Pierowall Church (Ladykirk)

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed. Westray is reached on Orkney Ferries' car ferry from Kirkwall to Rapness (adult £6.75 single, car £16.00 single).

ParkingNo car park

Arrive on foot, by bike or by public transport.

Parking details

Historic Scotland names no parking: the church is in the village of Pierowall, beside the B9066 at the north end of the bay. The village shop and post office are about 100 m away.

Westray is reached on Orkney Ferries' car ferry from Kirkwall to Rapness at the south of the island; Pierowall is at the north end. In the winter timetable (28 September 2026 to 1 May 2027) a day visit works Monday to Saturday, leaving Kirkwall at 07:20 (07:00 on Fridays) and returning from Westray at 17:55; on Sundays there is only an evening sailing. A separate refit timetable runs from 3 January to 6 March 2027. Fares from 1 April 2026: adult £6.75 single, car up to 5.5 m £16.00 single; book a vehicle at least an hour before departure (01856 872044). A private minibus runs on request between Rapness and Pierowall. Driving pin: Historic Scotland's own pin on the church.

About

Beside the main road in Pierowall, the village around Westray's safe natural harbour, the ruined church of Ladykirk stands in an ancient graveyard. It was first built in the 1200s, when Orkney belonged to the Norwegian diocese of Trondheim, and largely rebuilt in the 1600s for Presbyterian worship: the nave was widened, a bellcote was added to the west gable and a laird's aisle, a private space for the local landowner, was built, perhaps from the medieval chancel; a skewput on the aisle is dated 1674. Built into the east wall are two fine grave slabs of the 1600s, whose lettering matches the slabs in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall and gives a glimpse of beliefs about death at the time. The scale of the work shows the wealth of the community and how much the church mattered to it. Visitors also find war graves in the kirkyard and seals on the shore. Westray is reached by car ferry from Kirkwall to Rapness, then the road north to Pierowall.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Pierowall Church (Ladykirk)Open all year; an unstaffed churchyard site, no hours published

Opening times may change at short notice.

Historic Scotland: 'Pierowall Church is free to visit and open year-round.' No hours, closures or notices on 21 October 2026.

The roofless church stands in its graveyard above the shore of Pierowall bay; the graveyard is still in use. Two fine grave-slabs of the 1600s are built into the wall at the east end. No toilets or other facilities at the church.

Photo: The roofless Pierowall Church with its bellcote on the gable, among the gravestones of the kirkyard above the bay at Pierowall on Westray. Beep boop beep, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierowall_church.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.