RCAHMS: Exploring Scotland's Heritage - Orkney, 1996

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Date 1996

Event ID 1039065

Category Project

Type Project

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1039065

Exploring Scotland's Heritage

Some 89 detailed site descriptions from this publication were entered into Canmore in 2017. The book was a collaboration between the author Dr. Anna Ritchie and RCAHMS staff, and aimed to provide a thorough introduction to a wide range of monuments dating from prehistoric to recent times in Orkney.

Information from HES Survey and Recording (GFG) 22 June 2018

People and Organisations

Related Event(s)

Event	Type	Subtype	Notes	Date
1016289	DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS	PUBLICATION ACCOUNT	As it stands tod ay, Skaill House is rather closer to the sea than it was two hundred years ago: a map drawn in 1772 shows the house exactly half-way between the Bay of Skaill and the freshwater loch of Skaill, quite close to the burn running from the loch into the sea. The size and shape of the bay has changed over the centuries, amongst other things leading to the discovery of the prehistoric settlement of Skara Brae (no. 61), and it was clearly proximity to a source of freshwater that determined the location of the house. The same map shows the house as a single block with outbuildings, and the oldest part of the house surviving today is indeed a rectangular block, with the original entrance facing south wards and inland rather than towards the sea, and this, the old Hall of Skaill, is likely to date from the early 17th century when the estate belonged to Bishop George Graham. [...]	1996
1016296	DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS	PUBLICATION ACCOUNT	The range of buildings belonging to this steading date from the mid 18th century, and they have been beautifully restored to evoke a strong sense of farming life in the mid 19th century (the farm was inhabited until the mid 20th century, when its potential for the creation of a rural museum was recognised, and it was bought by Orkney County Council). Not only has the fabric of the buildings been restored, but they have also been furnished with contemporary fittings and equipment typical of 19th-century life - you are likely to find a resident hen, to see Orkney cheeses maturing and fish drying, and to smell the peat burning on the hearth. In 1981, the museum won the Award of the Association for the Preservation of Rural Scotland 'as a particularly fine example of restoration work in a rural setting'. [...]	1996
1016304	DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS	PUBLICATION ACCOUNT	The island of North Ronaldsay is famous both for its sheep and for its sheep dyke. The sheep are of a very old native breed and they feed chiefly in seaweed, being confined to the foreshore by a stone dyke, some 1.5m high, which encircles the entire 19km perimeter of the island. The original 19th century building and continuing maintenance of the dyke represent communal labour by the islanders, and the whole method of sheep husbandry here is an invaluable and almost unique survival of a once widespread communal system of agriculture. [...]	1996

RCAHMS: Exploring Scotland's Heritage - Orkney, 1996

People and Organisations

Related Event(s)

References