St Magnus Church, Birsay is a 17th-century church located in the parish of

Birsay Birsay () (Old Norse: ''Birgisherað'') is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle. There are various ancien ...

Mainland, Orkney The Mainland, also known as 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 Orkney's popu ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Built in 1664 on the site of an earlier, 11th-century church, St Magnus was later expanded in 1760 and 1867. The graveyard surrounding the church dates to the 18th century. The church building is now maintained by the St Magnus Church Birsay Trust.

Description

St Magnus's Church is located in the village of Birsay in the northwest area of Mainland, Orkney in Scotland. It is a rectangular building with a harled exterior, round-headed windows and gabled ends. The western

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

contains an original birdcage style

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

. The church has a small southwest porch, possibly dating from the 1867 remodel. The church has a plain interior, its only adornment an early 20th-century, three-panel

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window, decorated with images of the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

and the life of St Magnus. In the north and south walls are remnants of the earlier medieval church. These include a narrow blocked round-arched door, a small, blocked

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

in the north wall, and another blocked lancet window in the south wall. There is also a late medieval font, made of

red sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains, cemented together by another mineral. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed o ...

. The font's octagonal bowl is inscribed with a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. The graveyard surrounding the church contains several

gravestones A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

dating to the mid and late 18th century.

History

The church was built in 1664 on the site of a previous church, built between 1050 and 1064 by Earl Thorfinn of Orkney. It was originally called Christ Church (or Christ's Kirk). The earlier church is the temporary burial location of

Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney, sometimes known as Magnus the Martyr, was Earl of Orkney from 1106 to about 1117. Magnus's grandparents, Thorfinn the Mighty, Jarl of Orkney and his wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, had two sons, Erlend an ...

, also known as St Magnus, who was murdered on the island of

Egilsay Egilsay (, ) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, lying east of Rousay. The anglicized name of Eagleshay was used in past centuries. The island is largely farmland and is known for St Magnus Church, Egilsay, St Magnus Church, dedicated or r ...

in 1116. When Earl Magnus was declared a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

around 1136, his bones were exhumed at the church and placed in a

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

on top of an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. The saint's bones were later moved to the new

St Magnus Cathedral St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. Originally Roman Catholic, it is the oldest cathedral in Scotland and the most northerly cathedral in the ...

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) 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 wi ...

, which was built in honour of the popular saint. The early medieval church was built in a cruciform plan. What is left of the early church is the blocked round-arched door, and two small blocked lancet windows. In 1760, the church was remodeled and expanded to its current rectangular plan. In 1867, a small porch was added to the building. Around 1900, a three panel stained-glass window was designed by Mrs Loveday McPherson, and executed by Alex Strachan, brother of stained glass artist,

Douglas Strachan Douglas Strachan Hon. RSA (26 May 1875, Aberdeen, Scotland – 20 November 1950) is considered the most significant Scottish designer of stained glass windows in the 20th century. He is best known for his windows at the Peace Palace in The Hagu ...

. The window was installed in the east wall of the church in 1904. St Magnus has been designated a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

since 1971. The church continued to be used as a parish church until 1996. It was then given by the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

to a new established local trust, The St Magnus Church Birsay Trust. The trust is responsible for the preservation and maintenance of historic buildings. In 2012 the Church of Scotland opened the new Milestone Community Church building at Vetquoy Road, Dounby, which now serves the communities of Birsay, Harray and Sandwick. Since October 2024 the former ecclesiastical parish of Birsay, Harray and Sandwick has been part of the united

Orkney Islands Church of Scotland On 1 October 2024, almost all of the former parish churches in Orkney united to create a single Orkney Islands Church of Scotland staffed by a team ministry. It is part of the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of the North East and the Northern Isles ...

Gallery

St_magnus_church_birsay.jpg St_magnus_church_birsay_from_west.jpg St_Magnus_Church_Birsay_20110523_lancet_window.jpg St_Magnus_Church,_Birsay_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2364423.jpg St_Magnus_Church_Birsay_20110523_east_window.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birsay, Saint Magnus Churches in Orkney Scheduled monuments in Orkney

Description

History

Gallery

See also

References