Skara Brae is an uncovered neolithic stone village built about 3 100 BCE, before the pyramids and stonehenge. It consists of 9 houses and another building used as a workshop to produce pottery and tools etc. Before visiting the site, visitors can go into a recreated house, stand in it and look around, imagining lying on the stone beds, cooking over the fire, etc etc. The walls of the houses are sort of interconnecting and grass covered so visitors walk around looking down into the roofless houses. It was amazing . A guide told us of the drainage system that exists under the houses . They had very limited timber.
We went through the large home of the laird on whose land Skara Brae was found.
After lunch of a fruit scone, we set off again over the narrow roads with no shoulders and stone walls . We looked at another old kirk, once again with the pulpit in the middle on a side and with an upper gallery. The minister had a good view of most of his attending flock.
Then we visited a memorial to Lord Kitchener. Apparently after all his good achievements, he was in a ship on a friendly mission to Russia and the ship hit a mine and sank off this part of Orkney coast.
Back to Kirkwall for an early dinner before going to a concert of the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra. The concert was terrific. More in tomorrow's post.
Noel in the recreated house
A very similar house
Part of the 9 buildings
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