Sandwick is a parish on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney. It commences four miles north of Stromness

Stromness

Stromness is the second-biggest town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the south-west of Mainland Orkney. It is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital.-Etymology:...

.

The coast, except at the small sandy bay (whence the parish's name) consists of cavernous cliffs, from 100-200 ft, and includes a lofty natural arch

Natural arch

A natural arch or natural bridge is a natural geological formation where a rock arch forms, with an opening underneath. Most natural arches form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until...

 called the hole of Rowe, and is much flanked by insulated pillar-rocks.

The interior is much diversified, and comprises both a large aggregate of flat arable land, and a considerable extent of hilly ground, partly more than 300 ft high.

The chief residence is Skaill House, and chief antiquities include numerous tumuli, a vitrified cairn, a remarkable cromlech

Cromlech

Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...

, a remnant of a very large stone circle, five Norse forts, and the ruins of Sunsgar castle. Notably, Skara Brae

Skara Brae

Skara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BCE–2500 BCE...

 and Yesnaby

Yesnaby

Yesnaby is an area in Sandwick, on the west coast of Orkney Mainland, Scotland, south of Skara Brae.Yesnaby is renowned for its Devonian geology, its crumbly rocks, sea stacks, blowholes, geos, towering cliffs and boiling seas....

 are in this parish. Sandwick is one of the biggest parishes in Orkney.

St Peter's Church

St Peter's is an unaltered Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

 Parish Kirk of 1836 situated on an exposed site near the Bay of Skaill. A large harled

Harl

Harling is a Scottish term describing an exterior building surfacing technique. The theory of harling is to produce a long-lasting weatherproof shield for a stone building. A pigment can be embedded in the harled material, thus obviating the need for repainting...

 church, with two tall windows in the centre, a bellcote and a slate roof; the interior evokes the experience of Presbyterian worship in the 19th century when over 500 people attended the church. It was acquired by the Scottish Redundant Churches Trust

Scottish Redundant Churches Trust

The Scottish Redundant Churches Trust is a registered charity founded in 1996 which looks after Church of Scotland churches which are all listed buildings of architectural significance but are no longer used for regular worship...

in 1998 and restored between 2002-3.