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Orkney

Kirbuster Farm Museum

The last unrestored firehoose in northern Europe, with the peat still lit.

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Welcome

Kirbuster is a farmhouse of the old Orkney kind and the last one left in northern Europe that was never modernised: a central hearth on the floor with the peat fire burning and the smoke finding its own way out, and a stone neuk bed built into the wall of the sort you can see at Skara Brae four thousand years earlier.

People lived here until the 1960s. Around the firehoose are the rooms that came later (an Edwardian parlour, the implements, the Victorian garden), so the whole run from the firehoose to living memory is under one roof. Entry is free.

A short drive awayBirsay Bay TearoomA tearoom in Birsay looking out to the Brough of Birsay and Marwick Head, with scones baked every day.9 min by roadSee itScones in wire baskets under an Orkney Tea board in the Birsay Bay Tearoom, tables behind.
Before you go
How long
Three quarters of an hour to two hours
Cost
Free to walk in
Their website
orkneymuseums.co.uk
Telephone
01856 771268
Where it is

Birsay, Orkney.

Close byThe rest of Orkney, near at hand.
  1. Pebble-dashed dormer bungalow with wooden garage door and gravel drivewayThe Viking Village BirsayThe ruins of Viking longhouses at Birsay.5 miles9 min by road
  2. Brough of BirsayA tidal island of Pictish and Norse ruins, reached only at low water.5 miles10 min by road
  3. Musicians play fiddles and double bass on a ship's wooden deckOrkney FestivalsFestivals across the Orkney Isles, month by month, from May to November.5 miles10 min by road
  4. Green aurora swirling across a starry sky above a snow-covered peakThe Aurora Borealis in OrkneyThe aurora borealis, or northern lights, is a wonder to see in the night sky5 miles10 min by road
  5. Fursbreck Pottery, a stone cottage with a red-edged roof and a garden of pots and benches, Harray.The Harray PotterA working pottery in Harray, founded in 1977, where you can watch pots being thrown and buy them.7 miles11 min by road
Directions
Scones in wire baskets under an Orkney Tea board in the Birsay Bay Tearoom, tables behind.CafeBirsay Bay Tearoom4.9 miles
The grassy mounds and stone houses of Skara Brae in low evening sun, the sea behind.AttractionsSkara Brae7.4 miles
A tall lichened stone of the Ring of Brodgar in the foreground, the circle behind in heather.AttractionsRing of Brodgar9.1 miles
The layered sandstone cliffs of Yesnaby dropping into a calm dark sea, lit by low sun.AttractionsYesnaby9.3 miles
AttractionsNess of Brodgar9.8 miles
The tall, thin Standing Stones of Stenness on green grass, the loch and the hills of Hoy behind.AttractionsStanding Stones of Stenness10 miles
Maeshowe, a great grassy mound in green fields under a grey sky.AttractionsMaeshowe Chambered Cairn11 miles
AttractionsBroch of Gurness11 miles
Unstan Chambered Cairn, a grassy mound with its low entrance and an information board, the loch beyond.AttractionsUnstan Cairn12 miles
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