| Scots name | Sooth Waas |
|---|---|
| Old Norse name | Vágaland/Vágar |
.jpg) Cantick Head lighthouse on South Walls | |
| Location | |
  South Walls South Walls shown within Orkney | |
| OS grid reference | ND304895 |
| Coordinates | 58°47′16″N3°12′18″W / 58.78788°N 3.2049°W /58.78788; -3.2049 |
| Physical geography | |
| Island group | Orkney |
| Area | 1,100 ha (4.2 sq mi)[1] |
| Area rank | 47 [2] |
| Highest elevation | 57 m (187 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Council area | Orkney Islands |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
 | |
| References | [3][4][5][6][7] |
South Walls, often referred to asWalls, is an island inOrkney, Scotland. It is connected to the island ofHoy, and to the district of North Walls, by a causeway known asThe Ayre. Its largest settlement isLonghope, which lies on a longnatural harbour of the same name.[8][9] Both North and South Walls belong to thecivil parish of Walls andFlotta.[10]
South Walls is a popular stopping off place forbarnacle geese.
The Norse name of Vágaland, meaning "land of bays" applied to both what is now South Walls and the southern portion of nearby Hoy.[11] Over time this becameScots:Wais[12] (variously spelled) for the whole area andScots:Sooth Waas meaning "southern bays" for the island.[7] As forKirkwall, earlycartographers assumed "waa" was a local pronunciation of "wall", hence the modern name.[7][13]
South Walls, like most of the Orkney archipelago, is made up ofold red sandstone, with theRousay flagstone group predominating.[14] It is more or less oval in shape, although there is a small promontory called Cantick Head in the southeast, overlooking Kirk Hope. It is separated from Hoy by the inlet of Longhope. The body of water south of the Ayre is known as Aith Hope.
Although it is clear that South Walls is inhabited as it was not listed as an inhabited island by the census[15][16] no reliable estimate of the current population is available.
In the past various descriptions suggest that South Walls was usually considered to be an island.
The Vision of Britain map of 1856 shows a drying gap between the islands of Hoy and South Walls.[21]
A road linking South Walls to Hoy was constructed in 1912. Prior to that time it had only been accessible by land across theshingle beach of the Ayre at low tide.[22] Its status is now considered by some writers as a peninsula attached to Hoy and by others as still being an island. Some examples are given below.
Neither the 2001 or 2011 censuses mention South Walls in their lists of inhabited islands.[15][16] In 2001 the General Register Office for Scotland defined an island as "a mass of land surrounded by water, separate from the Scottish mainland" and although the inclusion of islands linked man-made constructions is not clear from this definition in practice they list several separately that are joined to one another by bridges and causeways such asSouth Ronaldsay in Orkney or are tidal islands such asEilean Shona andErraid in theHebrides.
South Walls is listed in Livingstone's comprehensive Scottish island tables[1] but theGazetteer for Scotland states that it is "a peninsula, sometimes described as an island."[23] Haswell-Smith states that South Walls "was an island" until the causeway over the Ayre was constructed.[3] For similar reasons he excludesSkye amongst others that are considered by others as having island status.[24][15]
South Walls features fairly prominently in the Norse period, partly because it was the first landfall when sailing from westCaithness orSutherland. It and North Walls were known to the Norsemen asVágaland, the land of voes or bays.[11]
South Walls also played a crucial role in the Christianisation of Orkney. Although Christianity in the islands predated the Norse by a number of years, the Norse often remained pagan.Olaf Tryggvasson, King ofNorway forced the Earl of Orkney,Sigurd Hloðvisson to be baptised at South Walls.[25] Earl Sigurd accepted, and remained a nominal Christian the rest of his life. However, he did so under duress - King Olaf had manyvalas (Norseshamans) executed by being tied and left on a skerry at ebb. This was a long and terrible wait for death, and perhaps Earl Sigurd expected a similar fate.
Walter Stewart's "Chorographic Description" of Orkney and Shetland says of South Walls:
Its south coast is gnawed at as if by a rabid dog by the Pentland Firth; its waves like so many teeth are strongly resisted by the very high and hard cliffs which stretch out before this island, and blunt the bite. It enjoys from and in itself quite a good production of crops, pastures, fish sea- and land-birds, and ponies. There are very many buildings on it and very many spirited inhabitants, in particular a dwelling called Snelsetter to the south, and one called Melsetter to the west. It also has an anchorage for ships not far from Snelsetter, quite commodious.[18]
Overlooking Longhope in the north east isHackness Martello Tower and Battery. The tower, together with another on the north side at Crockness on Hoy, was built in 1815 to protect British ships in the bay of Longhope against attack by American and French privateers, during theNapoleonic Wars, while they waited for a Royal Navy escort on their journey to Baltic ports.[27] The towers were rearmed forWorld War I. Hackness Martello Tower and Battery is in the care ofHistoric Environment Scotland.[26]
Cantick Head is well known for its lighthouse designed and built byDavid andThomas Stevenson and first lit in July 1858 and automated in 1991.[28]In 1912, the Ayre causeway was built between Hoy and South Walls, permanently connecting the two islands.
South Walls has substantial remains from theSecond World War, whenScapa Flow was used as aRoyal Navy base.
A lifeboat has been stationed on Hoy since 1874, at first housed in a prominent stone building close to the west end of the causeway that links the two islands of Hoy and South Walls. In 2000 anArun-class lifeboat,Sir Max Aitken II became the Longhope lifeboat. This class was designed to stay permanently afloat, and the decision was taken to move her to purpose-built moorings at Longhope pier. The lifeboats that have served here since have also been stationed at Longhope, including the current vessel theHelen Comrie (aTamar-class lifeboat) and her predecessorThe Queen Mother, which was based here between 2004 and 2006. A station has been built where the lifeboat is moored at Longhope which is also the main harbour for boats to and from the island.[29][4]
Barnacle geese regularly over-winter on South Walls with numbers often exceeding 1500.[30] Many species of seabirds nest on the cliffs includingrazorbills,fulmar andguillemots. Butterflies such asmeadow browns andcommon blues can be seen in the summer. TheScottish primrose can be found at theScottish Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Hill of White Hamars on the south coast.[7][31]
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58°47′24″N3°10′48″W / 58.79000°N 3.18000°W /58.79000; -3.18000