Kirkwall was formerly the site of an ancient Norse town founded approximately 1000 years ago. Today, it is a transport hub with ferries to many locations.
■ History
The town was first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046, when it was recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason, the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty. In 1486, King James III of Scotland elevated Kirkwall to the status of a royal burgh. On the western edge of the town, surrounded by Hatston Industrial Estate, there is a prehistoric monument, known as the ”Grain Earth House” (see Historic Scotland). It is a short, low, stone-walled passage, deep underground, leading to a small pillared chamber. This kind of earth house (or ”souterrain”) is characteristic of the Northern Isles (although the Grain Earth House is unusually deep below ground). It was originally connected to a surface dwelling, which has since disappeared. The purpose of these Iron Age structures remains unknown. Further west, towards Grimbister, there is a similar structure, known as Rennibister Earth House.
■ Governance
Kirkwall is the administrative centre of Orkney, and the site of the headquarters of both Orkney Islands Council and NHS Orkney. From 1708 to 1918, Kirkwall was a parliamentary burgh, and was combined with Dingwall, Dornoch, Tain and Wick to form the Northern Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain (1708–1801) and then of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1801–1918). (Cromarty was added to this constituency in 1832.) The constituency was a district of burghs known as the Tain Burghs until 1832, and then as the Wick Burghs. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP) until 1918, when the constituency was abolished and Kirkwall was merged politically into the county constituency of Orkney and Shetland. Modern roadsigns still say ”The City and Royal Burgh of Kirkwall”, even though Kirkwall is not technically a city. (See city status in the United Kingdom.) In the 1784–85 term, the well-known outspoken Liberal Charles James Fox represented Tain in the British Parliament. His political opponents fiercely objected to his having been elected from his usual constituency, Westminster； the unlikely resolution of this dispute was that Fox was made a burgess of Kirkwall.
■ Geography
Kirkwall is 130 miles (210 kilometres) north of Aberdeen and 528 mi (850 km) north of London. It is situated on the northern coast of Mainland, Orkney with its harbours in the bay of Kirkwall to the north, and with Scapa Flow 1.4 mi (2.3 km) to the south. Its parish, St Ola, forms the isthmus between Firth and Holm. It is the most populous island settlement in Scotland.
■ Demography
The population of Kirkwall is continuously on the rise. The population was predicted to be about 10,000 in 2018.
■ Economy
Kirkwall harbour with nearly 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) of quay edge is the second commercial hub for Orkney after Hatston. There is a Marina, and support for fishing and dive vessels. After extensive work on harbour facilities, the town has become a popular cruise ship stop, with several ships arriving each week in the season. This has added to the prosperity of the town and allowed a thriving sector of independently owned shops. Each year now, 140 cruise ships visit Kirkwall and Stromness.Weaving in Orkney took place from Viking times, with John Sclater ＆ Co involved in Tweed production in Kirkwall in the 1970s. They used the brand names Norsaga and Jarltex.
■ Culture and community
The Orkney Library and Archive is in Kirkwall. Kirkwall also has the most northerly of the world’s Carnegie libraries, which was opened by Andrew Carnegie and his wife in 1909. The building survives, although the library has since moved to a larger building on Junction Road. The town has two museums, the larger being The Orkney Museum in Tankerness House, which contains items of local historical interest within one of Scotland’s best-preserved 16th-century town-houses. It is a Category A listed building Scotland. The prehistoric, Pictish and Viking collections are of international importance. The other museum is the Orkney Wireless Museum, dealing with the history of radio and recorded sound. There is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat station.One of the major annual events in the town is the Ba Game, held each Christmas Day and New Year’s Day between the Uppies and the Doonies, each team representing one half of the town.
