north isles - rousay rousay he egypt of the north · 2019. 8. 15. · viking sites and medieval...

rate entrances for eachchamber.

On excavation several skele-tons as well as cremationsand a large amount of pot-tery was found. TaversoeTuick is unique in having a"mini-tomb" near the lowerentrance, which is connectedto the lower main chamberby a narrow, stoned-linedpassage which tapers fromabout 50cm wide to less than10cm in the lower chamber.It has been suggested thatthis shaft allowed the livingto communicate with theirancestors. The externaltomb contained three smallUnstan Ware pots.

Bigland Round (HY438325)and the Knowe of Craie(HY419315) are small roundchambered cairns of theOrkney-Cromarty type,divided into three distinctspaces by upright flagstoneslike stalls in a byre. Thedesign resembles the Knapof Howar on Papay, where

the houses are divided bysimilar uprights. Thesetombs may be early exam-ples and are possibly associ-ated with the nearby Rinyosettlement. Nearly all theRousay chambered cairnsare prominently situatedoverlooking fertile lowerpastures.

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ROUSAY (ON Hrolfsey,Rolf's Island), is an islandwhere, more than anywhereelse in Orkney, the pastmeets the present. Indeed ithas been described as"Egypt of the North" onaccount of its large numberof prehistoric tombs. It is ahilly island about 8km (5miles) in diameter, with fer-tile land around the coastlineand moorland in the centre.The road runs right roundthe island, and makes a

pleasant 21km (13miles) cir-cular tour with many sites ofinterest. Lying acrossEynhallow Sound from theMainland, Rousay is adelight to bird watchers andarchaeologists, as well as tofishermen and walkers.

The island has been inhabit-ed for over 5,000 years andthere are many chamberedcairns, as well as brochs,Viking sites and medievalruins to look at. In the 1930s

Walter Grant of HighlandPark Distillery, who alsoowned Trumland, did a greatdeal to develop the prehis-toric archaeology of Rousay.As a result there are severalvery well presented monu-ments to visit today.

Neolithic Age Rousay has aparticularly good selectionof chambered cairns, manyof which are substantiallyintact, and which suggest theimportance of these struc-tures to these people as wellas illustrating their develop-ment.

Near the pier, TaversoeTuick (HY425276), anunusual two-storied cairnsimilar to Huntersquoy onEday, was discovered whena Mrs Burroughs wanted tomake a "look-out" on top ofthe mound. There are sepa-

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ROUSAY - “THE EGYPT OF THE NORTH”

Aerial view of Rousay from the north-west with Egilsay and Wyre in the background and Eynhallow on the right

Taversoe Tuick upper level

Taversoe Tuick mini entrance Taversoe Tuick is unique in having a "mini-tomb" near the lower entrance

NORTH ISLES - ROUSAY

Taversoe Tuick is an unusual two-storied chambered cairn near Trumland

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this are slabs laid at an angle inherring-bone fashion in alter-nating layers, again reminis-cent of the decoration onUnstan Ware pottery.

The chamber is 23.2m by 2m,and divided into 12 compart-ments, by vertical stalls, whilethe inner end may have had ashelf like at Unstan. Lowstone benches were placedbetween several of the stallswith burials on top. The tombwas full of stones before exca-vation and remains of 25 peo-ple were found, mostly in acrouched position on or underthe eastern shelves of thechamber. Contemporaryfield-walls which adjoin thetomb have been traced 20mnorth-east and 13m south-east,showing that the tomb mayhave formed part of the sur-rounding agricultural infra-structure.

The Neolithic settlement ofRinyo (HY430322) near thefarm of Bigland, althoughnow backfilled, is similar toSkara Brae with at least sevenhouses. Like the more famousvillage, the houses had stonedrains, fireplaces, beds andboxes. Only a few uprightstones and drystone walls arevisible today. Grooved Warepottery was found. The hous-es had clay ovens which havenot been found elsewhere.These were circular on theoutside, but square inside andmounted on a hollowed-outsquare stone. They wouldhave been heated by lighting afire inside and then used tobake or roast food.

