Switha is a small uninhabited

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

towards the south of Orkney,

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 ...

, approximately 41 hectares in area.

Geography and geology

Switha lies 2 km to the south of the island of

Flotta Flotta () is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, lying in Scapa Flow. The island is known for its large oil terminal and is linked by Orkney Ferries to Houton on the Orkney Mainland, Lyness on Hoy and Longhope on South Walls. The island has ...

and 2 km east of the South Walls area of

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 ...

. South Ronaldsay lies about 5 km further east. The island is roughly rectangular in shape, about 1 km by 0.5 km in size and is aligned in a NE to SW direction. The maximum elevation is 28 m, found on the small cliff on the south coast, to the west of which is the only appreciable beach at The Pool. Geologically, the island is wholly of

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 ...

, from the Devonian period, specifically Rousay Flagstones, dating from about 375 Mya, laid down by a cyclical series of lakes and containing many fish fossils.

Flora

The island is predominantly maritime grassland with small areas of heath and bog.

Wildlife

Switha is very important for wildlife and has been designated both as a Site of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSI) and an EU

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

. The primary reason for this is the wintering population of Greenland

barnacle goose The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus '' Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey ''Anser'' species. Despite its superficial ...

. About 1000 of the birds are thought to spend the winter months roosting on the island and feeding on nearby South Walls. This population is not only the most northerly in the UK but also the third largest after Islay and

North Uist North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...

. Common seabirds known to frequent the rocky coast line include black guillemot,

great black-backed gull The great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on t ...

, Arctic skua and great skua. In addition, Haswell-Smith records that there are many

European storm petrel The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...

burrows. However, several surveys since the late 1960s have only revealed a small number of pairs on the island, probably never more than 10. The burrows are probably more likely to belong to the puffin, which are reported to be resident on the island in some numbers, with about 250 pairs.

History

Pre-history

The presence of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

standing stones and a cairn show that the island was at least visited in prehistoric times. There are two standing stones, the larger, southerly stone is 147 cm high, by 91 cm wide and 30 cm deep. The northerly stone is 112 cm high, 48 cm wide and just 15 cm deep and is thus somewhat smaller. Further evidence of pre-historic use is provided by the presence of a 9 m diameter by 0.5 m high turf covered cairn, near The Ool at the southern tip of the island. When excavated the cairn contained a cist-like structure. Haswell-Smith (2004) maintains there is no written record of any post-Neolithic habitation, and there are 3 further sources that would support that assertion, at least for the past 350 years. The

Blaeu Blaeu is the name of * Willem Blaeu (1571–1638), Dutch cartographer and father of Joan Blaeu * Joan Blaeu (1596–1673), Dutch cartographer and son of Willem Blaeu * ''Blaeu Atlas of Scotland'', by Joan Blaeu, published in 1654 * ''Atlas Blaeu'' ...

'' Atlas of Scotland'' (1654) stated that the island was "neither inhabited nor cultivated". The ''Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland'', published in 1848, stated that the island was uninhabited. Finally, the Ordnance Survey map of 1882 doesn't indicate any significant building or habitation, although the enclosure mentioned below would seem to be present. Whether the island was uninhabited prior to 1654 is less certain since the ''Descriptions of Orkney'', written in 1529, states that the entire population of an island, "Southay" presumed to refer to Switha, is said to have died while sailing to a Christmas celebration on a neighboring island, and the island had never been populated since. In addition, there are archeological remains that could represent old dwellings, for instance a stone closure at the southern end of the island.

Agricultural use

The island would seem to have had a long history of use for agriculture, at least for keeping stock. In current times the island is wholly used for sheep grazing. Older texts support the island's use for other livestock however, for instance it is recorded that in 1747–48, 11 oxen were kept on Switha, part of the

Burray Burray () is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. It lies to the east of Scapa Flow and is one of a chain of islands linked by the Churchill Barriers. Geography and geology Burray lies between Mainland, Orkney and South Ronaldsay, and is ...

inventory.

Notes

References

* *Omand, Donald (ed.) (2003) ''The Orkney Book''. Edinburgh. Birlinn. *Harris, Mike P and Wanless, Sarah (2011) "The Puffin". Poyser Monographs. {{coord, 58.79734, N, 3.10054, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(ND365905), display=title Special Protection Areas in Scotland Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Orkney Uninhabited islands of Orkney