Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 26 on 21/04/2006.

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The Flower of kirkwall

In the latest of our series Ian Mitchell visits visits St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney

Sailing into Kirkwall, the capital of Orkney, one building dominates the skyline, soaring above the medieval town centre, with its close, narrow streets and steeply–pitched roofs: St Magnus Cathedral.

St Magnus is one of the largest ecclesiastical buildings in Scotland, and also one of the oldest. It was founded 500 years before St Paul’s Cathedral in London, being a product of Orkney’s 12th century ‘renaissance.’

The building was commissioned by Earl Rognavald Kali Kolsson (c1135-1158) in memory of his uncle, Magnus Erlandson, who was martyred on the nearby island of Egilsay in 1116. Since Magnus was actually fighting for control of the earldom of Orkney, it is not clear to all scholars why his death was considered to be that of a martyr.

Nonetheless, a small, roofless church with a curious, rounded tower stands in an otherwise empty field on Egilsay marking the spot where the future saint was killed.

Presumably for political reasons, Earl Rognavald, who took control of Orkney in 1137, moved the site of the island’s cathedral from Birsay to its present site in the middle of Kirkwall.

From a cultural point of view, the building of St Magnus represented the flowering of the earldom of Orkney, as its military prowess was already on the wane. The islands were becoming less Viking and more European.

The nascent kingdom of Scotland was rolling back Norse power on the mainland, though it was to be another three centuries before Orkney and Shetland were handed over to Scottis.....

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By Ian Mitchell

Section : Scottish Islands

Page number : 64