Eynhallow Sound

Last updated

Looking across Eynhallow Sound from Sands of Evie to Rousay. Aerial image of Sands of Evie, a beach near Stenso, Mainland, Orkney.jpg
Looking across Eynhallow Sound from Sands of Evie to Rousay.

Eynhallow Sound is a seaway lying between Mainland Orkney and the island of Rousay in the Orkney Islands, [1] Scotland. The tidal indraught is "scarcely felt beyond a line joining Costa Head and the Reef of Quendale". [2] An Iron Age broch, Gurness, has a strategic outlook over the Eynhallow Sound. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rousay</span> One of the Orkney Islands

Rousay is a small, hilly island about 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. It has been nicknamed "Egypt of the north", due to its archaeological diversity and importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brough of Birsay</span> An uninhabited tidal island off the north-west coast of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland

The Brough of Birsay is an uninhabited tidal island off the north-west coast of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland, in the parish of Birsay. It is located around 13 miles north of Stromness and features the remains of Pictish and Norse settlements as well as a modern light house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainland, Orkney</span> Main island of the Orkney Islands, Scotland

The Mainland, also known as Hrossey and Pomona, is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections.

<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">Eynhallow</span>

Eynhallow is a small, presently uninhabited island, part of Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland.

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

Birsay is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle. There are various ancient monuments in the parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evie, Orkney</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Evie is a parish and village on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. The parish is located in the north-west of the Mainland, between Birsay and Rendall, forming the coastline opposite the isle of Rousay.

In Orkney folklore, Finfolk are sorcerous shapeshifters of the sea, the dark mysterious race from Finfolkaheem who regularly make an amphibious journey from the depths of the Finfolk ocean home to the Orkney Islands. They wade, swim or sometimes row upon the Orkney shores in the spring and summer months, searching for human captives. The Finfolk kidnap unsuspecting fishermen, or frolicking youth, near the shore and force them into lifelong servitude as a spouse.

<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">Broch of Gurness</span> Iron Age village on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village on the northeast coast of Mainland Orkney in Scotland overlooking Eynhallow Sound, about 15 miles north-west of Kirkwall. It once housed a substantial community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point of Hellia</span>

The Point of Hellia is a headland on the northwest coast of the Orkney Mainland, Scotland. This landform extends into the southern part of Eynhallow Sound, a seaway of the North Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sands of Evie</span>

The Sands of Evie is a sandy beach landform near the village of Evie on Mainland Orkney, Scotland, protected by the Point of Hellia headland. This beach forms the southern boundary of Aikerness Bay, an element of Eynhallow Sound. Immediately to the east is Gurness, a rather well preserved Iron Age broch. A Pictish slab was discovered on the Sands of Evie in 1967 and is now housed in Orkney Museum.

Aikerness Bay is an embayment of Eynhallow Sound on the northwest coast of Mainland Orkney, Scotland. The headlands of Point of Hellia at the east and Grit Ness at the west form the limit points of Aikerness Bay. The beach along the southern boundary of Aikerness Bay is known as the Sands of Evie. At the eastern end of Aikerness Bay is Gurness, an Iron Age broch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costa Head</span> Headland of Scotland

Costa Head is a prominent headland on Eynhallow Sound on the northwestern coast of the Orkney Mainland, Scotland. The tidal indraught of Eynhallow Sound is "scarcely felt beyond a line joining Costa Head and the Reef of Quendale". To the east is the Point of Hellia on which is located the Broch of Gurness, an Iron Age promontory fort. Gurness' drystone construction of the "round tower fort is flanked by a number of ancillary structures and impressive concentric ditch and rampart outer defences; moreover, the rocky shoreline cliffs posed a formidable approach for marine invaders."

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

Rendall is a parish on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It is in the north west of the island and lies east of the parishes of Birsay and Evie and north east of Harray. The island of Gairsay is also in the parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eynhallow Church</span> Medieval church located on the island of Eynahallow in Orkney

Eynhallow Church is a ruined medieval church located on the uninhabited island of Eynhallow in Orkney, Scotland. The church dates back to the 12th-century and is thought to have originally been a monastery. Near the church are the building remains from a post-medieval village. Historic Environment Scotland first listed the site as a scheduled monument in 1921.

<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">Midhowe Broch</span> Iron Age structure on Rousay, Orkney, Scotland

Midhowe Broch is an Iron Age broch located on the west coast of the island of Rousay in the Orkney Islands, in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holm of Grimbister</span>

Holm of Grimbister is an inhabited tidal islet in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. Located in the Bay of Firth near Finstown it is connected to Mainland Orkney by a causeway.

References

  1. United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger Map, Orkney Mainland, 1:50,000 scale, 2002
  2. "Tide Tables for the British and Irish Ports", 1863
  3. C.Michael Hogan, Gurness, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham, 2 December 2007

59°07′52″N3°04′34″W / 59.131°N 3.076°W / 59.131; -3.076