Knap of Howar

On the west shore of Papa Westray stand the oldest standing stone buildings in north-west Europe: two oblong Neolithic houses side by side, lived in more than 5,000 years ago and linked by a low passage. Their walls stand just over 1.6 metres high with their original doorways, and inside are stone cupboards and stalls. The larger and probably older house has two rooms, a hearth, a stone cupboard and post-holes for a low roof, probably thatched or turfed; the smaller has three rooms with cupboards and may have been a workshop or store. Finds include traces of barley, wheat and farm animals and a macehead of antler and whalebone. The people who lived here may have been buried in the chambered cairn on the Holm of Papa Westray, and the houses are part of a larger settlement not yet explored. Reviewers find it quiet and well worth the long walk from the ferry; the last stretch is a farm track and field path from Holland.