Knap of Howar - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Papa Westray is one of the smallest islands in Orkney, off the far north coast of Scotland. Known to locals as Papay, this is a fascinating destination to visit and an engaging, sometimes challenging, place to live. It is the ninth largest of the Orkney Islands with an area of 918 hectares.

Holm of Papa Westray is a small, uninhabited island just east of Papa Westray island, one of the most northerly islands in the Orkney group. 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. Visitors can arrange privately for small boat access through the Co-op shop on Papa Westray. The cairn is readily visible from the larger island.

Links of Noltland is a brilliantly preserved farming settlement dating from about 3300 BC to 800 BC. Neolithic remains include a dozen buildings and the ‘Westray Wifie’ figurine. Grobust Bay is also home to Orkney’s largest Bronze Age settlement. The site contains the remains of both a Neolithic village and later Bronze Age dwellings.

The heavily fortified Noltland castle lies approximately half a mile from Pierowall Bay and was built by a Scotsman, Gilbert Balfour from Fife. It has 7ft thick stone walls and no less than 71 gun holes. Its position above Pierowall Bay would also have given those inside the building the perfect view of any potential attackers. It dates mainly to the later 16th century, although it was never fully completed. The castle is protected as a scheduled monument.

This beautiful Lighthouse stands tall amongst it all, nearly 80 metres above sea level. This Stevenson lighthouse was built in 1898 with a principal lightkeeper, an assistant and their families living at the site until the light was automated in 1964. The lighthouse became automatic in 1964 and was converted to wind and solar power using a solar array in 2000.

The Calf of Eday is an uninhabited island in Orkney, Scotland, lying north east of Eday. It is known for its wildlife and its prehistoric ruins. There is a Neolithic chambered cairn in the southwest overlooking Calf Sound, which separates the island from Eday. Rectangular in shape, the cairn was excavated in 1936–37 and contains a small chamber with two compartments and a larger one with four stalls that has a separate entrance and was probably added at a later date.