Vinquoy, Eday

Tombs of the Isles - Vinquoy, Eday
Type:Maeshowe-type
Location:Map
Notes:A conspicuous cairn almost at the highest point of the long moorland ridge called Vinquoy Hill.

The entrance is on the south or lower side, and the passage and chamber are partly subterranean cut back into the hill.

The passage is 3.95m long but varies slightly in width being about 0.6m wide contracting sharply at the inner end to 0.4m wide. It, like the rest of the structure, is built of sandstone which gives the masonry a rather rougher appearance than in most Orcadian chambered cairns.

Four side cells branch of from the main chamber.
Links:Canmore
References:
  • Davidson, J. L. & Henshall, A. S. (1989). The Chambered Cairns of Orkney. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Petrie, G. (1863) The Picts-Houses in the Orkneys. In Archaeological Journal, 20:1, 32-37