Discovering Orkney's Wartime History on a Quiet Walk

By Spotting Puffins and Seabirds on Orkney's Cliffs
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1 Aug 2026

Discovering Orkney's Wartime History on a Quiet Walk

Why the Coast Still Tells the Story

Orkney's place in the two world wars is written along its shoreline. Scapa Flow was the anchorage of the Grand Fleet in the First World War and a vital naval base in the Second, and the islands around it filled with batteries, boom defences, huts and lookouts. When the Navy left, the concrete stayed.

The good news for anyone visiting is that you do not need to be a historian, or especially fit, to get close to it. Some of the best remains sit a short, level walk from a car park, on ground that drains well and rewards an hour or two of gentle wandering. You will need a waterproof jacket, decent boots and a willingness to stop and look properly.

A Gentle Circuit at Hoxa Head

On South Ronaldsay, a low headland looks straight across Hoxa Sound towards Hoy. This was one of the main defensive approaches to Scapa Flow, and the headland is still covered in the infrastructure built to protect it. A rough track leads from the roadside out towards the point, mostly grass and gravel, rising and falling just enough to feel like a proper walk without ever being a climb. Allow an hour and a half, or two if you like to linger.

The rewards come quickly. Within a few minutes you are walking between concrete emplacements, with wide views over the Flow and the Hoy hills beyond. On a clear day the light is extraordinary; on a grey day it is atmospheric in a completely different way, which is rather the point.

What You Are Actually Looking At

It helps to know what you are seeing, because much of it looks like little more than weathered concrete until you understand the layout.

Gun emplacements: circular concrete holds where anti-aircraft and coastal guns once stood, usually with a low wall and a ready-use ammunition recess beside them.
Magazines and shelters: the low, earth-covered bunkers set back from the guns, where shells and crews were kept out of the blast.
Searchlight platforms: flat pads at the very edge of the cliff, positioned so a beam could sweep the sound at night.
Observation posts: small square structures with narrow slits, used for spotting ships and aircraft and directing fire.
Boom defences: out in the water, blockships were deliberately sunk to close the channels. Some are still visible at low tide, rusting quietly in the shallows.

Take your time. It is worth sitting on a wall for ten minutes and imagining the noise, the cold and the sheer number of people who once stood in the same spot.

The Churchill Barriers and the Italian Chapel

After the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in October 1939, with the loss of more than 800 lives, the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow were closed for good. The result was the Churchill Barriers, four causeways linking the Mainland to Lamb Holm, Glims Holm, Burray and South Ronaldsay.

They were built largely by Italian prisoners of war, who were housed in camps on the islands. On Lamb Holm, using a Nissen hut and whatever materials they could find, they built the Italian Chapel, which remains one of the most moving small buildings in Scotland. It is open to visitors and takes very little time to see.

A practical note: the barriers carry the main road and have no proper footway in places, so treat them as a drive rather than a stroll. Park sensibly at the chapel and enjoy the walk around it instead. If you want more, the wartime story continues on Hoy at Lyness, where the naval base once employed thousands.

Practical Notes for a Quiet Walk

Footwear: waterproof boots rather than trainers. Even in a dry spell, the ground around concrete ruins holds water.
Weather: Orkney wind is the real feature. Layers, a hood, and a spare pair of gloves in a rucksack will transform your day.
Navigation: take a paper map, as mobile signal is patchy on the headlands. Paths are usually obvious but can braid across open ground.
Livestock and gates: leave every gate as you find it, and keep dogs on a lead near sheep and around nesting birds between April and July.
Daylight: in midwinter there are only around six hours of usable light, so start early and tell someone where you are going.
Respect the remains: many of these sites are scheduled monuments. Do not climb on unstable concrete or pocket anything as a souvenir.

Back to a Warm Guest House

The pleasure of a walk like this is what comes afterwards: boots off, kettle on, and the chance to compare notes with other guests over dinner. A good Orkney guest house will have a drying room for wet kit, a flask you can borrow, and hosts who know exactly which headland suits the forecast tomorrow.

Ask them where the local wartime sites are, and you will often get a story that no guidebook carries — a gun that misfired, a hut that became a byre, a piece of concrete that a farmer has quietly worked around for seventy years. That local knowledge is worth more than any audio guide.

So pack a flask, pick a dry-ish morning, and walk out towards the coast. The soldiers and sailors who once watched these sounds have long gone, but the islands have kept their footprints, and a quiet hour on a headland is the best way to hear about them.

Heritage

Watching Seals and Otters Along the Orkney Shore

The coastal path offers dramatic cliffs, quiet bays and abundant wildlife. Break the route into manageable sections for a relaxed walking holiday.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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