Finstown
A view of Finstown from across The Ouse, a tidal inlet
Finstown is located in Orkney Islands
Finstown
Finstown
Location within Orkney
Population500 (mid-2020 est.)[1]
OS grid referenceHY359138
Civil parish
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townORKNEY
Postcode districtKW17
Dialling code01856
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

Finstown (locally /ˈfɪnstʊn/) is a village in the parish of Firth[2] on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It is the fourth-largest settlement in the Orkney Islands.

According to travel author Eric Linklater, the homes in Finstown are tidy and well cared for.[3] This settlement is situated along the Bay of Firth, whose fringe is a shallow intertidal mudflat.[4] The village is situated at the junction of the A965 and the A966.[5][6] In 2011 it has a population of 440.[7]

History

Prehistoric finds have been made in the form of ancient cists, somewhat west of the primary school.[8] Further east towards Kirkwall is the Rennibister Earth House, estimated to be 3000 years old.

Finstown Gala with pipe band. Credit: Colin Smith

Formerly called "Toon o' Firth", the origin of the Finstown name is thought to come from an Irishman named David Phin who came to the area in 1811. A soldier with the 9th Royal Veteran Battalion, he married a Kirkwall girl in 1813. In 1820, he opened an ale-house which was called the Toddy Hole by arrangement with John Miller of Millquoy. Four years later they quarrelled and Phin left for Aberdeen, but his name remained. The ale-house building is now the site of the Pomona Inn hostelry, after an old name for Mainland Orkney. The British poet Zaffar Kunial is a direct descendant of Phin and has written about Finstown and George Mackay Brown in a poem that appeared in The Dark Horse magazine (Autumn/Winter 2021).[9]

The former Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond is buried in Finstown.

Community

Finstown has a post office, Firth Primary School, a pub called the Pomona Inn (closed at present), a shop and a garage. Most of these buildings are situated on the main Stromness to Kirkwall road.

References

  1. ↑ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ↑ "Details of Finstown". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Linklater, Eric (1965). Orkney and Shetland: an historical, geographical, social, and scenic survey. p. 122.
  4. ↑ Hogan, C. Michael (2007). "HY3613 : Beach and mudflats at Finstown Centre waterfront, Mainland Orkney". Geograph Britain and Ireland/United Kingdom Ordnance Survey.
  5. ↑ "A965". Sabre. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "A966". Sabre. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Finstown". City population. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 1981. p. 58.
  9. ↑ https://gmbbibliography.wordpress.com
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