 The Brough of Deerness is a large grassy rock in the East Mainland of Orkney that juts out into the North Sea. On its top are traces of an Iron Age promontory fort and settlement surrounding the visible remains of an early stone chapel.
According to the Orkneyjar website, "The earliest structure on site was a timber chapel, thought to be pre-Norse and date from the 8th Century...The building then fell out of use until the 11th or 12th century, when it was replaced by a stone structure, surrounded by a low wall. The presence of a stone altar, and the fact that the enclosure was used for Christian burials, confirms this building had a religious purpose, built, presumably, after the Norse conversion to Christianity."
About the Brough of Deerness Chapel
Orkneyjar: Brough of Deerness
Orkneyjar: The Chapel on the Brough of Deerness
Undiscovered Scotland: Brough of Deerness
Journey to the Brough of Deerness Chapel
The Brough of Deerness is located at the far eastern end of the Orkney Mainland after a short walk from the end of the B9050, a minor road off the A960. Visitors have remarked of the danger involved in visiting the site. One visitor has commented, "To get up onto the brough itself is highly dangerous, being a very narrow tortuous path down to the beach and up the cliff-face, where there is at least one section where the chain is over-loose and a place where, when I went up, the ground is a muddy dip." Another visitor suggests going only during low tide.
Ordnance Survey Map (HY596088)
Visitors Information
Visitors information may be found at the geograph.org.uk website. General tourist information for Orkney may be found on the Visit Orkney website.
Additional Photos of the Brough of Deerness Chapel
Sign on Path to the Brough of Deerness Chapel
Descriptive Sign at the Lookout to the Brough of Deerness Chapel
Looking at the Brough of Deerness Chapel (center in distance)
Path Down to Steps to the Brough of Deerness Chapel
Beginning of Steps Up to the Brough of Deerness Chapel
Brough of Deerness Chapel
Brough of Deerness Chapel
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