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There is a sequence of devel-opment evident from thesesmall “tripartite” cairns to thevery long ones of Midhowe(HY372304) and the nearby,but ruinous, Knowe ofRamsay (HY400280) with 12and 14 compartments respec-tively. In each case pottery,where present was of theUnstan Ware type. These twovery long cairns are alsounusual in being sited near theshore.

The Knowe of Yarso(HY404281), another stalledcairn, with four compart-ments, is also in good condi-tion and contained the remainsof at least 21 people, mostly inthe inner chamber. The skullswere placed side by side at thebottom of the wall face up,while other bones were disar-ticulated and broken. Flintarrowheads and implements,bone tools and pottery sherdswere also present.

Blackhammar (HY414277)is another, longer stalled cairn,which contained only twoburials together with a brokenUnstan Ware bowl, an axe-head and a flint knife. Thetomb was very carefully con-structed with six pairs of stalls,while the exterior was built ona layer of flat slabs with slant-ing slabs in interlocking trian-gles which can be seen at theentrance and which resemblethe patterns used onUnstanware pots. Both tombswere in use about 3000BC.

Midhowe Cairn is the largestand longest in Orkney exca-vated so far and like the otherchambered cairns dates about3000BC. Now covered by alarge building to protect it, thestructure is 32.5m long and13m wide. Almost complete,the outer wall base is of flathorizontal slabs, while above

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Midhowe has twelve pairs of stalls, with shelves in between most

Blackhammar has six pairs of stalls

Knowe of Yarso is smaller with four pairs of stalls

Midhowe is very solidly constructed with a substantial exterior wall


Midhowe cairn is protected by a large shed, and has been described as being like a “great ship of death”

The settlement of Rinyo was excavated in the 1930s by Childe

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of bronze working includedbroken crucibles andmoulds. Bone and stonespindle whorls were found,showing that the peoplecould spin wool. The designsuggests that this may havebeen one of the earliestOrkney brochs to be a truetower. It was occupied fromabout the 2nd century BC tothe 2nd century AD.

Viking and Norse Age TheWestness Walk starts atWestness farm and proceedsalong the shore to Midhowe.In this short distance a crosssection of Orkney’s pastfrom about 3000BC to the19th century may be seen.Westness House, was builtin the late 18th century by thelaird, a Traill.

On Moaness (HY376293) isa graveyard containingmany Pictish and Vikingburials, some of which havebeen excavated recently.While the Pictish graveswere simple interments,many of the Viking remainswere accompanied bybrooches, pins, tools andweapons. One of the Norseburials was of a woman withher infant child and the arte-

facts included a beautifulCeltic brooch-pin, probablymade in Ireland.

Two boat graves were exca-vated, the boats being clink-er-built with iron nails onoak. The shape of the boatscould be made out from theiron rivets and each con-tained the remains of mentogether with weapons andtools. One man seems to

have died fighting as therewere 4 arrowheads in hisbody. Clearly Westness wasan important Viking settle-ment. Sadly there is notmuch to see here at presentand there are not even repli-cas of any of the artefactswhich were found to see.They are held at RoyalMuseum of Scotland inEdinburgh.

The ruins of a Norse farm lienearby (HY375296), abovethe Bay of Swandro. Alarge house about 37m long,divided into two rooms andtwo smaller buildings whichmight have been byres havebeen excavated. Westness isseveral times mentioned inthe Orkneyinga Saga andthis may have been the

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Iron Age Rousay is ringedwith brochs. There are astring of five running fromNorth Howe to the Howe ofHunclett facing EynhallowSound, and a similar stringof brochs on the Evie andRendall side. These arecomplemented by a furtherbroch at Scockness and anartificial island known asBurrian on the Loch ofWasbister. When in usethese lines of defensivestructures must have lookedmost impressive.

