Warbeth (Orkney)

Lat:58.960 Lon: -3.329

Warbeth is within the parish of Stromness on Mainland, Orkney. Warbeth Cemetery is the resting place of most citizens of Stromness. The land around is given over to farming. The view was taken from what is now Clook Road, looking over the fields to Warbeth cemetery and the hills of Hoy. The photograph shows the burning of seaweed to produce soda ash. Like the seaweed itself, soda ash was known as kelp in 18th Century Scotland. The kelp was burned in circular, stone-lined pits and exported for the glass and soap industries. First produced in about 1722, it became a major industry making large profits for Orkney's lairds and employing some 3000 people at its peak. The industry declined rapidly in the 20th Century.

Features of the area

• Farm
• Coast
• Island

Orkney Group

Orkney is one of Scotland’s 32 unitary council areas.

It is an archipelago of approximately 70 islands that lies 16 kilometres north of the coast of Caithness. 20 of the islands are inhabited. The largest, Mainland, is the sixth largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Kirkwall is the area’s administrative centre.

Elsewhere on the BBC

• BBC NE Scotland and Northern Isles

Elsewhere on the web

• Orkney Library and Archive
• Wikipedia entry on Stromness