1016200 |
DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS |
PUBLICATION ACCOUNT |
The oldest lighthouse in the Northern Isles, this is a very pleasing stone-built tower some 21m high. It was built in 1789 as a manned light, but in 1809 it was converted into an unlit beacon and the lantern was replaced by a great ball of masonry which had topped the beacon at Start Point, Sanday. The tower survives in good condition externally, but the timber stairs inside have rotted away; the ruins of the original keepers' house may be seen alongside. [...] |
1996 |
1016202 |
DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS |
PUBLICATION ACCOUNT |
Despite the excellent shelter of Hamnavoe, Stromness was slow to develop into a major harbour, in fact it became a burgh only as recently as 1817. There was certainly an inn and the beginnings of a village here in the early 16th century, although nothing now survives of these buildings, and the sheltered anchorage is likely to have been essential to life in the 16th-century mansion at Breckness some 3 km to the west. By the late 17th century there are records of local shipowners in Stromness, but in 1700 there were still only five houses with slate roofs and some less substantial dwellings. Vital to the harbour's development was the decision by the Hudson's Bay Company to use it, perhaps from the early years of the 18th century, as a base for its ships to gather provisions and young seamen in readiness for the long voyage across the north Atlantic. Later that century Stromness also became host to whaling ships en route to the Arctic. [...] |
1996 |
1016205 |
DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS |
PUBLICATION ACCOUNT |
Despite the misfortune of the estate in attempting premature improvement in the early 19th century, the house of Graemeshall today is a gracious mansion in the Scottish style, set in tranquil grounds. It is a double block of two storeys and an attic, with crow stepped gables and mullioned windows, and it was the work of John A Bruce of the Kirkwall firm of Peace Architects. The garden wall retains a moulded arch from the earlier 17th century house, which was designed round a courtyard and incorporated elements going back to the 15th century. This earlier house was originally called Meall but was renamed Graemeshall after it had been accquired by the Graham fami ly in the mid 17th century. [...] |
1996 |