The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, vol. 1

Church at Orphir, Orkney .

This highly interesting fragment stands near the east end of the parish church, and probably the reason why it has not obtained that notice which it deserves is, that the larger and most interesting part of it was destroyed before 1758, to build or enlarge the present parish church. It consisted originally of a circular nave, and apsidal chancel added to its east part. (Fig. 111.) The chancel remains, but only 9 feet on each side of it of the circular nave. Fortunately we have a short record of its size and form in Sinclair’s Statistical Accounts, xix. 417, quoted in Wilson, Prehistoric Annals, 598. It is there stated:—“In the churchyard are the remains of an ancient building called the Girthhouse, to which great antiquity is ascribed. It is a rotundo, 18 feet in diameter and 20 feet high, open at top; and on the east side is a vaulted concavity, where probably the altar stood, with a slit in the wall to admit the light; two-thirds of it have been taken down to repair the parish church,” &c. In the translation of Torfœus by the Rev. A. Pope is this note by the translator (p. 108), who visited Orphir in 1758:—“The temple of Orphir, or Gerth-house, was a rotundo 22 feet in diameter, and 61 feet perpendicular wall above ground. The cupola, with the open for the light, was of an elegant cast, and the light was all from the open, and lighted the house sufficiently. There was a small slit in the east side for light to the priest, who stood in a niche elegantly done. The work was very firm; and though at that time there was a breach made in order to get stones to repair the parish kirk, yet the stones crumbled to pieces before they could be loosed,” &c.

In the Orcadian, July 1861, is an account of this church by Mr. G. Petrie. It is there stated that the present parish church was erected in 1829. (See also his notice of the ruins, in the Archæological Journal, 1861, No. 71, p. 226-230.)

It is evident that the east wall of the parish church could not have co-existed with the old nave, for the new church stands on part of it.

From these several statements we must infer that part of the old church was pulled down before 1758 to build or enlarge, not to repair, the parish church, and possibly a farther portion pulled down in 1829.

We must understand the “cupola” to be a conical roof, and “the open for the light” to be a glazed lantern on it, which, however, was probably not original. (Fig. 112.) “Open at top,” in Sinclair, must refer to this lantern. The framework of it must have been of wood, as at Ely.

The curvature of the two parts of the nave wall still remaining gives an interior diameter of about 19 feet, thus corroborating the diameters given by Pope and Sinclair. Neither of these persons had seen the church perfect; and the differences in the measures given by them show that their informants did not speak from exact data. The “61 feet perpendicular wall” is a gross mistake either of printer, or translator, or his informant. Even the “20 feet high” seems over the mark, though this may be a loose approximation to the height of the side walls.

Supposing the preceding conjectures as to the shape of the roof to be correct, the top of the “fleche” surmounting the lantern would be about 40 feet. Then, supposing that Pope was told that the height was 41 feet, and the height of the side walls 20 feet, he might have added them together.

The diameter was less open to error than the height. One writer, however, might give the outer diameter and the other the inner.

It is built of yellow Orphir freestone. The nave walls are 3 feet 9 inches thick, well built; and probably the entrance was at the west, as in the other round churches.

It is highly improbable that Pope is right in stating that “the light was all from the open”—that is, that there were no windows in the nave walls. Probably there were four single lights.

The chancel, which is little more than the apse, is 7 feet 2 inches wide and 7 feet 9 inches deep, or long, with wall 2 feet 8 inches thick. The arch into it is semicircular, and forms part of a plain unribbed vault, as at St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh. (See Fig. 111.) The impost of the vault arch is 6 feet 5 inches above what appears to have been the floor, and the top, consequently, 10 feet 6 inches high. Outside the vault was originally probably a solid stone roof, the apex of which was about 14 feet

from the floor. This height (supposing also that there was a step at the chancel arch) would oblige the walls of the nave to be about 15 feet high. The chancel has no buttresses. There is one window in the chancel, in the east end, 2 feet 5 inches by 10½ inches clear, opening with jambs splayed inward to 1 foot 8 inches wide. (Fig. 113.) The outer edges are chamfered, and the head semicircular. The impost is at the same level as of vault. It has a groove for glass.

A stone lying down appears to be part of a stoup.

The exterior width of the chancel is half the exterior width of the nave.

On the south side of the nave is the trace of a building in the form of a parallelogram, and other indications of buildings. Pope states that before his visit in 1758, large foundations had been found in digging earth for the Bow of Orphir, near the Gerth-house.

The “four round churches” of Britain are—Cambridge, consecrated in 1101; Northampton, probably shortly before 1115; Maplestead, 1118; and London, 1185.[134] To these must be added the small Norman chapel in Ludlow Castle, and we may safely add, as a sixth, Orphir. The church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem was the type of all, and the Crusades were the means of importing the form into Britain. In conjecturing the date of Orphir, we may take into account that there was a palace of the Earl Haco (son of Paul I.) at Orphir, according to Torfœus. He went to the Holy Land and back, and died in 1103. The same writer describes the palace of Earl Paul II. at Orphir, and states that a temple stood opposite the wall of the palace. This earl died about 1136. If this statement is to be believed, this must be the church mentioned, and hence we get 1090-1137 as the limits within which this church was built.

Earl Ronald founded the cathedral about 1138, and soon after went to the Holy Land, accompanied, of course, by some of his high officers. He died in 1158. We may fairly conclude that this round church had some connection with one of these expeditions. As Earl Ronald needed all his money for the cathedral, we cannot suppose that he had any hand in building Orphir; but it is not improbable that some one of his wealthier followers built it, and we may, from the dates of the other churches and these facts, fix on 1090-1160 as limits of the date of its erection.

In the Edinburgh Museum is a stone article, presented by D. Balfour, Esq., found at this church. It is circular, 4¼ inches diameter, ¾ inch thick, with a small square hole in centre. Its use is not evident. Planned 1855.