Visit-a-Church
Key Image St Magnus Cathedral
Broad Street
KW15 1NX Kirkwall
United Kingdom
Denomination: Reformed
Congregation: St Magnus Cathedral (Church of Scotland, Presbytery of Orkney)
Geogr. Coordinates: 58.98143° N, 2.9595° W
Geo Location
Reference year: 1137
Architectural style: Gothic
Building type: Basilica
Description: Gothic basilica with tower over the crossing, parish church for Kirkwall; northernmost cathedral in Great Britain, only British church with a dungeon (Marwick’s Hole)
Name derivation: After St Magnus
Building material
  • Multi-coloured sandstone (red and yellow sandstone from Orkney)
Organ
  • Built in 1925 by Henry Willis and Sons, Ltd.
History:
1137:   Start of construction
About 1160:   Most parts completed
1180:   Completion of the 10-year reconstruction of the crossing after its collapse
13th cent.:   Enlargement
About 1500:   Completion of the west front
1930:   Completion of the restoration (begun in 1913)
1974:   Restoration
1987:   New west window
Important persons:
Patron:  Magnus (of Scotland) (Died 1116, count of the Orkney Islands, venerated as martyr)
Sources
St Magnus Cathedral, Jarrold Publishing, Norwich 2007
Wikipedia: Eintrag „St Magnus Cathedral“ (engl.), 06.09.2017
© 2026
TuK Bassler
CC-BY-SA 4.0