Stenness (pronounced ) ( non, Steinnes; nrn, Stennes) is a village and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

on the

Orkney Mainland The Mainland, also known as Hrossey and Pomona, is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections. Seventy-five per cent of O ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It contains several notable

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

monuments including the Standing Stones of Stenness and the

Ring of Brodgar The Ring of Brodgar (or Brogar, or Ring o' Brodgar) is a Neolithic henge and stone circle about 6 miles north-east of Stromness on Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the He ...

Geography

Stenness parish adjoins the southern extremity of the

Loch of Stenness The Loch of Stenness is a large brackish loch on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland and is named for the parish of Stenness. It is northeast of the town of Stromness, lies immediately to the south of the Loch of Harray and is close to the World Herita ...

, and also some notable standing stones. It is bounded on the west by the efflux of the loch, and a branch of Hoy Sound, and has been politically merged with

Firth Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to ''fj ...

History

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Steinnes''Pedersen, Roy (January 1992) ''Orkneyjar ok Katanes'' (map, Inverness, Nevis Print) or ''Steinsnes'' means headland/peninsula of the stone. The area has been inhabited for a considerable time. Near the village are several notable

monuments including the Stones of Stenness and the

References

External links

Vision of Britain - Stenness
This article incorporates text from Wilson, Rev. John ''The Gazetteer of Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1882) Published by W. & A.K. Johnstone Villages on Mainland, Orkney Parishes of Orkney Orkneyinga saga places {{Orkney-stub

Geography

History

See also

References

External links