brough of Birsay Pictish and Norse settlements, Birsay ★

HY 239285. Signposted from Birsay village at the NW tip of mainland; a tidal
island with a causeway accessible at low tide. High Water here is one hour earlier
than at Kirkwall (timetable posted at Kirkwall Harbourmaster's Office), and it is
impossible to cross during the three hours on either side of High Water (Historic
Scotland).

The lands of Birsay are particularly fertile and the bay provides shelter,
scarce along the west coast of Orkney, for boats and fishing. The area
appears to have been important in both Pictish and Viking times, with the

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