Description

The monument is a coastal fishing station dating probably from the 18th to early 20th centuries AD. The visible remains comprise three stone-built fishermens' huts, a winch shelter, seven or possibly eight boat nausts, a track and slipway to a cleared beach, and two mechanical winches. The monument occupies a steep grassy slope at the head of Sand Geo, a narrow rock-cut inlet and boulder beach, located 600m S of the bay of Mar Wick on the W coast of mainland Orkney.

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 landward boundary extends up to but does not include the surrounding post-and-wire fence, to allow for its maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to contribute to our understanding of the operation of Orkney's inshore fishery during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is an extensive and well-preserved site, notable for the survival in excellent condition of a range of features, including stone-lined boat nausts probably used for storage of sixerns or yoles. The sensitive restoration of three of the stone-built fishermens' huts has improved our ability to understand and appreciate this monument. Its significance is further enhanced by its location within the natural setting of Sand Geo, directly adjacent to the Atlantic and with ease of access to local inshore fishing grounds along the West coast of Orkney mainland. Boat nausts and fishermens' huts represent some of the few tangible surviving elements of the important and long-lived maritime culture of the Northern Isles, with its strong Scandinavian connections. Sand Geo represents a key site for enhancing our knowledge of a resource which is poorly understood and is often vulnerable to marine erosion. The loss of this monument would impede our ability to understand the development and operation of the coastal fishery in Orkney and across the Northern Isles during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY22SW 52.

ReferencesFenton, A 1978 [reprinted 1997], The Northern Isles: Orkney and Shetland. East Linton. Tuckwell Press limited.

Hunter, J R 1992, The survey and excavation of boat nausts at Hurnip's Point, Deerness, Orkney. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 21.2, 125-133.

Stylegar F-A and Grimm, O 2005, Boathouses in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 34.2, 253-268.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland