Skara Brae, Skaill Bay, Orkney, Scotland

One place that I suspect everyone visiting Orkney makes for first is Skara Brae, a 5,000 year old neolithic settlement which was uncovered after a huge storm in 1850 displaced the sand that had been hiding it for thousands of years. It does look very like The Flintstones with the furniture being made of stone. I rather like the ‘sideboard’ which is situated opposite the front door, pride of place.

Skara Brae, Orkney, neolithic dwelling, Scotland

There are the remains of several different buildings, one of which seems to have been a workshop.

Skara Brae, neolithic dwelling, Scotland

There is a reconstruction of a house on the site too, but it’s dark and was full of people (quiet scary nowadays) so it wasn’t possible to take photos. But you can see some photos here.

Skara Brae, neolithic dwelling, Orkney, Scotland

Skara Brae, Orkney, neolithic dwelling, Scotland

Skara Brae, neolithis settlement, Orkney, Scotland

Skara Brae Map, Orkney, Scotland, plan

As the site is right on the edge of the sea it’s only a matter of time before it’s lost completely as the rough weather will eventually overcome the area and wash it all away, I wonder how much has already been lost.

Bay of Skaill, Orkney, Scotland

Skara Brae, Orkney

We were quite lucky as we got to Skara Brae before it became too busy, we looked around the remains and then walked along the beach, and when we got back to Skara Brae three tour coaches had arrived. I don’t think it can be quite the same experience when there are that many people there.

Skara Brae plaque

As you can see Skara Brae is situated close to a beach. It was a huge storm back in 1850 which resulted in a huge amount of sand being cleared away, uncovering the remains of the Neolithic dwellings. This settlement is 5,000 years old, older than Stonehenge. According to the historian Neil Oliver Orkney was the centre of the world back then!

first structure

The rectangular ‘boxes’ on the right of the photo are the beds, they would have been filled with heather and animal skins to make them cosy.

house  at Skara Brae

It is a bit like The Flintstones, with all the furniture being made from rocks, but I really like the shelves/dresser. Some Stone Age woman was really proud of her home and did her best to make it comfortable.

shelves

This is a view of Skaill beach from the edge of Skara Brae.

Skaill Beach, Orkney

Visit Scotland – Orkney

Scapa Flow

One of the places we hope to visit this year is Orkney, doesn’t the photo of Scapa Flow above look great?! It’s all incredibly historic, or maybe I mean pre-historic.

The photo below is of Skara Brae, I’ve wanted to go there for years even although I thought it was just what you can see in the photo, but last week I saw it on TV and the site is much bigger than this. The dwellings are 5,000 years old.

Skara Brae

You can see lots more photos of Orkney on Visit Scotland here.