Today we slowed things down a bit… racing around Orkney at
breakneck speed seems like the thing to do when there is so much to see and so
little time, but then, relaxing has its merits as well. Dan had a reservation to join a tour group
looking at Neolithic (circa 2700 BC) Maeshowe Chambered Tomb, so we went there
at the appointed time. The entrance was
quite low, followed by a 20 foot tunnel only a bit higher. We had to stoop to get in. One gentleman who was 89 crawled on his hands
and knees – determined! Inside we couldn’t
take photos… but it was impressive… 15 or 20 feet to inclined ceiling, 3 “cells”
about 3x3x8 (one on each wall except entrance wall) where human bones were
put. In perhaps 12th century
AD the Vikings entered the tomb and left Runic carvings on several stone slabs.
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| The Maeshow Burial Mound |
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| Low entrance, tunnel as I was coming out |
The last photo shows the Barnhouse Stone (named after a Neolithic village nearby). "Maeshowe comes alive at the midwinter solstice. For a few days every December, the setting sun shines from the horizon above the hills of Hoy (nearby island), across the top of the Barnhouse Stone, down the passage and onto the wall at the rear of the main chamber, where it illuminates the entrance to the back cell. It is a theatrical reminder that the wider landscape forms and active part of the monument." From Monuments of Orkney, Caroline Wickham-Jones, pg. 47.
After the tour, I rejoined Kathy and we drove to the southwestern
end of mainland Orkney and visited the Italian Chapel on the Isle Lamb Holm. It was recommended to me by a traveler on the
ferry to Shetland, and since we hadn’t heard of it we followed up. The short story is that Italian POW’s in WWII
had been brought to Orkney to build the Churchill barriers after a German sub
managed to slip into Scapa Bay and sink a British battleship. While they were here in a POW camp on one of
the islands, they used scrap material to build a beautiful chapel. It has become an abiding memorial to their
faith and their craftsmanship. First the Churchill Barriers:
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| Signs give one pause.... |
Several of the "blockships", sunk during WWII to stop the German submarines are still in place near the barriers.
Now the Italian Chapel:
The amazing thing about the chapel is that it is made of 2 Quonset huts placed end to end, with plasterboard on the interior to hide the corrugated iron. Then all of the plasterboard was painted. All by the prisoners! It is really beautiful.
Then we crossed Glimbs Holm and Burray Isle (those barriers
have now been converted to causeways linking the islands) and had a delightful
lunch at a pub in South Ronaldsay (the southernmost island of Orkney). Following lunch we headed back toward our Deerness
lodging, but then decided to take some time exploring the back and small roads
in our area. We saw some lovely vistas,
chatted with a local farmer and a couple from England hiking a local trail. We came home about 4pm, a whole hour before
our usual arrival. Please don’t call us
slackers! J
Wow, that chapel is amazing!
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