Place · city

Kirkwall

Kirkwall is the main town of Orkney, on the island of Mainland in northern Scotland. It grew around St Magnus Cathedral, begun in 1137, and became the seat of the earls and bishops of Orkney, whose palaces stand beside the cathedral. It was made a royal burgh in 1486 after the islands passed from Norway to Scotland.

Kirkwall
Image: Stevekeiretsu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Earldom of Orkney

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kirkwall. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kirkwall
MLA
“Kirkwall.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kirkwall. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kirkwall.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kirkwall.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kirkwall’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kirkwall (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