Mysterious Hidden Gems in Orkney
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The mysterious hidden gems in Orkney are Blackhammer Chambered Cairn, Skara Brae, The Gloup, Knowe Of Yarso, Knap of Howar, Knee of Scabra, Broch of Gurness and Midhowe Tomb and Chambered Cairn.
Orkney is a scatter of green islands off the north coast of Scotland, and few places in Britain feel so heavy with the deep past. Everywhere you turn there are chambered cairns, brochs and prehistoric settlements, many of them five thousand years old, standing quietly in the fields and along the shores.
Some of these places still hold their secrets close, from the stalled burial cairn at Blackhammer on Rousay to the collapsed sea cave known as the Gloup at Deerness, where the waves still surge in under a natural land bridge. There is Skara Brae, the astonishingly complete Neolithic village on the Bay of Skaill, the bone-filled chamber of the Knowe of Yarso, and the ancient farmstead of the Knap of Howar on Papa Westray.
Add the Iron Age tower at the Broch of Gurness and the vast Midhowe cairn, and you have a landscape where the ancient and the unexplained sit side by side. Here are eight mysterious hidden gems to seek out in Orkney.
Blackhammer Chambered Cairn
Photo: N Chadwick via Geograph.org.uk
Blackhammer Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic burial cairn on the green island of Rousay, built around five thousand years ago. It is a long, low mound, and inside a single narrow stone chamber is divided by tall upright slabs into a row of stalls, the kind of tomb found across Orkney.
The outside was finished with care, the stonework laid in neat patterns of angled slabs. Today it is protected by a modern concrete roof, and you climb down through a hatch by a short ladder into the cool, dim space where the dead were once laid.
Free to enter and quietly atmospheric, it is a doorway into the deep past worth seeking out above Eynhallow Sound.
Skara Brae
Photo: C Michael Hogan via Geograph.org.uk
Skara Brae Step up to the edge and you look down into rooms furnished five thousand years ago: stone dressers, box beds and hearths sitting exactly where Neolithic hands set them. Eight or so houses survive on the shore of the Bay of Skaill, sunk into the ground and linked by covered passages, making this the most complete such village anywhere in western Europe.
A great storm tore off the sand covering it in 1850, and careful digging revealed the rest. Historic Environment Scotland now looks after it within a World Heritage Site, with a visitor centre, a full-size replica house to enter and Skaill House close by.
The Gloup
Photo: Chris Downer via Geograph.org.uk
The Gloup is a dramatic collapsed sea cave on the coast at Deerness, on the eastern Mainland of Orkney, within the Mull Head nature reserve. A long, deep chasm in the rock, its roof fallen in, it is cut off from the open sea by a natural land bridge, under which the waves still surge in through a tunnel to the foot of the walls.
Its name comes from an old Norse word for a chasm. Viewing platforms at each end look down into it and out to the arch that links it to the sea, reached on a short walk from a car park.
Seek it out to peer into this strange, half-hidden gulf.
Knowe Of Yarso
Photo: Gordon Hatton via Geograph.org.uk
Knowe Of Yarso When diggers opened this tomb in the 1930s, they found the bones of some thirty people inside, laid alongside those of dozens of red deer. It is a Neolithic chambered tomb set on a hillside above the coast on Rousay in Orkney, a long, low mound covering a stone chamber that upright slabs divide into compartments, entered by a passage from one side.
Historic Environment Scotland now keeps it, reached by a steep walk up from the road. The climb is repaid with a quiet, enigmatic chamber and a wide view over the coast below.
Knap of Howar
Photo: Rude Health via Geograph.org.uk
Knap of Howar Step inside and you find stone shelves, cupboards and a hearth still in place, the fittings of a home some five thousand years old. This Neolithic farmstead on the shore of Papa Westray in Orkney is a pair of stone houses reckoned among the oldest standing buildings in northern Europe, their thick drystone walls rising to head height and joined by a low passage.
They sit right at the water's edge, which the waves are slowly nibbling away. Historic Environment Scotland looks after the site and leaves it open to walk into, so you can stand where farmers stood at the very dawn of settled life in these islands.
Knee of Scabra
Photo: Des Colhoun via Geograph.org.uk
Knee of Scabra is a rocky point on the west coast of the island of Rousay, on the stretch of shore around Scabra Head. This is a wild coast of sea cliffs, caves and a natural arch, walked for its birdlife and its views.
The point itself is little more than a name on the map, out on empty, exposed ground. The coastal path along the west side of Rousay passes this way.
Seek it out for a lonely, atmospheric corner of the island where the land simply runs out into the sea.
Broch of Gurness
Photo: Elliott Simpson via Geograph.org.uk
Broch of Gurness On a low headland facing Rousay stands one of Orkney's best-preserved ancient settlements, an Iron Age broch encircled by a whole village of stone houses. The central tower, a massive drystone round once perhaps ten metres tall, still rises past head height, its thick walls holding stone hearths and cupboards.
Around it the little houses of people who lived here over two thousand years ago crowd along narrow lanes, ringed by deep ditches and ramparts. Centuries later a Viking woman was laid to rest among the ruins.
Wander the lanes and step inside the tower to feel the Iron Age close at hand.
Midhowe Tomb and Chambered Cairn
Photo: Sandy Gerrard via Geograph.org.uk
Midhowe Tomb and Chambered Cairn They call it the Great Ship of Death, and one look at its long, narrow hull of stone explains why. This is the largest and finest of Rousay's many Neolithic cairns, a stalled chamber running more than twenty metres and split by upright slabs into a dozen compartments, where the remains of at least twenty-five people once lay.
A modern building of stone and glass now shelters the whole tomb, with raised walkways that let you look straight down into it from above. It sits on the island's west shore near Midhowe Broch, reached on the same walk to the water, and is cared for by Historic Environment Scotland.
FAQs
What makes Orkney's chambered cairns so mysterious?
These Neolithic tombs, like Blackhammer and the Knowe of Yarso, were built around five thousand years ago and held the bones of many people, sometimes alongside animals such as red deer. Much about how they were used and what they meant to their builders remains uncertain, which is part of their pull.
Can I go inside the cairns at Blackhammer and Midhowe?
Yes. Blackhammer is protected by a modern concrete roof and entered down a short ladder through a hatch, while Midhowe is enclosed in a stone-and-glass building with raised walkways so you look down into the chamber. Both are cared for by Historic Environment Scotland.
How do I reach the sites on Rousay?
Several of these sites, including Blackhammer, the Knowe of Yarso and Midhowe, sit on the island of Rousay and often need a steep walk from the road. Rousay is reached by ferry, so it is worth planning your crossing and your route in advance.
Conclusion
Orkney wears its ancient past openly, yet many of its most atmospheric places still keep their meaning half-hidden. From the stalled cairns of Rousay, Blackhammer, the Knowe of Yarso and the vast Midhowe, to the complete Neolithic village at Skara Brae and the ancient farmstead of the Knap of Howar, these are sites that carry you five thousand years back with every step.
Others, like the collapsed sea cave of the Gloup, the Iron Age Broch of Gurness and the lonely point at the Knee of Scabra, add wilder, stranger notes to the islands. Many need a steep walk, a ferry or a careful eye on the weather, so plan your routes and check access before you go.
Take your time among the stones, and you will find that these are the mysterious hidden gems to seek out in Orkney.
