General view of Harbour Street showing the St Ola Hotel and Kirkwall Hotel

Description General view of Harbour Street showing the St Ola Hotel and Kirkwall Hotel

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 645534

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73282 CN

Scope and Content Kirkwall Hotel, Harbour Street, Kirkwall, Mainland, Orkney Islands During both World Wars the influx of tens of thousands of military and civilian personnel into Orkney meant the creation or adaptation of buildings for residential and communal use on a massive scale. The Kirkwall Hotel, the Stromness Hotel and the Lynnfield Hotel, Kirkwall, were used as service headquarters by, respectively, the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force, while other domestic buildings such as Rysa Lodge and Orgill Lodge on Hoy were also requisitioned as senior officer accommodation. This view across the modernised slipway and inner basin of Kirkwall Harbour shows the terrace of buildings which culminates (centre left) in the four-storeyed Kirkwall Hotel. Designed by the prolific local architect, Thomas Smith Peace (1844-1934), this imposing, mansard-roofed building was erected in 1890 and served as the local headquarters of the Royal Navy during both World Wars. At the heart of the Orkney archipelago, Scapa Flow was the main fleet anchorage for the Royal Navy during both World Wars. Its vital importance led to the creation of one of the most concentrated defence networks in Britain. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/645534

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap