Quholm is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 in the northeast of Shapinsay

Shapinsay

Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland...

, in the islands of Orkney, Scotland. William Irving, the father of Washington Irving

Washington Irving

Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...

, noted American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

, was born in Quholm. Innsker Beach is situated very close by at the northwest edge of Quholm. Slightly to the south along Shapinsay's northwest coast are located the coast

Coast

A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...

al ayres

Ayre (landform)

An ayre is a name often applied to shingle beaches in Orkney and Shetland. The term is derived from the Old Norse wordfor a shingle beach - "eyrr" - and may be applied to ordinary beaches, to cliff-foot beaches to spits, bars and tombolos, but only if formed of shingle. It is sometimes wrongly...

 of Lairo Water

Lairo Water

Lairo Water is a surface water body known as an ayre situated on the western coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands. This brackish water body is separated by a narrow bar of land from Veantro Bay. This wetland is an area where a variety of bird species may be found...

 and the Ouse

Ouse

Ouse may refer to:*the town of Ouse, Tasmania, Australiaand in the United Kingdom to:*the River Ouse, Yorkshire*The River Ouse, Sussex*The Ouse, an estuary on Shapinsay, in the Orkney Islands*The River Great Ouse in East Anglia...

 situated within Veantro Bay

Veantro Bay

Veantro Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.At the head of the bay is a large stone, thought to be associated with Viking settlement of Shapinsay, known as the Odin's Stone...

. There are significant archaeological sites not distant from Quholm, including Odin's Stone, Burroughston Broch

Burroughston Broch

Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age archaeological site on the island of Shapinsay within the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The site overlooks the North Sea on the northeast part of Shapinsay. Slightly to the south lies Linton Bay. Excavated in the mid 19th century, Burroughston Broch has its earth...

, Linton Chapel

Linton Chapel

Linton Chapel is a ruined chapel on the east coast of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands . The chapel is thought to date as early as the 12th century AD. Slightly to the south is a megalithic monument, Castle Bloody, in the vicinity of which a rare cotton grass, Eriophorum vaginatum has been identified....

, Castle Bloody

Castle Bloody

Castle Bloody is a prehistoric feature on the island of Shapinsay, Orkney, Scotland. Hogan observes that while the feature is marked as a chambered mound on the UK Ordnance Survey map, the structure is more properly and specifically classified as a souterrain or earth house. Slightly to the north...

 and Mor Stein

Mor Stein

Mor Stein is a neolithic standing stone in the southeastern part of the island of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Shapinsay is one of the two large inner islands of the Orkney group, and it is situated approximately two miles north of the Orkney Mainland...

.

External links

• Photograph of Washington Irving birthplace at Quholm