Orkney Islands Council, Mainland

#13 among attractions in Mainland

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The Orkney Islands Council, is the local authority for Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes of the mid-1990s. ()

Coordinates: 59°0'0"N, 3°0'0"W

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Mainland United Kingdom

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Day trips

Orkney Islands Council – popular in the area (distance from the attraction)

Nearby attractions include: The Pickaquoy Centre, St Magnus Cathedral, Bishop's Palace, Balfour Castle.

1.5 miSE
Outdoor activities, Arenas and stadiums, Sport venue
The Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall
38 min walk • The Pickaquoy Centre is a multi-use leisure centre in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. The arena has 1,600-seat stands, and can be condensed and used as a sports hall, with room for two five a side football pitches.
1.9 miSE
Striking, 12th-century place of worship
St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall
50 min walk • St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland.
1.9 miSE
Stately remains of 2 historic castles
Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall
50 min walk • The Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall is a 12th-century palace built at the same time as the adjacent St Magnus Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. It housed the cathedral's first bishop, William the Old of the Norwegian Catholic church who took his authority from the Archbishop of Nidaros.
3.7 miNE
Forts and castles, Gothic Revival architecture
Balfour Castle, Shapinsay
94 min walk • Balfour Castle is a historic building on the southwest of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. Though built around an older structure that dates at least from the 18th century, the present castle was built in 1847, commissioned by Colonel David Balfour, and designed by Edinburgh architect David Bryce.
2 miSE
Historical place, Forts and castles
Earl's Palace, Kirkwall
51 min walk • The Earl's Palace is a ruined Renaissance-style palace near St Magnus's Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. Built by Patrick, Earl of Orkney, its construction began in 1607 and was largely undertaken via forced labour.
1.8 miSE
Specialty museum, Museum, History museum
Orkney Wireless Museum, Kirkwall
46 min walk • The Orkney Wireless Museum in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland, houses a collection of domestic and military wireless equipment. It developed from the private collection of the late Jim MacDonald from St Margaret's Hope and marks the importance of wireless communications in Orkney during World War II.
4.7 miSW
Nature, Natural attraction, Lake
Loch of Kirbister, Mainland
121 min walk • The Loch of Kirbister is a small, shallow, somewhat triangular shaped loch on Mainland Orkney, Scotland, in the parish of Orphir. It lies 5 mi south west of Kirkwall on cultivated land between two hills. There is a small turf covered islet known as the Groundwater of Holm just off the eastern shore of the loch.
3 miW
Island
Holm of Grimbister
76 min walk • Holm of Grimbister is an inhabited tidal islet in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. Located in the Bay of Firth near Finstown it is connected to Mainland Orkney by a causeway.
6 miE
Nature, Natural attraction, Lake
Loch of Tankerness, Mainland
153 min walk • Loch of Tankerness is a large, lowland, freshwater loch on the Orkney mainland in Scotland. The loch is roughly triangular in shape and is shallow with a flat bottom that gradually deepens from west to east.
4.4 miNE
Nature, Natural attraction, Lake
Vasa Loch, Shapinsay
113 min walk • Vasa Loch is a brackish lagoon in southwestern Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This water body has been shown on early maps of the island in a very similar shape and size to its current geometry, separated from the North Sea by a narrow strip of raised beach.
2.3 miW
Island
Damsay
59 min walk • Damsay is an islet in the Orkney archipelago in Scotland. It is approximately 18 hectares in extent and rises to only 11 metres above sea level. It is situated in the Bay of Firth north of the Orkney Mainland near Finstown. Nearby is the smaller islet of Holm of Grimbister.