Orkney - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 344

THE CHURCHILL BARRIERS
The southeastern corner of Orkney Mainland is connected to the islands of Burray and South
Ronaldsay by four causeways known as the Churchill Barriers , built during World War II as
anti-submarine barriers. It was an astonishing feat of engineering considering the strength
of Orkney tides, and also an extremely expensive undertaking, costing an estimated £2.5
million. The Admiralty (under Churchill) were only prompted into action by the sinking of
the battleship HMS Royal Oak on October 14, 1939. Despite the presence of blockships,
deliberately sunk during World War I in order to close off the eastern approaches, one
German U-boat captain managed to get through and torpedo the Royal Oak , before returning
to a hero's welcome in Germany. As you cross the barriers - don't cross them during high
winds - you can still see the rusting blockships, even at low tide, an eerie reminder of Orkney's
important wartime role.

bring you to The Gloup , an impressive collapsed sea-cave, whose name stems from the
Old Norse gluppa , or “chasm”; the tide still flows in and out through a natural arch,
making strange gurgling noises. From here, you can walk along the tops of the
collapsing sandstone coastline half a mile north to the Brough of Deerness , a grassy
promontory now accessible only via a precipitous path; the ruins are thought to have
once been a Norse or Pictish monastic site. Another half-mile will bring you to the sea
cliffs of Mull Head , home to nesting seabirds from May to August, including fulmars,
kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and puffins, plus, inland, arctic terns that swoop and
screech threateningly.

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ACCOMMODATION DEERNESS

Ì Northfield T 01856 741353, W orkneybedand
breakfast.com. Large, purpose-built, modern farmhouse
B&B in a wonderfully isolated location, with exposed oak

timber beams, tasteful fur nish ings, free wi-fi and fabulous
sea views out to Copinsay. £70

Lamb Holm: the Italian Chapel
Daily dawn-dusk • Free
Special camps were built on the uninhabited island of Lamb Holm, to accommodate
the 1700 men involved in building the Churchill Barriers, 1200 of whom were Italian
POWs. The camps have long since disappeared, but the Italians left behind the
extraordinary Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm , by the main road (A961). This, the
so-called “Miracle of Camp 60”, must be one of the greatest adaptations ever, made
from two Nissen huts, concrete, barbed wire and parts of a rusting blockship. It has a
great false facade, and colourful trompe-l'oeil decor, lovingly restored by the chapel's
original architect, Domenico Chiocchetti, in 1960.

Burray
Largest of the little islands between the Mainland and South Ronaldsay, Burray has a
population of around 400. The main village expanded enormously in the nineteenth
century during the boom years of the herring industry, but was badly affected by the
sinking of the blockships during World War I. The two-storey warehouse, built in 1860
in order to cure and pack the herring, has since been converted into the Sands Hotel
(see p.348).

Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre
April-Sept daily 10am-4pm • £4 • T 01856 731255, W orkneyfossilcentre.co.uk
he Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre is in a converted farm on the main road that
crosses the island. Most of the fossils downstairs have been found locally, and largely