Castle Bloody

Last updated

Castle Bloody souterrain - rock construction is not part of the souterrain. Castle Bloody Souterrain - geograph.org.uk - 603180.jpg
Castle Bloody souterrain – rock construction is not part of the souterrain.

Castle Bloody is a prehistoric feature on the island of Shapinsay, Orkney, Scotland. Hogan observes that while the feature is marked as a chambered mound [1] on the UK Ordnance Survey map, the structure is more properly and specifically classified as a souterrain or earth house. [2] Slightly to the north is located the ruined historic Linton Chapel.

It is protected as a scheduled monument. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stronsay</span>

Stronsay is an island in Orkney, Scotland. It is known as Orkney's 'Island of Bays', owing to an irregular shape with miles of coastline, with three large bays separated by two isthmuses: St Catherine's Bay to the west, the Bay of Holland to the south and Mill Bay to the east. Stronsay is 3,275 hectares in area, and 44 metres in altitude at its highest point. It has a usually resident population of 349. The main village is Whitehall, home to a heritage centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westray</span> Island of Orkney, Scotland

Westray is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a usual resident population of just under 600 people. Its main village is Pierowall, with a heritage centre, the 15th-century Lady Kirk church and pedestrian ferry service to nearby Papa Westray island. Westray has a number of archeological sites dating from 3500 BC, and remains of several Norse-Viking settlements. The spectacular sea cliffs around Noup Head are home to thousands of seabirds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shapinsay</span> Island and (until 1975) civil parish in Orkney Islands, Scotland

Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of 29.5 square kilometres (11.4 sq mi), it is the eighth largest island in the Orkney archipelago. It is low-lying and, with a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone overlain by boulder clay, fertile, causing most of the area to be used for farming. Shapinsay has two nature reserves and is notable for its bird life. Balfour Castle, built in the Scottish Baronial style, is one of the island's most prominent features, a reminder of the Balfour family's domination of Shapinsay during the 18th and 19th centuries; the Balfours transformed life on the island by introducing new agricultural techniques. Other landmarks include a standing stone, an Iron Age broch, a souterrain and a salt-water shower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyre, Orkney</span> Island of the Orkney Islands

Wyre is one of the Orkney Islands, lying south-east of Rousay. It is 311 hectares (1.20 sq mi) and 32 metres (105 ft) at its highest point. It is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papa Westray</span> One of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, United Kingdom

Papa Westray, also known as Papay, is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, United Kingdom. The fertile soil has long been a draw to the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holm of Papa</span> Small uninhabited island in the Orkney Islands, Scotland

The Holm of Papa is a very small uninhabited island in the Orkney Islands. It is around 21 hectares in size. It can be visited from its neighbouring island Papa Westray, or Papay, an island less than a hundred metres west of the Holm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burroughston Broch</span>

Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age broch located on the island of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, in Scotland. The site overlooks the North Sea on the northeast part of Shapinsay. Excavated in the mid 19th century, Burroughston Broch is still well-preserved. The drystone walls are up to four metres thick in some parts and there is a complete chamber intact off the entrance passage. Some remains of stone fittings are evident in the interior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ouse</span>

The Ouse is a tidal estuary in northern Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This water body has been shown on early maps of the island in a very similar shape to its current geometry. The Ouse is fed by small rivulets and upland springs that rise on the western part of the island's northeast spur. pH levels of these feed waters are moderately alkaline, in the range of 9.1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vasa Loch</span>

Vasa Loch is a brackish lagoon in southwestern Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This water body has been shown on early maps of the island in a very similar shape and size to its current geometry, separated from the North Sea by a narrow strip of raised beach.(Masters, 1840) Vasa Loch is fed by small rivulets and upland springs that rise on the western part of the island's western spur. pH levels of the loch are strongly alkaline, in the range of 10.15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill Dam</span>

Mill Dam is a wetland in western Shapinsay, in Orkney, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balfour Castle</span> Country house in Orkney, Scotland

Balfour Castle is a historic building on the southwest of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. Though built around an older structure that dates at least from the 18th century, the present castle was built in 1847, commissioned by Colonel David Balfour, and designed by Edinburgh architect David Bryce. It is a Category A listed building and the landscape and formal gardens are listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mor Stein</span> Neolithic standing stone on the island of Shapinsay, Scotland

Mor Stein is a neolithic standing stone in the southeastern part of the island of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Shapinsay is one of the two large inner islands of the Orkney group, and it is situated approximately two miles north of the Orkney Mainland. Linton Bay is situated slightly to the northeast of Mor Stein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helliar Holm</span> Uninhabited tidal island off the coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland

Helliar Holm is an uninhabited island off the coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It is home to a 42-foot-tall (13 m) lighthouse, which was built in 1893 and automated in 1967. It is a tidal island that used to be connected to Shapinsay. It is still possible to walk across from the mainland during very low tides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay of Linton</span>

The Bay of Linton is a bay on the east coast on the island of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. To the north of Linton Bay are the headlands of Ness of Ork, and to the south is The Foot. The ancient monument the Broch of Burroughston is slightly north of Linton Bay.

Veantro Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linton Chapel</span>

Linton Chapel is a ruined chapel on the east coast of Shapinsay, Orkney. The chapel is thought to date as early as the 12th century AD. Slightly to the south is a megalithic monument, Castle Bloody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quholm</span>

Quholm is a farm in the northeast of Shapinsay, in the islands of Orkney, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eynhallow Sound</span>

Eynhallow Sound is a seaway lying between Mainland Orkney and the island of Rousay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. The tidal indraught is "scarcely felt beyond a line joining Costa Head and the Reef of Quendale". An Iron Age broch, Gurness, has a strategic outlook over the Eynhallow Sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackhammer Chambered Cairn</span> Neolithic burial monument in Orkney, Scotland

Blackhammer Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic chambered cairn located on the island of Rousay, in Orkney, Scotland. The tomb, constructed around 3000 BC, is a Orkney–Cromarty chambered cairn, characterized by stalled burial compartments. Historic Environment Scotland established the site as a scheduled monument in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knowe of Yarso chambered cairn</span> Neolithic chambered cairn located on the island of Rousay in Orkney, Scotland

Knowe of Yarso chambered cairn is a Neolithic burial monument located on the island of Rousay in Orkney, Scotland. The site was excavated in the 1930s, and uncovered human and animal bones as well as pottery sherds, flint and bone tools, and arrowheads. The tomb, dating to the period between 3500 and 2500 BC, is a stalled chambered cairn, similar to Midhowe and Blackhammer. Historic Environment Scotland established the site as a scheduled monument in 1994.

References

  1. United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger Map, Orkney Mainland, 1:50,000 scale, 2002
  2. C. M. Hogan, "Castle Bloody", The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham, Nov 6, 2007
  3. Historic Environment Scotland. "Castle Bloody,chambered cairn (SM1325)" . Retrieved 22 February 2019.

59°01′57″N2°48′37″W / 59.0324°N 2.8102°W / 59.0324; -2.8102