View of steading from top of lighthouse to NW of steading. Digital image of C 78294 CN

Description View of steading from top of lighthouse to NW of steading. Digital image of C 78294 CN

Date 8/8/1996

Collection Scottish Farm Buildings Survey

Catalogue Number SC 738819

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 78294 CN

Scope and Content Steading from top of lighthouse to north-west, Start Point Lighthouse Farm, Sanday, Orkney Islands Start Point Lighthouse on the island of Sanday is the most easterly lighthouse on Orkney. Low-lying and almost treeless, Sanday has only a few low hills to protect it from the wind. The island is difficult to distinguish in poor visibility and posed a hazard to sailors. This shows the lighthouse-keeper's steading. He worked this croft, or small farm, as well as looking after the lighthouse. The low building on the left with small courtyards at either end was a pig sty. Beyond that is a fuel store, circular kiln, and long barn with a single-storeyed workshop at the end. Crofts, or small farms, in Orkney survived the changes wrought by agricultural improvement in the mid-19th century, unlike similar farms in other parts of Scotland. In Orkney small farmers supplemented their incomes using other trades and became fishermen, stone masons, tailors and blacksmiths. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/738819

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap