Kirkwall Harbour, Harbour Street, Kirkwall is a Grade B listed building in the local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 15 March 1999. Harbour. 2 related planning applications.

Kirkwall Harbour, Harbour Street, Kirkwall

WRENN ID
sleeping-keep-thrush
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Constituency
Orkney and Shetland MP: Mr Alistair Carmichael (LD)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
15 March 1999
Type
Harbour
OS grid reference
HY 449 112
Coordinates
58.98517, -2.9598
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Kirkwall Harbour consists of two piers, with a shorter, hook-ended pier to the west and a long angled pier to the east, creating a basin. The original stone East Pier was designed by George Burn in 1811 and extended in 1830. It was rebuilt in stone by T S Peace between 1880 and 1885. The West Pier, designed by James Allan around 1813, was replaced with an iron pier by Robert Davison from 1865 to 1867 and was later rebuilt in stone by John Millar around 1875. A tapered, circular cast-iron light tower, also by T S Peace, features a glazed pentagonal light with a pagoda roof. This light tower was originally located at the seaward end of the west pier but has been recently relocated. Additionally, there is a single-storey harbour office at the southern end, dated 1871.

Local climate

Kirkwall Harbour, Harbour Street, Kirkwall sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,130 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 89% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 97% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 2 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 99% of listed buildings. Of these, 2 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 2 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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