Stroma, Scotland
Encyclopedia
Stroma is an island off the northern coast of the Scottish
mainland. It is the more southerly of the two islands in the Pentland Firth
between the Orkney Islands
and Caithness
. It is administratively part of Caithness (now in the Highland
council area
), while its neighbour Swona
, to the north, is part of the Orkney Islands. The name originated from the Norse
Straumey meaning "island in the stream" or "current". A lighthouse at the northern end of the island warns ships of the nearby Swilkie whirlpool. Once populous, this uninhabited island is owned by a Caithness farmer who uses it to graze sheep. Stroma is about 3.5 kilometres long by 1.5 kilometres wide, with a maximum elevation of 53 metres (174 ft).
power station
. The last two families left around 1962. Coincidentally, this was shortly after the construction of a new harbour at the south end of the island.
The number of ruined houses shows how well populated the island was at one time. In the centre of the island is a church with a bell tower
. Next to the church is the manse
which is kept habitable for use by visiting shepherds, particularly at lambing
time. At the south east corner, not far from the new harbour, is a walled graveyard
with mausoleum
, which is the tomb
of the Kennedy family who owned the island in the 17th century. Stroma is now a conservation area
with an area fenced off to protect the rare plants from the sheep.
The slipway
at the north east of the island is still in use: the boat
used to transport the sheep is pulled out of the water for the winter. In summer this and another boat transport day visitors to the island from Gills Bay
as well as carrying those working with the sheep.
, and there are tidal race
s at both the north and south ends of the island, easing briefly at the turn of the tide. The race at the north end, off Swilkie Point, known as 'The Swilkie', can be particularly violent. The whirlpool
of the same name was, according to a Viking
legend, caused by a sea-king called Mysing. He stole a magical quern from King Frode, but Mysing's land subsequently sank near Stroma under the quern's weight. However, he continued to turn the mill
wheels in the depths which grind the salt
to keep the seas salty, and the noise of the whirlpool is the sea still roaring through it. Between the races is a calm eddy
which extends down tide
as the tide strengthens. The races are easily visible with over falls and whirlpools. Large swell waves can also be present, especially in bad weather. When entering or leaving the eddies, even large and powerful vessels can be pushed off course.
There are about sixty known shipwreck
s around Stroma, the latest of which, the Danish
coaster Bettina Danica, occurred in 1994. No one was killed, and the vessel remained intact until about 1997. As of 2006, only the stern
section could be seen on its side at the foot of the cliffs on the west side of the island near its southern tip.
In 2004, a group of thirteen people on the island tour boat 'North Coast Explorer' was rescued by lifeboat.
and Charles Stevenson
, and has 80 steps to the top of the tower. The original Trotter-Lindberg petroleum spirit light was found to be insufficient for the location and was replaced with a stronger paraffin lamp.
The lighthouse buildings were machine-gunned by an enemy plane during World War II
. No-one was injured during the attack, which took place on 22 February 1941, and the damage was easily repaired by the lightkeepers.
In 1972, the lighthouse was converted to electric operation, and a helicopter landing pad was built near the station to facilitate maintenance and the changeover of keepers. In April 1994 conversion to automation began and this was completed in March 1997.
near John o' Groats
to St Margaret's Hope
usually passes close to the island. A boat from John o' Groats
also visits the island on wildlife
adventure tours during the summer months. There exist outline plans to connect Orkney to the Scottish mainland by tunnel; two of the possible routes are across Stroma. Transport to the island can be arranged by contacting the owner, James Simpson.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
mainland. It is the more southerly of the two islands in the Pentland Firth
Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
between the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
and Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
. It is administratively part of Caithness (now in the Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
council area
Subdivisions of Scotland
For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as "councils"...
), while its neighbour Swona
Swona
Swona is an uninhabited island in the Pentland Firth off the north coast of Scotland.-Geography and geology:Swona is the more northerly of two islands in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney Islands and Caithness on the Scottish mainland...
, to the north, is part of the Orkney Islands. The name originated from the Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
Straumey meaning "island in the stream" or "current". A lighthouse at the northern end of the island warns ships of the nearby Swilkie whirlpool. Once populous, this uninhabited island is owned by a Caithness farmer who uses it to graze sheep. Stroma is about 3.5 kilometres long by 1.5 kilometres wide, with a maximum elevation of 53 metres (174 ft).
Settlement
In the past Stroma had a population of about 550, which by 1901 had reduced to around 375. The population continued to decline through the 20th century, and most of the last residents left in the early 1960s to work on the construction of the DounreayDounreay
Dounreay is the site of several nuclear research establishments located on the north coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland...
power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
. The last two families left around 1962. Coincidentally, this was shortly after the construction of a new harbour at the south end of the island.
