Orkney

Orkney is an archipelago located off the north coast of mainland Scotland. Forming part of the Northern Isles alongside Shetland, the island group sits 16 km north of Caithness.

Chronicles of the Northern Isles

Untold centuries of farming

Human habitation on the islands stretches back at least 10,000 years, beginning with terminal Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Later eras brought Neolithic and Bronze Age farmers, followed by Picts during the Iron Age.

The Norse horizon

A major historical turning point occurred in 875, when Orkney was colonised and later annexed by the Kingdom of Norway, becoming settled by Norsemen who left a lasting linguistic and cultural imprint on the archipelago.

Absorption into Scotland

In 1472, the Parliament of Scotland absorbed the Earldom of Orkney into the Kingdom of Scotland. This transfer followed the failure to pay a dowry promised to James III of Scotland by the family of his bride, Margaret of Denmark.

Strategic waters

Centuries later, the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow played a major role in World War I and World War II. Following the Armistice in 1918, the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow, where German sailors opened the seacocks and scuttled all the ships. One month into World War II, a German U-boat sank the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak in the same waters, prompting the construction of barrier causeways by Italian prisoners of war.