Deerness

Brough of Deerness showing foundations of an early Celtic Church monastery.
Covenanters' Memorial, Deerness. A memorial to 200 covenanters who drowned when their prison ship foundered in a storm.

Deerness (Old Norse: Dyrnes[1][2]) is a quoad sacra parish (i.e. one created and functioning for ecclesiastical purposes only) and peninsula in Mainland, Orkney. It is about 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) south east of Kirkwall. Deerness forms a part of the civil parish of St. Andrews and Deerness.[3]

It consists chiefly of the peninsula, but also takes in its surrounding islets of Copinsay, the Horse of Copinsay and Corn Holm.[4] The Brough of Deerness is the site of an early Christian monastery near the north eastern tip of the peninsula. The Gloup is a sea-cave approximately 40 metres (44 yd) long and 25 metres (82 ft) deep just south of the Brough.[5]


Edwin Muir was born in Deerness in 1887.

References

  1. Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN 0-901824-25-9
  2. Pedersen, Roy (January 1992) Orkneyjar ok Katanes (map, Inverness, Nevis Print)
  3. "Scrol Analyser". General Register Office for Scotland. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  4. Rev. John Marius Wilson (1882) The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland. Vol.I Edinburgh. W. & A.K. Johnstone
  5. "deerness". VisitScotland. Retrieved 25 July 2013.


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Coordinates: 58°56′45″N 2°45′15″W / 58.94583°N 2.75417°W / 58.94583; -2.75417


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