The number of ruined houses shows how well populated the island was at one time. In the centre of the island is a church with a bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
. Next to the church is the manse
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...
which is kept habitable for use by visiting shepherds, particularly at lambing
Sheep husbandry
Sheep husbandry is a subcategory of animal husbandry specifically dealing with the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. Sheep farming is primarily based on raising lambs for meat, or raising sheep for wool. Sheep may also be raised for milk or to sell to other farmers.-Shelter and...
time. At the south east corner, not far from the new harbour, is a walled graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
with mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
, which is the tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
of the Kennedy family who owned the island in the 17th century. Stroma is now a conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
with an area fenced off to protect the rare plants from the sheep.
The slipway
Slipway
A slipway, boat slip or just a slip, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats. They are also used for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers and flying boats on their undercarriage. The...
at the north east of the island is still in use: the boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
used to transport the sheep is pulled out of the water for the winter. In summer this and another boat transport day visitors to the island from Gills Bay
Gills Bay
Gills Bay, which is situated some 3mls. West of John o' Groats with the community of Gills close by, has one of the longest stretches of low-lying rock coast on the northern shores of Caithness. Its main features are a small harbour and the pier used as the mainland terminal for Pentland Ferries...
as well as carrying those working with the sheep.
Dangerous currents
The island is in the tidal stream in the Pentland FirthPentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
, and there are tidal race
Tidal race
Tidal race is a natural occurrence whereby a fast moving tide passes through a constriction resulting in the formation of waves, eddies and hazardous currents...
s at both the north and south ends of the island, easing briefly at the turn of the tide. The race at the north end, off Swilkie Point, known as 'The Swilkie', can be particularly violent. The whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
of the same name was, according to a Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
legend, caused by a sea-king called Mysing. He stole a magical quern from King Frode, but Mysing's land subsequently sank near Stroma under the quern's weight. However, he continued to turn the mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
wheels in the depths which grind the salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
to keep the seas salty, and the noise of the whirlpool is the sea still roaring through it. Between the races is a calm eddy
Eddy (fluid dynamics)
In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object...
which extends down tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
as the tide strengthens. The races are easily visible with over falls and whirlpools. Large swell waves can also be present, especially in bad weather. When entering or leaving the eddies, even large and powerful vessels can be pushed off course.
There are about sixty known shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
s around Stroma, the latest of which, the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
coaster Bettina Danica, occurred in 1994. No one was killed, and the vessel remained intact until about 1997. As of 2006, only the stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...
section could be seen on its side at the foot of the cliffs on the west side of the island near its southern tip.
In 2004, a group of thirteen people on the island tour boat 'North Coast Explorer' was rescued by lifeboat.
Lighthouse
The dangers of the Swilkie whirlpool in the Pentland Firth led to the building of the Stroma Lighthouse at the northern tip of the island at the end of the 19th century. The light was designed by DavidDavid Alan Stevenson
David Alan Stevenson was a lighthouse engineer who built twenty six lighthouses in and around Scotland.Born into the famous Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers, son of David Stevenson, brother of Charles Stevenson, and nephew of Thomas Stevenson, he was educated at Edinburgh University...
and Charles Stevenson
Charles Alexander Stevenson
Charles Alexander Stevenson was a Scottish lighthouse engineer who built twenty three lighthouses in and around Scotland....
, and has 80 steps to the top of the tower. The original Trotter-Lindberg petroleum spirit light was found to be insufficient for the location and was replaced with a stronger paraffin lamp.
The lighthouse buildings were machine-gunned by an enemy plane during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. No-one was injured during the attack, which took place on 22 February 1941, and the damage was easily repaired by the lightkeepers.
In 1972, the lighthouse was converted to electric operation, and a helicopter landing pad was built near the station to facilitate maintenance and the changeover of keepers. In April 1994 conversion to automation began and this was completed in March 1997.
Transport
Being uninhabited, there is no regular access to the island. However the ferry from Gills BayGills Bay
Gills Bay, which is situated some 3mls. West of John o' Groats with the community of Gills close by, has one of the longest stretches of low-lying rock coast on the northern shores of Caithness. Its main features are a small harbour and the pier used as the mainland terminal for Pentland Ferries...
near John o' Groats
John o' Groats
John o' Groats is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. Part of the county of Caithness, John o' Groats is popular with tourists because it is usually regarded as the most northerly settlement of mainland Great Britain, although this is not a claim made by the inhabitants...
to St Margaret's Hope
St Margaret's Hope
St Margaret's Hope, known locally as The Hope , is a village in the Orkney Islands, situated off the north-east coast of Scotland. It has a population of about 550, making it Orkney's third largest settlement after Kirkwall and Stromness....
usually passes close to the island. A boat from John o' Groats
John o' Groats
John o' Groats is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. Part of the county of Caithness, John o' Groats is popular with tourists because it is usually regarded as the most northerly settlement of mainland Great Britain, although this is not a claim made by the inhabitants...
also visits the island on wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
adventure tours during the summer months. There exist outline plans to connect Orkney to the Scottish mainland by tunnel; two of the possible routes are across Stroma. Transport to the island can be arranged by contacting the owner, James Simpson.