Old Photograph St Peter's Church Birsay Orkney Islands Scotland

Old photograph of St Peter's Church, Birsay Orkney Islands, Scotland. This site is situated in the remains of a burial ground, and has seen repeated phases of occupation. The earliest settlement being a 6th Century Celtic monastery, replaced in the ninth century by Viking farmsteads. It became the site of Earl thorfinn's Christ Church, the earliest Norse Church in Orkney. in the eleventh century. This was superseded by a Cathedral, traditionally dedicated to St Peter, in the twelfth century, which remained in use as a parish church until the thirteenth century. The Bishop's palace to the north remained in use until at least the fourteenth century. Despite being made obsolete by the construction of Kirkwall Cathedral, the site continued to be a site for pilgrimage until the Scottish Reformation.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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