St Magnus Cathedral

When Orkney was still an earldom under the Norwegian crown, its rule was contested between rival Norse kinsmen. Earl Magnus Erlendsson, remembered for his piety, was killed around 1116 or 1117 on the island of Egilsay after a disputed meeting with his cousin and co-earl Hakon Paulsson, and quickly came to be venerated as a saint and martyr. His nephew, Rognvald Kali Kolsson, pressed his own claim to the earldom. According to the Orkneyinga Saga, his father Kol advised him to vow that, if he won power, he would raise a great stone minster at Kirkwall dedicated to Magnus, grander than any in the islands. The promise helped rally support, and construction began in 1137. The cathedral rose in Romanesque style, built of alternating courses of red sandstone quarried near Kirkwall and yellow sandstone from the island of Eday, with Gothic elements added as work continued in stages over some three centuries. The relics of St Magnus were brought to the new church, and human remains later discovered within a pillar are widely thought to be his. Standing at the heart of the Norse burgh of Kirkwall, the cathedral embodies the wealth and ambition of the Orkney earls during a period when the islands looked to Norway rather than Scotland. It remained the mother church of the Northern Isles through the medieval era and survives today as the only wholly medieval cathedral in Scotland and one of the best-preserved buildings of its era in Britain.

Visitors see a remarkably intact medieval cathedral whose exterior glows with courses of warm red and paler yellow sandstone, rising to a tower and spire above the centre of Kirkwall. The interior is dominated by massive Romanesque piers and rounded arches marching down the nave, giving way to pointed Gothic forms in the later eastern parts. Look for the great piers flanking the choir, said to contain the bones of St Magnus and of Earl Rognvald, and for an unusually rich collection of carved medieval and post-medieval gravestones and memorials, some with grim skull-and-crossbones motifs. The building's scale, colour and cathedral atmosphere, all set within a small northern town, make the strongest impression, along with a sense of the vanished Norse earldom that raised it.

St Magnus Cathedral stands in the centre of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a short walk from the harbour and bus station. Orkney is reached by ferry (from Scrabster, Gills Bay or Aberdeen) or by air to Kirkwall Airport. The cathedral is owned by Orkney Islands Council and remains an active Church of Scotland place of worship; entry to the church is normally free, though donations are welcomed and guided tours of the upper levels may be ticketed and seasonal. The neighbouring ruined Bishop's and Earl's Palaces (in the care of Historic Environment Scotland) and the Orkney Museum are all close by. For current opening times, tour bookings and service schedules, check the official cathedral website rather than relying on fixed figures.