place

The Orkney Museum

History museums in ScotlandKirkwallMuseums established in 1968Museums in Orkney
Orkney Museum (geograph 6172873)
Orkney Museum (geograph 6172873)

The Orkney Museum, formerly Tankerness House Museum, is a history museum in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. Run by Orkney Islands Council, the museum covers the history of the Orkney Islands from the Stone Age through the Picts and Vikings to the present day. The museum was founded in 1968 as Tankerness House Museum and in 1999 changed its name to The Orkney Museum. Items in the collection include the Viking 'dragon' whalebone plaque from the Scar boat burial, a Pictish symbol stone from the Knowe of Burrian, and the wooden box in which the remains of Saint Magnus Erlendsson were kept.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article The Orkney Museum (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

The Orkney Museum
Broad Street,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: The Orkney MuseumContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 58.9815 ° E -2.9608 °
placeShow on map

Address

Broad Street 25,27,29
KW15 1DH
Scotland, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Orkney Museum (geograph 6172873)
Orkney Museum (geograph 6172873)
Share experience

Nearby Places

St Magnus Cathedral
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. It is the oldest cathedral in Scotland, and the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom, a fine example of Romanesque architecture built for the bishops of Orkney when the islands were ruled by the Norse Earls of Orkney. It is owned not by the church, but by the burgh of Kirkwall as a result of an act of King James III of Scotland following Orkney's annexation by the Scottish Crown in 1468. The cathedral has its own dungeon. People accused of witchcraft in Orkney from 1594-1708 were usually incarcerated in the church, with their trials also held here. Construction began in 1137, and it was added to over the next 300 years. The first bishop was William the Old, and the diocese was under the authority of the Archbishop of Nidaros in Norway. It was for Bishop William that the nearby Bishop's Palace was built. Before the Reformation, the cathedral was presided over by the Bishop of Orkney, whose seat was in Kirkwall. Today, it is a parish church of the Church of Scotland (with a Presbyterian system of Church governance), but remains consecrated grounds and place of worship within the Roman Catholic Church with occasional Catholic services taking place. The congregation of St Magnus Cathedral is now (since 1 October 2024) part of Orkney Islands Church of Scotland - a single ecclesiastical parish staffed by a team ministry.