This is a list of Orkney islands in Scotland. The Orkneyarchipelago is located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of mainland Scotland and comprises over 70 islands and skerries, of which 20 are permanently inhabited. In addition to the Orkney Mainland there are three groups of islands. The North and South Isles lie respectively north and south of Mainland. The Pentland Skerries are a group of small islands in the Pentland Firth, a dangerous stretch of water between mainland Scotland and the larger islands of Orkney, through which run the strongest tidal streams in Britain.[1] The Island of Stroma is often mistakenly included with the Orkney Islands, but is part of Caithness.
The definition of an island used in this list is that it is 'land that is surrounded by seawater on a daily basis, but not necessarily at all stages of the tide, excluding human devices such as bridges and causeways'.[2] There are four islands joined to the Orkney Mainland by a series of causeways known as the Churchill Barriers. They are South Ronaldsay, Burray, Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. In addition, Hunda is connected to Burray by a causeway.[3] The barriers were constructed by Italian prisoners-of-war as a means of preventing enemy submarine access to the vast natural harbour of Scapa Flow after the sinking of HMS Royal Oak by a GermanU-boat in 1939 with the loss of 883 lives. The Italian prisoners constructed a small Roman Catholicchapel on Lamb Holm as a place of worship during their incarceration.[4]
This is a list of islands with an area greater than 15 hectares (approximately 37 acres). Records for the last date of settlement for the smaller uninhabited islands are incomplete, but all of the islands listed here would have been inhabited at some point during the Neolithic, Pictish or Norse periods.
'Ward Hill' or a variant thereof is very common as the name of the highest point on the island. These locations are named after those high places used for the lighting of warning beacons.[12]
The population of the tidal islet of Holm of Grimbister was not recorded by the 2001 census,[22] although it was inhabited in 2010 and probably earlier.[23] It did appear in the 2011 tables.[11]
The population of Inner Holm in 2001 was one, although the figure was included in the total for Mainland at the time of the 2001 census.[11]
Lamb Holm is "included in the NRS statistical geography for inhabited islands but had no usual residents at the time of either the 2001 or 2011 censuses".[11]
Papa Stronsay had usually resident population of 10 in 2001[22] but was apparently not permanently inhabited in 2011.[11]
This is a continuing list of uninhabited smaller Orkney islands (many of which are called "Holm" from the Old Norseholmr, meaning a small and rounded islet),[24] tidal islets only separated at higher stages of the tide, or skerries which are only exposed at lower stages of the tide.
In the vicinity of:
Auskerry: Lunga Skerries, Oessen Skerry, The Clett.
Omand, Donald (ed.) (2003) The Orkney Book. Edinburgh. Birlinn. ISBN1-84158-254-9
Specific references and notes
^Lawrence, Martin (2003) The Yachtsman's Pilot: North and East Scotland. St Ives. Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson, p. 108.
^Various other definitions are used in the Scottish context. For example the General Register Office for Scotland defined an island as 'a mass of land surrounded by water, separate from the Scottish mainland' but although they included islands linked by bridges etc. this is not clear from this definition. Haswell-Smith (2004) uses "an Island is a piece of land or group of pieces of land which is entirely surrounded by water at Lowest Astronomical Tide and to which there is no permanent means of dry access". This is widely agreed to be unhelpful as it consciously excludes bridged islands.
^Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm are also occasionally referred to as 'Lambholm' and 'Glimsholm'. See for example Wenham, Sheena "The South Isles", in Omand (2003) p. 210.
^Wenham, Sheena "Modern Times" in Omand (2003) pp. 108-9.
^McKirdy, Alan Gordon, John & Crofts, Roger (2007) Land of Mountain and Flood: The Geology and Landforms of Scotland. Edinburgh. Birlinn.
^Haswell-Smith (2004) Scottish Islands save those indicated with a separate footnote.
^For uninhabited islands indicates the last known date of permanent, year round settlement. Information is from Haswell-Smith (2004) Scottish Islands save those indicated with a separate footnote.
^Haswell-Smith (2004) Scottish Islands and Ordnance Survey maps.
^Ordnance Survey maps. Note that the maps mark the height above sea level of a high point on most islands, but in a small number of cases, this may not be the highest point.
^ abNeither the 2001 nor 2011 censuses list South Walls as an island, but include the population total in Hoy.
^Wenham, Sheena "The South Isles" in Omand (2003) p. 208.
^Haswell-Smith (2004) maintains there is no written record of any post-Neolithic habitation, although Sheena Wenham ("The South Isles" in Omand (2003) p. 208) states the island supported a community "into the 20th century".
