The Ancient Monuments Of Orkney

Orkney has a long and memorable past. Every corner of the islands has its ancient monuments, many of them remarkably well preserved. There are the houses and tombs of people who lived five thousand years ago, and the circle of huge standing stones in which they may have worshipped. The chieftains of two thousand years ago build prestigious brochs, and their descendants were the Picts, whose carved symbol stones remain a mystery today.

The Vikings took over the islands in the ninth century AD, and built some remarkable churches in the twelfth century. By 1600, Scottish earls of Orkney were building palaces and castles that still stand today. The story comes down to the twentieth century with the defences of two World Wars, a rare glimpse of more than five thousand years of history.