ST MAGNUS CATHEDRAL
KIRKWALL, ORKNEY ISLANDS
DAMIAN ENTWISTLE, IAN S.
&
PAUL SCOTT
St Magnus Cathedral is a very old Scottish Cathedral located in Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands – an island group found just to the north of mainland Scotland. The main photographic contributors to this site are Damian Entwistle and ‘Ian S.’,whose photos are used under the Creative License scheme, CCL These are acknowledged in the text, and more fully accredited in the Conclusion at the end of this site. I have also used a number of photographs from the Street View in Google Maps. The initials DE, IS, and GSV are used to denote our contributors. A few other CCL photographers are acknowledged directly in the text.
A plan and brief history of this interesting Cathedral are given below. For now, or for later reference, here are some quick links to various locations around the Cathedral.
PLAN
The plan shows the Cathedral to have a simple cruciform shape. The WC unit is a late addition. The transepts have an open Western side; I am not sure about the configuration on the Eastern side: perhaps vestries?
In fact the Cathedral is oriented so that the St Rognvald Chapel (‘sanctuary’) is facing geographically almost due east. This means that our liturgical directions (using capital letters, e.g. East) coincide almost exactly with the geographical directions.
In our exploration of this Cathedral we begin near the West end, and walk right around the outside in a clockwise direction. We then enter by the West door and walk right around the interior in a clockwise direction before returning to look at the choir and altar.
HISTORY
Year Built: 1137 ...
Address: Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, UK KW15 1NY
St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in Scotland, and the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom, a fine example of Romanesque architecture built for the bishops of Orkney when the islands were ruled by the Norse Earls of Orkney. It is owned not by the church, but by the burgh of Kirkwall as a result of an act of King James III of Scotland following Orkney's annexation by the Scottish Crown in 1468. It has its own dungeon.
Construction began in 1137, and it was added to over the next 300 years. The first bishop was William the Old, and the diocese was under the authority of the Archbishop of Nidaros in Norway. It was for Bishop William that the nearby Bishop's Palace was built.
Before the Reformation, the cathedral was presided over by the Bishop of Orkney, whose seat was in Kirkwall. Today, it is a parish church of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and therefore technically no longer a cathedral.
[There is much more interesting information on the Wikipedia site.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Magnus_Cathedral
