South Ronaldsay

South Ronaldsay is the most southerly of the Orkney Islands, with its main settlement at St Margaret's Hope, and a population in 2011 of 909.

Burray just north has always been joined by a sandy spit to South Ronaldsay. But during the Second World War a chain of road causeways, the "Churchill Barriers", was built by Italian POWs to protect Scapa Flow from seaborne attack; so South Ronaldsay, Burray and the two little islands of Lamb Holm and Glims Holm effectively became part of Orkney Mainland.

Mostly these islands are farmland raising cattle and sheep. But such strategic sheep! Churchill knew it was illegal to use POW labour for military construction, even if purely defensive. So the official line was that the causeways were just to help farmers move their sheep around, nothing military. And since they were only completed by the end of the war, and have only served as peacetime roadways, the great man was vindicated.

Like North Ronaldsay, South Ronaldsay is named for Rögnvald Kali Kolsson (1100-1158) the Earl of Orkney, canonised as St Ronald.

Get in

Vér hǫfum vaðnar leirur vikur fimm megingrimmar; saurs vasa vant, es vârum, viðr, í Grímsbœ miðjum.

"Muck, slime, mud. We waded for five mired weeks, reeking, silt-fouled bilge-boards souring in Grimsby bay."

- poetry by Earl Rognvald, who travelled as far as Jerusalem.

A961 is the good road along the causeways to Mainland, which has the main town of Kirkwall, the airport, and the ferry port for Aberdeen and Shetland. Bus X1 runs down this road every couple of hours from Stromness and Kirkwall, as far as St Margaret's Hope; it doesn't reach Burwick. Two ferries from the Scottish mainland arrive in South Ronaldsay:

• 1 St Margaret's Hope receives the car ferry from Gill's Bay. It's operated by Pentland Ferries, sails three times daily, and takes an hour. St Margaret's Hope is 30 min by car or bus X1 from Kirkwall.
• 2 Burwick near the south tip of the island receives the ferry from John O'Groats. This is for foot passengers and cyclists only, operated by Jogferry. It takes only 40 min and sails 2 or 3 times a day May-Sep, no winter service. A connecting coach runs between Inverness and John O'Groats, then another coach runs on between Burwick and Kirkwall.

The other ferries from mainland Scotland are Scrabster-Stromness and Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Shetland, see Orkney Islands#Get in.

Get around

You need your own wheels. Cycling is ideal. The main road is busy and mostly lacks a sidewalk so walking it is no fun.

See

• 1 Italian Chapel, Lamb Holm, ☏ +44 1856 781580. Apr-Sep daily 9AM-5:30PM. This was built 1943-45 by Italian prisoners of war who were constructing the Churchill Barriers. It was cobbled together from two Nissen huts and any bits and pieces the Italians could scrape up, and ornately decorated. Mass is still held here on the first Sunday of the month. Adult £4. (updated Jul 2024)
• Blockships are the wrecks seen near the causeways. They were placed to protect Scapa Flow from U-boat attack and sufficed for World War I, but proved inadequate at the start of World War II when U47 threaded its way through and torpedoed HMS Royal Oak with the loss of 835 lives. It was Britain's Belgrano, an elderly ship barely suitable for front-line service, but a hammer blow to morale at the outset of war (ARA General Belgrano was an Argentine ship sunk by the British in 1982). Royal Oak is a war grave and may not be dived, but the blockships are popular especially for rookie divers as they're shallow and scenic.
• 2 Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre, Viewforth, Burray KW17 2SY, ☏ +44 1856 731255. May-Sep daily 10AM-5PM. Extensive collection of fossils from Orkney and around the world, an exhibition on the Churchill Barriers, and on Orkney history. Only some of the galleries are wheelchair accessible. Adult £6, conc or child £4. (updated Jul 2024)
• The Tomb of the Eagles, a Chambered Cairn at Isbister, closed permanently in 2022.
• Smiddy Museum in St Margaret's Hope is open Apr-Sep daily 2-4:30PM.
• Sorquoy Standing Stone is next to Wheems Organic Farm, see Sleep.
• Tomb of the Otters or "Banks Chambered Cairn" lies just south. It's also from circa 3000 BC, and so far is only partially explored. It wasn't sealed, so over the centuries many otters lived and died within, to mingle with the human remains. Open May-Sep: 11AM-5PM, adult £6. As of July 2024 it is closed with no indication of when it may reopen.
• 3 Swona is the island seen west of the tip of South Ronaldsay. It's about a mile long by half a mile wide, with similar low terrain overlying red sandstone. The last inhabitants left in 1974 and their herd of cattle went feral, now forming a separate breed. Swona is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its rare plants and teeming bird-life, and has prehistoric and Norse remains. There is no ferry service, and fierce currents surround it so only experienced knowledgeable sailors should approach, but you can see the abandoned farmsteads from the ferry towards St Margaret's Hope. Another hazard to sailors can be seen at the landing cove to the northeast: a beached boat has been holed by the feral cattle using it as a rubbing post.
• Stroma the island southwest and Muckle Skerry the islet directly south are considered part of Caithness on the Scottish mainland. No-one there, just sheep, and no plans to build a causeway even if those helpful Italians volunteer.

Do

Tomb of the Eagles

• Hoxa Head is the headland 3 miles west of St Margaret's Hope. Follow School Road (B9043) west out of the village to Sands of Wright. A long walk starts here, up along the quiet lane, or drive or cycle to the lane end for a shorter walk. This follows the cliff-top, past the ruins of a World War II gun battery. It used to be possible to short-cut back across the fields, but this path is now closed off.
• Fossil-hunting: Burray Island has a red sandstone shoreline.
• Golf: South Ronaldsay GC is a nine-hole course in St Margaret's Hope. Twice around off white tees is 5004 yards, par 68.

Buy

• Doull's supermarket is on Church Rd in St Margaret's Hope, open M-Sa 8:30AM-5:30PM.
• The Old Trading Post is a small store and Post Office in St Margaret's Hope, open M-Sa 8AM-7PM, Su 10AM-6PM.

Eat

Best bet is Murray Arms in St Margaret's Hope and Sands Hotel on Burray.

Drink

• Robertson's Coffeehoose & Bar in St Margaret's Hope is open year round, M Tu 4-10PM, W Th Su noon-10PM, F Sa noon-1AM.

Sleep

St Margaret's Hope

• 1 Sands Hotel, Pier Rd, Burray KW17 2SS, ☏ +44 1856 731298. Clean spacious hotel overlooking Scapa Flow. B&B double £180. (updated Jul 2024)
• VitaVer is a bright clean B&B on Burray, 200 yards west of Sands Inn.
• Sunnyside Campsite on the main road across Burray has space for a few mobile homes.
• 2 Murray Arms Hotel, Back Rd, St Margaret's Hope KW17 2SP, ☏ +44 1856 831205. Comfy hotel handy for Gill's Bay ferry, with great dining. B&B double £120. (updated Jul 2024)
• 3 Wheems Organic Farm, East Side KW17 2TJ, ☏ +44 1856 831556. Open all year, this farm has a campsite, campervan pitches, glamping pods, and the inevitable yurt (Kyrgyzstani style, if you're a connoisseur of these). Also a self-catering loft and cottage. Dogs allowed in some areas. Tent £20, hook-up £25. (updated Jul 2024)

Connect

As of July 2024, South Ronaldsay has a basic mobile signal from Three, which extends along the highway north across Burray onto Mainland. There is no signal from EE, O2 or Vodafone.

Go next

It's either back along the causeway towards Kirkwall and other parts of Orkney, or take a ferry south to the Scottish mainland.