Midhowe Broch (HY371306),stands nearby in a fine posi-tion overlooking EynhallowSound. The broch is nearlycircular, 18m in diameteroutside and 9.6m inside.There is an internal galleryat ground level which seemsto have weakened the struc-ture and was subsequentlyfilled up. The walls stillreach 4.3m in height. The

compact structure of sur-rounding ramparts suggestsa fortified family house,rather than a major settle-ment, while the interior planis confusing with severalpartitions, fireplaces andtanks, as well as a superbdrystone alcove on the northwall. There is evidence of afirst floor wooden gallerywhich might have beensleeping accommodationand a stairway leads to anupper gallery between thebroch walls.

The surrounding outsidebuildings have been largelyremoved by erosion, andonly part of one house sur-vives. One was used for ironworking, but no artefactswere found. It is unclearwhether the outbuildings arelater than the broch.Artefacts found includedsome of Roman origin - pot-tery pieces and a bronzeladle - as well as bone andstone tools, quernstones andbronze jewellry. Evidence

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Well and hearth at Midhowe

Excavator’s plan of Midhowe Broch

Midhowe Broch has a nicely constructed alcove

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Midhowe Broch is very well built with an impressive sea-facing entrance

Ruinous buildings on the outside of the broch towerThe interior showing partitions, hearth and well

Midhowe Broch is surrounded by a ditch and rampart on the landward side


The masonry of the Wirkresembles that of CubbieRoo's Castle on Wyre andCastle Howe in Holm.

Medieval and Later HistoryBrough Farm (HY375308)ruins date from the 18th cen-tury, but the site has beenuninhabited since 1845. TheWestness area was the maincentre in Rousay from atleast the Iron Age until the19th century and the estate ofBrough was one of the mostvaluable estates in Orkney.About 1600 the main farm-stead moved from here tothe site of the presentWestness farm. The longperiod of settlement in thispart of Rousay means thatthere are likely to be manymore interesting finds forfuture archaeologists.

The Traills were a Fife fam-ily brought to prominence inOrkney due to the StewartEarls and are first recordedat Westness in 1615. Theircontribution to history wasto make Rousay the onlyplace in Orkney to sufferclearances, even if this wasconfined to Westness andQuandale. Quandale had the

reputation in the past forbeing one of the best corn(bere) growing areas in theNorth Isles, but GeorgeWilliam Traill, who hadmade his money in India,thought that sheep wouldmake more money, so heevicted the people anddestroyed their farmsteads,except for the fascinatingold house of Tofts(HY373324).

This remarkable building,now roofless and in disre-pair, is claimed to be the old-est two-storey house inOrkney and dates from 1600or earlier. It was thought tobe decaying 70 years ago,but no archaeological inves-tigation or preventativemaintenance has takenplace. The pattern of housesand fields can still be seenand shows the complicated

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Tofts in Quandale dates from at least 1600

Kierfea (235m) and Sourin from the east, clearly showing terracing

The Burrian, Loch of Wasbister Muckle Water is good for Trout fishing

house of Sigurd, a 12th cen-tury friend of Earl PaulHaakonson, who himselfwas kidnapped at Westnessby Sweyn Asleifson in about1135.

On the shore east ofMoaness there is a Norseboat shed, or noust, withremains of a slipway(HY278292). These nousts

are common in Norway andno doubt protection of valu-able boats from the elementswas a top priority for theViking farmer. This build-ing was a shed about 8mlong and 4.5m wide, open tothe shore and well shelteredat the top of a small inlet. Itwould have accommodateda yole-sized boat with ease.

The Knowe of Swandro(HY375297) is the remainsof a broch, probably muchrobbed to build the Norsefarmstead next to it. One ofthe longhouses was domes-tic and the other the byre. AtKnowe of Rowiegar is asmall ruined chamberedtomb, while further on arethe substantial ruins of afarmstead. Skaill is an 18th

century farm from which thepeople were evicted last cen-tury by General Burroughsof Trumland.

The 16th century formerparish church of St Mary's(HY374302) has been dis-used since 1820 and may beon the site of an earlierchurch. Some carved free-stones have been found here,which may have come froma tomb or chapel in thechurch.

Nearby stands The Wirk, asquare tower attached to amassive rectangular struc-ture which continues into thefield beyond. This buildingis a two-storey hall, proba-bly dating from the 13th cen-tury, which was clearlyrather splendid in its time.


