St Margaret's Hope is a village in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast 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 ...

. It is known locally as "The Hope" or "The Hup". With a population of about 550, it is Orkney's third largest settlement after

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

and Stromness. St Margaret's Hope is the main settlement of the island of South Ronaldsay. Situated off Water Sound at the head of a calm bay on the island's northern coast, it is connected to 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 ...

by the A961 road running across the

Churchill Barriers The Churchill Barriers are four causeways in the Orkney islands with a total length of . They link the Orkney Mainland in the north to the island of South Ronaldsay via Burray and the two smaller islands of Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. The ba ...

. St Margaret's Hope is believed to have been named after either Saint Margaret of Scotland (c.1045-1093), the wife of

Malcolm III Malcolm III ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh; died 13 November 1093) was King of Scotland from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann mòr", Gaelic, literally "big hea ...

, or

Margaret, Maid of Norway Margaret (, ; March or April 1283 – September 1290), known as the Maid of Norway, was the queen-designate of Scotland from 1286 until her death. As she was never inaugurated, her status as monarch is uncertain and has been debated by historian ...

, who died in Orkney and possibly in this location in 1290. The village has a primary school, a small blacksmith's museum, a few shops and a cafe, a pub and a wine bar. Pentland Ferries run a reliable service from the pier in the bay to

Gills Bay Gills Bay, which is situated about west of John o' Groats with the community of Gills close by, has one of the longest stretches of low-lying rock coast on the northern shores of Caithness. Its main features are a small harbour and the pier used ...

on the Scottish mainland. It is also known for its annual Boys'

Ploughing Match A ploughing match is a contest between people who each plough part of a field. Nowadays there are usually classes for horse-drawn ploughs and for tractor ploughing. Points are awarded for straightness and neatness of the resulting furrows. Th ...

, a local tradition where young boys plough the sands at the nearby Sands of Wright, and girls (or boys, though this is now a rarity) wear traditional 'horse' costumes resembling a harness. The event, which incorporates The Festival of the Horse, is known to have been in existence for at least 200 years, and takes place on the third Saturday of August. Scant traces of an Iron Age broch can be found in a field off the Ontaft road above the village. The site could once be identified by Victorian OS maps, but with the passage of time and all but a 'crop mark' remaining, modern maps fail to show its location. It is favoured by most in Orkney as being its prettiest village. The picturesque waterfront location being far superior to its West Mainland equivalent Stromness.

References

External links

Undiscovered Scotland - St Margaret's Hope
Villages in Orkney {{Orkney-geo-stub