Orkney Fossil & Heritage Centre
A volunteer-run museum in converted farm buildings on Burray, with Orkney fossils, geology and displays on Scapa Flow, the Churchill Barriers and local life.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre is a registered Scottish charity run by local volunteers. It occupies converted farm buildings at Viewforth on the island of Burray, beside the A961 and not far from the Churchill Barriers that link the southern islands to the Mainland.
The fossil and rock galleries show fossils from Orkney and from around the world and explain how the islands formed. The heritage displays cover life in Orkney from the Iron Age to the age of iron ships, the building of the Churchill Barriers, the wartime prisoner-of-war camps with the Italian Chapel, farming life, and boat building on Burray. Part of the collection is a large group of everyday Orcadian objects gathered by Ernest Firth. A Scapa Flow display was developed with Heritage Lottery Fund support.
The centre also has a gift shop, a café and a tearoom, and its temporary displays have covered subjects such as Orkney's musical past.
Highlights
- Fossils and geology of Orkney and the wider world
- Building the Churchill Barriers and wartime Scapa Flow
- Heritage galleries on Iron Age life, farming and boat building
- Ernest Firth collection of everyday Orcadian objects
- Café, tearoom and gift shop
Permanent exhibitions
- Fossils and geology – Fossils from Orkney and around the world and a display on how the islands were formed.
- Scapa Flow and the Churchill Barriers – Displays on the building of the Churchill Barriers and on Scapa Flow in wartime, including the scuttling of the German fleet.
- Orkney heritage galleries – Upstairs galleries on farming life, Burray boat building, the prisoner-of-war camps and the Ernest Firth collection of everyday objects.
- Founded
- 1992
- Operated by
- Orkney Fossil & Heritage Centre (Scottish charity)
Admission & discounts
| Adults | £7.50 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | £6Concessions |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 4 · Children under 5 are free. |
| Families | £202 adults and 2 children under 16. |
Admission: adults £7.50, concessions £6.00, family ticket £20.00; under 5s are free.
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator: not available
- Accessible restroom
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
There is level access to the building, and the downstairs fossil, rock and Churchill Barriers galleries can be visited by wheelchair and buggy. There is an accessible toilet beside the main entrance. The ultraviolet (Glow) room is reached by a couple of steps, the upstairs heritage galleries by a staircase with no stair lift, and the outdoor workshops by a narrow, uneven path with low doorways.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Burray (X1 request stop)
The X1 bus from Kirkwall towards St Margaret's Hope stops at the centre on request; the journey takes about 25 minutes and buses run roughly every half hour in summer.
By car
Parking available
The car park entrance is on Viewforth Road.
By car, take the A961 from Kirkwall; the centre is on the left, half a mile after the third Churchill Barrier.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café
- Museum shop
The Relic Café is open daily from 10:00 to 15:00, and there is also a Heritage Tearoom that takes table reservations by phone. A gift shop at the entrance sells books on fossils and geology, jewellery, Orkney crafts and local music.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
