Kirkwall

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox UK place

Kirkwall (Template:Langx, Template:Lang, or Template:Lang; Template:Langx) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga, it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub with ferries to many locations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is the centre of the St Magnus International Festival and is also a popular stopping off point for cruise ships. St Magnus Cathedral stands at the heart of the town.

Etymology

The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name Template:Lang meaning "church bay",<ref>"The Place Names of Orkney". NorthLink Ferries. Retrieved 29 June 2024.</ref> the settlement having been established by the Norsemen in the 11th century.Template:Sfn As late as 1525 the name is recorded as Kirkevaag.Template:Sfn This became in time "Kirkwaa"Template:Sfn and then eventually Kirkwall - but how the second syllable came to be spelled "wall" is not certain. MacBain quotes F. W. L. Thomas: "How, I ask, could vágr come to be represented by wall? Whence came the ll? Was it that Scottish immigrants finding the sound of vá represented it in writing by 'wall,' the ll at first being silent?"Template:Sfn Template:Efn

History

The town was first mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046, when it was recorded as the residence of Template:Lang, the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty.

In 1486, King James III of Scotland elevated Kirkwall to the status of a royal burgh, and in time it would return a Burgh commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland.

After Union with England it combined with other towns to form the Northern Burghs, sending a single MP to Parliament. In 1918, the Parliamentary Burgh of Kirkwall merged into Orkney and Shetland.

Earth houses

On the western edge of the town, surrounded by Hatston Industrial Estate, there is a prehistoric monument, known as the "Grain Earth House" (see Historic Scotland). It is a short, low, stone-walled passage, deep underground, leading to a small pillared chamber. This kind of earth house (or "souterrain") is characteristic of the Northern Isles (although the Grain Earth House is unusually deep below ground). It was originally connected to a surface dwelling, which has since disappeared. The purpose of these Iron Age structures remains unknown. Further west, towards Grimbister, there is a similar structure, known as Rennibister Earth House.<ref>Template:Historic Environment Scotland</ref>

Governance

Kirkwall is the administrative centre of Orkney, and the site of the headquarters of both Orkney Islands Council and NHS Orkney.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Although sometimes referred to as "The City and Royal Burgh of Kirkwall"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kirkwall is not technically a city.Template:Efn

Geography

Kirkwall is Template:Convert north of Aberdeen and Template:Convert north of London. It is situated on the northern coast of Mainland, Orkney, with its harbours in the bay of Kirkwall to the north, and with Scapa Flow Template:Convert to the south. Its parish, St Ola, forms the isthmus between Firth and Holm. It is the most populous island settlement in Scotland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Climate

Kirkwall has an oceanic climate (Cfb), with a strong maritime influence on its temperature. As a result, it is generally cooler than the rest of the UK in the summer. The exception is that Kirkwall tends to be warmer than Shetland, being closer to mainland Scotland and thus further south.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Demography

The population of Kirkwall is continuously on the rise. The population rose from 6,205 in 2001 to 9,293 in 2011 to reach an estimated 10,020 in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Pop">Template:Scotland settlement population citation</ref>

Economy

Kirkwall harbour with nearly Template:Convert of quay edge is the second commercial hub for Orkney after Hatston. There is a Marina, and support for fishing and dive vessels.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After extensive work on harbour facilities, the town has become a popular cruise ship stop, with several ships arriving each week in the season. This has added to the prosperity of the town and allowed a thriving sector of independently owned shops. Each year now, 140 cruise ships visit Kirkwall and Stromness.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Weaving in Orkney took place from Viking times, with John Sclater & Co involved in Tweed production in Kirkwall in the 1970s. They used the brand names Norsaga and Jarltex.<ref>Template:Cite journal Template:Page needed</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Culture and community

File:Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall.jpg

Orkney Library and Archive, Kirkwall

The Orkney Library and Archive is in Kirkwall. Kirkwall also has the most northerly of the world's Carnegie libraries, which was opened by Andrew Carnegie and his wife in 1909. The building survives, although the library has since moved to a larger building on Junction Road which opened in August 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The town has two museums, the larger being The Orkney Museum in Tankerness House, which contains items of local historical interest within one of Scotland's best-preserved 16th-century town-houses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is a Category A listed building Scotland. The prehistoric, Pictish and Viking collections are of international importance. The other museum is the Orkney Wireless Museum, dealing with the history of radio and recorded sound.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is located in a Category C listed building, possibly the former harbour master's office, on Junction Road.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Orkney Tourist Board is located in an 18th-century Category B listed building on Broad Street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

There is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

One of the major annual events in the town is the Ba Game, held each Christmas Day and New Year's Day between the Uppies and the Doonies, each team representing one half of the town.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Media and the arts

The composer Peter Maxwell Davies was among a group which founded the annual St Magnus International Festival which is centred on Kirkwall each midsummer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notable music acts such as the Wrigley Sisters and Bryttania formed in Kirkwall.

Orkney Theatre, a 384-seat venue, was opened in 2014 next to Kirkwall Grammar School in The Meadows. It has an orchestra pit which can be made available for use by removing two rows of seats.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kirkwall Harbour can be seen in The Highlands and Islands – A Royal Tour, a 1973 documentary about Prince Charles' visit to the Highlands and Islands, directed by Oscar Marzaroli.<ref>"Full record for 'Highlands and Islands – A Royal Tour'" Template:Webarchive Scottish Screen Archive. Retrieved 21 June 2010.</ref> Scottish film-maker Margaret Tait was born in Kirkwall, and many of her films (in particular the Aspects of Kirkwall series) are set there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Long-running The Simpsons character Groundskeeper Willie was born in Kirkwall.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Landmarks

File:Kirkwall Town Hall.jpg

Kirkwall Town Hall exterior

File:Broad road in Kirkwall in summer 2012 (2).JPG

Broad Street in Kirkwall

Kirkwall has many 17th–18th-century houses and other structures in the local vernacular style. Kirkwall Town Hall was completed in 1884.<ref>Template:Historic Environment Scotland</ref>

Transport

Kirkwall is a port with ferry services to Aberdeen and Lerwick, as well as the principal north islands in the group. Hatson pier, the main ferry terminal, is some Template:Convert outside the town centre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Aberdeen, Leith, Clyde & Tay Shipping Company operated steamer services to Kirkwall from 1836, with successor companies operating until 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kirkwall Airport, the main airport for Orkney, is Template:Convert southeast of the town. There are no passenger rail services in Kirkwall, the nearby railways having been industrial or military.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Nursery schools

Glaitness Nursery
Papdale Nursery
Peedie Breeks Nursery (closed 2020)
Strynd Nursery
Willow Tree Nursery

Primary schools

Aurrida School
Glaitness Primary School
Papdale Primary School

Secondary schools

Kirkwall Grammar School

Colleges and universities

The oldest school in Kirkwall, Kirkwall Grammar School, has been established since circa 1200.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The current school building was opened in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Orkney College main campus is situated in Kirkwall, in a purpose-built building that opened in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Religious sites

File:St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, viewed from the Bishop's Palace.jpg

St Magnus Cathedral dominates the Kirkwall skyline

The 'Kirk' of Kirkwall was not the cathedral (which was originally at Birsay), but the 11th-century church of Saint Olaf of Norway. One late medieval doorway survives from this church, and an aumbry from the original church survives within the late 19th-century structure of the present-day Saint Olaf's Church (Episcopal) in the town's Dundas Crescent. At the heart of the town stands St Magnus Cathedral, which was founded in memory of Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney 1108–1117 by Earl (later Saint) Rögnvald Kali.<ref>Template:HEScotland</ref> Next to the cathedral are the ruins of the former Bishop's Palace<ref>Template:Historic Environment Scotland</ref> and Earl's Palace.<ref>Template:Historic Environment Scotland</ref>

Sport

The Pickaquoy Centre, Orkney's largest leisure centre, is located in Kirkwall, which opened in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kirkwall Grammar School Sports Centre has indoor sports facilities, and grass and synthetic pitches, available to the public.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>