□■ Media and the arts
The composer Peter Maxwell Davies was among a group which founded the annual St Magnus International Festival which is centred on Kirkwall each midsummer.Orkney Theatre, a 384-seat venue, was opened in 2014 next to Kirkwall Grammar School in The Meadows. It has an orchestra pit which can be made available for use by removing two rows of seats.Kirkwall Harbour can be seen in The Highlands and Islands – A Royal Tour, a 1973 documentary about Prince Charles’ visit to the Highlands and Islands, directed by Oscar Marzaroli. Scottish film-maker Margaret Tait was born in Kirkwall, and many of her films (in particular the Aspects of Kirkwall series) are set there. Long-running The Simpsons character Groundskeeper Willie was born in Kirkwall.
□■ Music scene
Every year the Orkney Rock Festival is hosted across the islands with the majority of the venues being in Kirkwall. Various rock bands that perform annually in the festival are based within Kirkwall, such as Angersay, Bryttania, Razormouth and more. Kirkwall is home to Kirkwall City Pipe Band, the largest pipe band in the Orkney Islands. The band perform several times each year mainly at events such as the Remembrance Day parade or the annual Christmas tree lighting.
■ Landmarks
Kirkwall has many 17th–18th-century houses and other structures in the local vernacular style. Kirkwall also once had a medieval castle, which was destroyed in the 17th century.
■ Transport
Kirkwall is a port with ferry services to Aberdeen and Lerwick, as well as the principal north islands in the group. Hatson pier, the main ferry terminal, is some 2 mi (3 km) outside the town centre.The Aberdeen, Leith, Clyde ＆ Tay Shipping Company operated steamer services to Kirkwall from 1836, with successor companies operating until 2002. Kirkwall Airport, the main airport for Orkney, is 2+1⁄2 mi (4 km) southeast of the town. There are no passenger rail services in Kirkwall, the nearby railways having been industrial or military.
■ Education
Kirkwall Grammar School has been established since circa 1200. The current school building was opened in 2014.The Orkney College main campus is situated in Kirkwall, in a purpose-built building that opened in 2000. Kirkwall has two primary schools, Papdale Primary School which opened in 1955 and Glaitness Primary School which opened in 1979.
■ Religious sites
The ’Kirk’ of Kirkwall was not the Cathedral (which was originally at Birsay), but the 11th-century church of Saint Olaf of Norway. One late medieval doorway survives from this church, and an aumbry from the original church survives within the late 19th-century structure of the present-day Saint Olaf’s Church (Episcopal) in the town’s Dundas Crescent. At the heart of the town stands St. Magnus Cathedral, which was founded in memory of Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney 1108–1117 by Earl (later Saint) Rögnvald Kali. Next to the Cathedral are the ruins of the former Bishop’s Palace and Earl’s Palace.
■ Sport
The Pickaquoy Centre, Orkney’s largest leisure centre, is located in Kirkwall, which opened in 1999 and was extended in 2014. It contains two pools, an indoor sports arena, squash courts, climbing wall, athletics track, synthetic and grass pitches and various exercise/gym studios. Kirkwall Grammar School Sports Centre has indoor sports facilities, and grass and synthetic pitches, available to the public.
■ Twin town – sister city
Kirkwall is twinned with:
■ Notable people
Conran of Orkney, 7th-century Bishop of the Orkneys Stanley Cursiter, Painter and Limner, was born in East Road Ola Gorie, jewellery designer Peter Marshall was educated in Kirkwall Clara Anne Williams (née Rendall), born Kirkwall 24 July 1887, missionary, teacher, and wife of Rev. Aeneas Francon Williams was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind medal in 1946 for her work during WWII being in-charge of Red Cross work in Dooars, Bengal, India.

NW 4.7Km	Orkney
SW 5.9Km	HMS Royal Oak (08)
SW 10.4Km	Scapa Flow
NW 13.2Km	Maeshowe
NW 14.3Km	Stones of Stenness
NW 14.3Km	Heart of Neolithic Orkney
NW 15.6Km	Ring of Brodgar
SW 19.6Km	Stromness
SE 22.0Km	South Ronaldsay

vTourMap カークウォール Kirkwall 柯克沃尔 Kirkwall

vTourMap カークウォール　 Kirkwall　柯克沃尔　 Kirkwall