Eday Church

Tombs of the Isles - Eday Church
Plan of Eday church chambered cairn.
Plan of the Eday church cairn. (After Davidson & Henshall. 1989. The Chambered Cairns of Orkney)
Type:Orkney-Cromarty.
Round Cairn.
Tripartite or stalled chamber.
Location:Map
Notes:A sub-oval cairn, c18 m SSE to NNW by 15.5m NNE to SSW, in the centre of Eday, approximately 270m to the north-west of the site of the former parish church.

In 1963, Henshall classed it as a short-horned cairn due to three “horns” projecting from the south-western, south-eastern and north-eastern “corners”. Revisiting the site in 1983, she felt this “interpretation seemed much less certain”.

Six exposed orthostats divided the inner chamber into three chambers, with its axis ESE to WNW. The geology of the orthostats differed visibly – with red sandstone, grey sandstone and flagstone used.
Links:Canmore
References:Davidson, J. L. & Henshall, A. S. (1989). The Chambered Cairns of Orkney. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.