Orcadians and past visitors to Orkney will remember with great fondness visits to Corrigall Farm Museum in Harray.

This wonderful community asset, owned and managed by Orkney Islands Council, of our islands’ heritage has been closed for some time. Reasons given include: “due to pressure on resources” , and “Due to ongoing conservation work, this museum remains CLOSED until further notice.”

It is a fantastic example of a traditional longhouse from the 1700s.

The Orkney News contacted Orkney Islands Council to see if there was any update on what is happening to this important part of our farming and island heritage.

A spokesperson for the council said:

“In October 2025 the Culture Service moved from Education, Leisure & Housing to the Enterprise and Resources Directorate within the Council, and review work is ongoing to consider opportunities for the future of Corrigall Farm Museum.

In the meantime objects which were located at Corrigall have either been relocated to the service’s store in Kirkwall or where appropriate to Kirbuster, where they are monitored by the service’s collections and visitor services teams. “

I asked where I could access a copy of the inventory of the artefacts from Corrigall – and I am still waiting for that information. If it comes to light I will update this article.

The first settlers in Orkney were farmers. They left behind remnants of their lives in the islands: the stone built houses of Skara Brae and the huge stone monuments at the Ring of Brodgar, and Stenness – all now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The farm land of Orkney attracted the Norse who eventually settled our islands displacing the native Pictish people, and taking over their farms.

Farming is the one thread which runs continually through the history and culture of Orkney. Instead of celebrating the central role of farming in the development of Orcadians, – we seem to be intent on diminishing it.

Corrgiall was not the name the farm started with. It was Midhouse in the Parish of Harray. Its importance was recognised back in the 1960s by Orkney’s County Librarian  Evan MacGillvray, and Ernest Marwick, the folklorist and historian.

The location in Harray is also important. When the Commonty in Orkney was being enclosed and divided up in the 19th century, resulting in huge tracts of land in the ownership of a few, Harray was unique for its landowners numbered 87. In Harray, the ancient rights of Udal tenure still persisted. It was also in Harray that the language of Norn continued to be spoken long after the rest of Orkney had adopted the English tongue.

In 1979, now in the possession of the local Council, work started on preserving and maintaining Corrigall as a Farm Museum. The outbuildings, especially the barn with its grain kiln, are particularly well preserved. It was well used as an educational resource by local schools, and it was popular for visitors to Orkney.

Kirbuster Farm in the Parish of Birsay was acquired by the Council and opened to the public in 1987. The two Farm Museums although with some features in common, also demonstrated different aspects of how farming and farm life developed in Orkney over the centuries. For instance, the Kiln in Kirbuster is in a derelict state.

Kilns were a very important component in a successful farm for processing grain. For decades people could visit both farm museums. Anyone who has done so will tell you that they definitely were not the same. The differences were important. If Corrigall is ever to re-open we need a better understanding and interpretation of the development of farming and farm life in Orkney.

The barn at Corrigall was an amazing place to be in where you could have a go at making simmans (straw ropes) or a bit of a dance to a local fiddler.

I want to return to this statement from the Council, one which I was unaware of: “In October 2025 the Culture Service moved from Education, Leisure & Housing to the Enterprise and Resources Directorate within the Council. “

The OIC website, however, states: “Working within Education, Leisure and Housing, the Arts, Museums and Heritage Service provides museums, heritage development and arts development services in and for Orkney.”

There seems to be some confusion there – clarity needed from OIC. If the administration of the museums in Orkney are no longer part of the Education Department but have moved to the Enterprise and Resources Directorate that is important. The change is indicative of how OIC now views museums in our cultural heritage – taking them away from places of education to something more akin to visitor attractions.

The OIC spokesperson stressed that “Kirbuster Farm Museum remains open to the public” and highlighted the ‘Sooans‘ event which was held there recently. This Saturday 25 July from 2:00-3:30pm, Tom Rendall and Neil Leask will be celebrating the Orkney dialect at Kirbuster. The event, ‘The Wey Wae Speak’, will explore Orcadian words, their use today and in place names. A most excellent event.

The OIC spokesperson added that

“More strategically the exciting announcement of Orkney being the second place in Scotland to be designated a National Lottery Heritage Place provides an opportunity for Orkney to work more closely with the National Lottery Heritage Fund over the coming 10 years, creating opportunities for the future and learning from other Heritage Places across the UK.

Now whilst visitors and islanders can still visit Kirbuster Farm Museum in the summer months, also owned by OIC, it is saddening that Corrigall with its outbuildings and importance to our heritage, continues to remain closed. Indeed it may never open again and the collections either dispersed or put into storage.

The barn hopefully still contains an example of a Bikko – a straw dog given to the last farm to bring in the harvest.

Perhaps another way could be found to keep this wonderful resource for our schools and young people open? A way in which the central role Orkney’s farmers have always had in the life of these islands and its culture can be appreciated.

Digital records are fine to a point but can never replace the experience of seeing, holding and smelling our islands’ heritage. Once it is gone, a part of us is gone too.

Fiona Grahame

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