View over Wasbister and Saviskaill Bay to Faraclett Head from the Brae of Moan

St Mary’s Church dates from the 16th century

The Wirk probably formed part of a large Norse hall

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Tern, as well as Great Skua,Arctic Skua and GreatBlack-backed Gull,Oystercatcher, CommonGull, Golden Plover, RingedPlover, Snipe and Eider.The unique flora includesPrimula scotica, Grass ofParnassus and Spring Squill.

Scabra Head, facingEynhallow Sound, has asuperb natural arch, whilealong the west side of theisland are particularly finecliffs, where care must betaken near the edge. If thesea is high the blowholes atSinians of Cutclaws(HY365318) may be inaction. Hellia Spur(HY373340) is full of breed-ing Guillemot, Razorbill andKittiwake in summer and afew Puffin nest in burrows atthe top of the cliffs. At theBrings (HY383348) thereare large cracks in the rocksnear the cliffs which blowair on rough days.

The Loch of Wasbister is agood place to observe water-fowl, with several good van-tage points from the roadwhich runs around it.Nearby, at Saviskaill, is oneof Rousay's very few sandybeaches, Nousty Sand(HY402335). GreenGairsty (HY410326) is a"Treb Dyke", an ancientboundary wall whichstretches from the roaddown to the shore. The roadreaches 137m at its highestpoint near a quarry fromwhere there is an excellentview of Saviskaill Bay and

the other North Isles. Theview is even better from thetop of nearby Kierfea Hill(HY423322, 235m). Thesmall chambered cairnKnowe of Craie(HY419315) is on the south-ern slope of the hill over-looking the Sourin valley.

Faraclett Walk (4km)Bigland Round Cairn (HY

438325) as well as the remainsof the settlement of Rinyo(HY436324) are uphill fromthe modern farm of Bigland.There is a footpath aroundFaraclett Head (HY443335,106m), from where there arespectacular panoramic viewsover the Westray Firth. Thestrong tides in the Rull Röstcause violent seas in north-westerly gales.

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system of runrigs previouslyused to divide up the land.The clearances took place in1845 and 1855-59.

Trumland House was builtin 1873 for GeneralBurroughs, a soldier whohad made his name in Indiaand had been left theWestness Estate by hisuncle. This bequest did notinclude any of Traill’s sub-stantial Indian fortune butdid include the debts of theestate. The house wasdesigned by David Bryce intraditional Scottish Baronialstyle and ended up costingnearly £12,000.

The house unfortunatelywent on fire by accident in1985 and despite roofrepairs lay derelict untilrecently. New owners arenow planning to renovatethe house and restore thegardens, which are oncemore open to the public.

Burroughs owned almost allof Rousay by this time, andset about maximising hisreturn from the estate byraising rents. When theNapier Commission visited

Orkney in 1883 the SourinFree Church minister,Archibald MacCallum gavea very articulate statementwhich had been prepared bythe Rousay crofters.Burroughs in repose stated,“Is the property mine, or isit not mine? If it is mine,surely I can do what I con-sider best for it? If thesepeople are not contentedand happy, they can goaway.” The passing of theCrofters Act 1886 was tocause an outbreak of warbetween laird and crofter,which the former could notwin, no matter how unpleas-ant he might try to be.

James Leonard of Digrowas chairman of the tenant’s

committee which gave evi-dence to Napier. He, as wellas James Grieve ofOuterdykes was evicted byBurroughs for their submis-sions to the enquiry. Thiswas a national scandal at thetime because Burroughs haddefied a Royal Commission.For some obscure reason hewas not stripped of his rankand title, but the last laugh ison James Leonard as amemorial plaque was erect-ed in 2004 near his formercroft of Digro (HY428320)to commemorate the defiantstand of the Rousay crofters.

West coast The west side ofRousay is maritime heath,and in summer supportslarge colonies of Arctic

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Nousty Sand at Saviskaill is one of the few sandy beaches on Rousay

Sound of Longataing from the Holm of Scockness

The Brings and Saquoy Head


Scabra Head has a natural arch

Loch of Wasbister with Kierfea in the background


way to see them is from theferry or other boat. The Lochsof Wasbister and Scocknessare popular for migratingwaders and waterfowl.

