Graemsay () is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The island has two lighthouses. Graemsay lies within the

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 o ...

of Stromness.

Geography and geology

Graemsay lies between

Hoy Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the tw ...

and Stromness on

Mainland Orkney 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 ...

, separated from the Mainland by

Clestrain Sound Clestrain Sound is a strait between Mainland Orkney and the Isle of Graemsay within the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Clestrain Sound lies in the western entrance to Scapa Flow. Like other seaways within the Orkney Islands, Clestrain Sound has been ...

. The island is in area and is mainly crofted. The island's geology is

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

of the Devonian period, with two volcanic faults. On the north coast there is

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

, a great rarity in Orkney. Graemsay is surrounded by strong

tidal race Tidal race or tidal rapid is a natural occurrence whereby a fast-moving tide passes through a constriction, resulting in the formation of waves, eddies and hazardous currents. The constriction can be a passage where the sides narrow, for example ...

s, known locally as ''roosts''. An

Orkney Ferries Orkney Ferries is a Scottish company operating inter-island ferry services in the Orkney Islands. The company operates ferry services across 15 islands. History The company is owned by the Orkney Islands Council and was established in 1960 as t ...

service, usually operated by , links the island with Stromness and Moaness on

. Graemsay is sometimes referred to locally, as 'Orkney's green isle' due to its lush green vegetation cover.

Wildlife

Birds include

oystercatcher The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, ''Haematopus''. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The ...

ringed plover The common ringed plover or ringed plover (''Charadrius hiaticula'') is a small plover that breeds in Arctic Eurasia. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from ...

s, redshank and

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

. Parts of the island are largely undeveloped and are a haven for wild plants.

History

As with many other Orkney Islands, there is a connection to the

Celtic Church Celtic Christianity ( kw, Kristoneth; cy, Cristnogaeth; gd, Crìosdaidheachd; gv, Credjue Creestee/Creestiaght; ga, Críostaíocht/Críostúlacht; br, Kristeniezh; gl, Cristianismo celta) is a form of Christianity that was common, or held ...

, possibly a pre-Norse one. There are the remains of two early churches, dedicated to St Bride and to St Columba., who are both saints of Irish origin. The island has two lighthouses, Hoy High (NE) and Hoy Low (NW), both built in 1851 by

Alan Stevenson Alan Stevenson FRSE LLD MInstCE (28 April 1807 – 23 December 1865) was a Scottish civil engineer, known for designing and building lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life Alan Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 28 April 1807, the eldest ...

for the 19th-century herring industry. At the Point of Oxan in the far north west, in Burra Sound, are block ships, which were scuttled deliberately during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. This is a common feature of the straits and former straits around Scapa Flow. A Coastal Defence Battery also sits at the point of Oxan, built in 1944, and guarding the western entrance to Scapa Flow, until the end of World War II. Graemsay primary school was built in 1876 and once had a peak enrollment of 60 pupils. In the late 1990s the school had four staff to just one pupil, making it the most expensive state school in the United Kingdom. The school closed in 1996. Today, the island's children travel daily by boat to school in Stromness on the ferry

MV Graemsay MV ''Graemsay'' is a small passenger ferry operated by Orkney Ferries. History MV ''Graemsay'' was built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about nor ...

Lighthouses

Two lighthouses are present on Graemsay: Hoy Sound Low and Hoy Sound High located at the extremities of the northern side of the island. The lights were built in 1851 on project by

; both are cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern, even if of different heights, white painted with black lantern and the typical ochre trims. The Hoy High Light, known as Graemsay Island Range Rear, is high and has a white and red

occulting light A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...

every 8 seconds depending on the directions. The Hoy Low Light (Graemsay Island Range Front) is high and is distinguished by a white

isophase light A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...

every 3 seconds. The two Range lighthouses direct the ships towards the

Hoy Sound Hoy Sound is a body of salt water subject to tidal currents situated south of the town of Stromness in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. The sound lies north of the island of Hoy and to the south of Mainland Orkney. To the west are the open w ...

from the Atlantic.

References

Book about the History of Graemsay

the orcadian bookshop

External links

* ttp://www.graemsay.com The largest building, Sandside House, has been renovated and this web site describes the property and the island
Contains information about all Graemsay families

Northern Lighthouse Board
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q14906863 , qid3=Q17827193 Islands of the Orkney Islands