Papay: Heritage

The Kelp Store near the Old Pier has been renovated by Papay Development Trust, and it is now open as a Craft & Heritage Centre. It was used for storing kelp – an alkali substance produced by burning seaweed which was in great demand by the soap- and glass-making industries. In the boom years of […]

Walking around the shores of Papay one can see a number of these boat shelters cut into the dunes.  The lack of any natural harbour here meant that the fishing boats had to be dragged out of the water and well above the high tide line after every trip.  Of the 17 known sites round […]

At the centre of the island is the impressive steading of Holland, which until the end of the 19th century was the hub of a large estate which owned all the island and land on Westray and the Mainland as well.  The extensive range of buildings, including a circular mill-tramp, corn-drying kiln etc, date from […]

On a small promontory jutting into St Tredwell’s Loch from the east, is a confusion of ruined buildings. At the core of the mound is an Iron Age fortification, but the rectangular walls on the top are those of a medieval chapel. St Tredwell is mentioned in a late medieval account of the mission that […]

Papay Development Trust now offer a boat service to get to the Holm from Papay itself. The south tomb is an exceptionally large Neolithic chambered cairn, with unusual carvings on the lintels above some of the chambers. At the north end of this uninhabited island is a small stalled cairn, of even earlier date, which […]