RSPB Reserve. The RSPBhas a marked circular naturetrail on their TrumlandReserve. The warden isbased at the OnziebustReserve on Egilsay all yearTel (01856) 821395.

Westness Walk, Thisevocative route has been

described as “the mostimportant archaeologicalmile in Scotland”, and pass-es Orkney’s biggestNeolithic chambered cairn, abroch, Viking ruins and acemetery as well as farmbuildings and a church dat-ing from the 12th to the 19th

centuries. The OrkneyingaSaga mentions the area sev-eral times and there areexcellent views ofEynhallow Sound and theWest Mainland. (5km)

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Near The Loch of Scocknessstands Yetnasteen (ONJotna stein, Giant’s Stone,HY447327), a large mono-lith which reputedly takes adrink in the loch eachHogmanay. The name refersto the Norse mythology thatgiants reside in rocks. Thestone covers the distance tothe loch in two steps, has adrink and returns to keepwatch. The Loch is a goodplace to see migrant wadersand waterfowl, while themound of the ruined brochmakes a good vantage point.The very pretty little beachat North Sand is another ofRousay’s few sandy shoresand can be good for GroatieBuckies.

Moorland walks Apartfrom the coastal walks sug-gested, the centre of theisland has many peat trackswhich can be followed forexample from Sourin,Westness or Blackhammar.Muckle Water, Peerie Waterand Loomachun can all bereached in this way. Fromthe top of Blotchnie Fiold(HY418290, 250m) andKnitchen Hill (HY429288,227m) there are particularlyfine views over the NorthIsles and Mainland, whilewalks over the moorland arelikely to give sightings ofHen Harrier, Merlin,Peregrine, Kestrel, Short-eared Owl, Grouse, Curlewand Red-throated Diver. As

always care should be takennot to disturb birds duringthe breeding season.

Woodland walk TrumlandWood is one of the few largewooded areas in Orkney andit attracts a good selection ofwoodland species. Thosethat can be heard or seeninclude Robin, Wren,Dunnock, Willow Warbler,Song Thrush, Blackbird andChaffinch.

Migrants. In late spring andin winter there is a large gath-ering of Long-tailed Ducks inthe sounds around Rousay,especially in Wyre Sound.Great Northern Divers are alsopresent in winter - the best

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Arriving at Brinyan on the ferry “Eynhallow”

ROUSAYATTRACTIONS

Interpretation Centre, PierTrumland House (private)Trumland House GardensTrumland RSPB ReserveBlotchnie Fiold viewpointTaversoe Tuick CairnBlackhammer CairnKnowe Of Yarso Cairn Westness House (private)Westness WalkMidhowe BrochMidhowe CairnQuandale ViewpointToftsWasbister Saviskaill BayGreen GairstyLeean ViewpointKierfea summit viewpointDigro MemorialFaraclett Head Walk YetnasteenLoch of Scockness

ROUSAYSERVICES

Getting to Rousay, Egilsay andWyre The Orkney Ferries carferry Eynhallow runs numerousservices every day from Tingwallin Rendall. Advance booking isessential for vehicles, Tel (01856)751360. See current timetable fordetails.

Where to Eat and Drink PierRestaurant at ferry terminal - barmeals and evening dinners.Traditional music often played inthe evening. Taversoe Hoteloverlooking Eynhallow Sound,open all year, imaginative homecooking Tel (01856)821325

Tours Rousay Traveller - seeadvert below Tel 821234

Shop & Fuel Marion’s Shop inSourin (not far from the school) isopen daily

Trumland Farm and House from the ferry

Rousay TravellerBooking / Enquiries

Rosie and AndyBellona, Rousay, Orkney

KW17 2PUTel./Fax (01856) 821234


Sunset down Eynhallow Sound from the Westside

Rousay and Eynhallow Sound from Evie Faraclett Head with a large rockfall



north isles - rousay rousay he egypt of the north · 2019. 8. 15. · viking sites and medieval...

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