Description

The monument is the remains of a high-status settlement dating mainly to the Norse period (about AD 800-1300). It includes the remains of a 12th-century round church, St Nicholas' Church, and a Norse horizontal mill. There is also evidence for earlier activity on the site. The monument is visible as the turf-covered footings of one or more buildings (known as the 'Earl's Bu'), a stone-lined horizontal mill lade and under-house, the upstanding remains of St Nicholas' Church, and a later burial ground. The monument lies on the northern shore of Orphir Bay at about 5m above sea level, overlooking the water of Scapa Flow. The monument was last scheduled in 1996, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The excavated remains of the putative hall (or Bu) are visible as low turf-covered drystone walls forming what appears to be either a single long building, or two conjoined buildings, measuring 15m N-S by 6m E-W overall. St Nicholas' Church lies immediately E of the hall and is circular in plan, with an E-facing semi-circular barrel-vaulted apse. Only the apse and part of the nave survive as upstanding remains, with the 'missing' part of the circuit laid out on the ground in gravel. The nave appears to have had an internal diameter of about 5.8m within a wall 1.2m thick. The surviving wall of the nave stands to about 4.5m and a putlog is visible in the SE wall. The apse, from current ground level to vault, is 3.3m in height and measures about 2.2m in both width and depth. A small round-headed double-splayed window pierces the apse on the E side. The masonry is mostly freestone rubble bound in a lime mortar. The stones have been roughly squared and so fall into more or less regular courses, with pinnings used throughout. The remains of the horizontal mill lie N of the settlement and comprise a slab-lined under-house and mill lade, both surviving to a height of about 1.5m. Viking Age deposits were found beneath the mill, while the mill itself appears to date to the 11th century, confirming that Norse occupation of the site spans several centuries. The site has also produced two Pictish symbol stones (now lost) testifying to a pre-Norse presence. The earliest known activity on this multi-period site is a burnt mound of Bronze Age date.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of: all modern buildings; the Orkney Saga Centre; the display boat and plinth; all modern boundary walls, fences; interpretation boards; the top 30cm of all modern gravel paths, the gravel outline of the round church, and road surfaces. The scheduling also excludes any burial lairs where rights of burial still exist.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it can make a significant contribution to our understanding of settlement and society in Norse period Orkney, in particular, of Norse architectural expressions of wealth, status and religious belief. The church is highly significant as an unusual ecclesiastical building which illustrates the cosmopolitan nature of Norse society during the 12th and 13th centuries. Overall, the monument has the potential to provide important information about Norse secular and ecclesiastical organisation, material culture and burial practices. The monument retains some features unique in Scotland: for example, the stone-lined 11th-century horizontal mill is the earliest recorded example; and St Nicholas' Church is the only surviving circular church in Scotland. Although parts of the settlement have been disturbed, recent excavation of the mill has confirmed that archaeological deposits are well-preserved and have very high potential to support future archaeological research. The rarity and high archaeological potential of these remains make it an internationally important Norse site. Its significance is further enhanced by its association with the places, events and individuals described in Orkneyinga Saga. If this monument was to be lost or damaged, it would diminish our understanding of the variety, distribution and character of Norse settlement, the nature of Norse influence in Orkney, and the origins and development of high-status centres and ecclesiastical sites in the Norse period.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY30SW 1 (church) and HY30SW 2 (Earl's Bu, settlement, and mill).

References

Batey, C E and Morris, C D 1989, 'Excavations at the Earl's Bu, Orphir, Orkney, 1988', University of Durham and University of Newcastle upon Tyne: Archaeological Reports, Durham, 47-50.

Batey, C 1991, 'Earl's Bu. The excavation of a Norse horizontal mill', Curr Archaeol, 11, 7 December, 303-4.

Batey, C E, Harry, R C and Morris, C D 1993, Excavations at the Earl's Bu, Orphir, Orkney, 1993, GUARD unpubl report.

Fisher, I 1993, 'Orphir church in its south Scandinavian context', in Batey, C E, Jesch, J and Morris, C D, The Viking age in Caithness, Orkney and the North Atlantic Edinburgh, 375-80.

Johnson, P G and Batey, C E 2003, 'Survey at the Earl's Bu, Orphir, Orkney 1989-91: geophysical work on a late Norse estate complex', Scot Archaeol Internet Rep 4, http://www.sair.org.uk/sair4/index.html [accessed 10 December 2013].

RCAHMS 1946, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Twelfth report with an inventory of the ancient monuments of Orkney and Shetland, 3v Edinburgh, 174-5, nos 483 and 485; Introduction, 43.
Historic Environment Scotland Properties
Earl's Bu, Orphir
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/earls-bu-and-church-orphir
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St. Nicholas Church, Orphir
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/earls-bu-and-church-orphir
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Source: Historic Environment Scotland