Stromness (Orkney)
|
Stromness Scottish Gaelic Sromnis |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinates | 58 ° 58 ′ N , 3 ° 18 ′ W | ||
|
|||
| Residents | 1758 2011 census | ||
| administration | |||
| Post town | ELECTRICITY | ||
| ZIP code section | KW16 | ||
| prefix | 01856 | ||
| Part of the country | Scotland | ||
| Council area | Orkney | ||
| British Parliament | Orkney and Shetland | ||
| Scottish Parliament | Orkney | ||
The village of Stromness on the Scottish island of Mainland (Orkney) is with 1758 inhabitants the second largest settlement both on the main island and the archipelago and one of the ferry ports (of the Lifeline service) to the Orkneys . It is elongated and wedged between the sea and a hill about 14 km west of the main town Kirkwall at the confluence with Scapa Flow . Like Husum, Stromness is also called the “gray city by the sea” because of the color of its stone houses.
history
The city on Hamnavo Bay, north of the Hoysound, emerged from a Viking settlement . Stromness Bay is a deep anchorage that primarily protects against storms from the southwest. The time of the first settlement is uncertain. The Orkneyinga saga tells that Earl Harald Maddadson found refuge in Cairston Castle (preserved as a ruin near the city) in September 1152 before being persecuted by Erlend and Sweyn Asleifsson . This is the first narration of a permanent place on the other side of the bay. In the 1620s, the Bishop of Orkney established what became the town of Stromness on the west side of the harbor.
The town, in which all streets were interrupted by stairs in 1814, reached its heyday in the 17th century with whaling . Stromness obtained town charter in 1817 and also became the base of the Hudson's Bay Company , which was significantly involved in the development of North America . It later benefited from the boom in the herring and cod fishery . As a port of last call , Stromness was an important port for the British Navy and the starting point for British overseas expeditions ( John Franklin et al.).
Others
Today the city is the venue for Orkney Jazz (April), Orkney Folk (May) and Orkney Beer Festival (August). The Stromness Shopping Week (July) is the largest festival in the archipelago. At the turn of the year the Ba'Games are played in Stromness and Kirkwall .
In the listed center of the city, the bank edge development with piers and warehouses and trading houses testify to the economic heyday of the port city. One of the buildings is the Stromness Museum , which provides information about Orkney's natural history and the city's maritime past.
The Pier Arts Center houses the collection of Margaret Gardiner (1904–2005), who was friends with Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson , among others . Her works form a focus of the collection.
New energy
In front of Billia Croo, west of Stromness, is one of the first wave power plants . After several years of testing under laboratory conditions and upgrading to marketable performance in 2006, the Pelamis will now be tested under commercial conditions for more years under the direction of the European Marine Energy Center , an EU-funded research center of the University of the Highlands and Islands .
Stromness in literature and music
Stromness is the setting for Herbert Wetterauer's novel Stromness , published in 2009 . The British composer Peter Maxwell Davies had a holiday home on Hoy (Orkney) and dedicated the town to Farewell to Stromness . The composition was inducted into the Classic FM (UK) Hall of Fame in 2003.
sons and daughters of the town
- George Mackay Brown , The Bard of Orkney , writer and poet
- John Gow (around 1698-1725), pirate raised in Stromness and executed in London
Attractions
- Stromness Museum
- Millards House
- Warehouse
- Fountain
- Church Road
- Victoria Street Church
- Graham Place
- Khyber Pass
- Dundas Street
- Buffers Close
- Pier Arts Center
traffic
There are ferry connections from Stromness to Scrabster on the Scottish mainland, to the small island of Graemsay and to Moanes Pier on the neighboring island of Hoy .
Stromness
Gray city
Barbara Hepworth: Curved Form (Trevalgan), 1956
