Old Bea Farmhouse, Birsay is a Grade C listed building in the Orkney Islands local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 9 December 1977. Farmhouse.
Old Bea Farmhouse, Birsay
- WRENN ID
- night-minaret-clover
- Grade
- C
- Local Planning Authority
- Orkney Islands
- Constituency
- Orkney and Shetland MP: Mr Alistair Carmichael (LD)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 9 December 1977
- Type
- Farmhouse
- OS grid reference
- HY 279 286
- Coordinates
- 59.13811, -3.26028
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
The Old Bea farmhouse buildings are located in Birsay on the northern coast road of the North Orkney Mainland. They are constructed from traditional flagstone and are arranged in a rectangular plan. The group includes the remains of a single-storey Orkney firehouse dating to around 1664, which was extended in the 19th century with a two-storey section added to the west gable. There are two doorways on the south elevation. The two-storey addition has been left without a roof since 2018, having previously featured a flagstone roof. The mid-17th century firehouse was raised by one storey during the late 20th century using reconstituted stone blocks.
At the rear (north) of the house is a long narrow former byre. To the south, there is a rectangular enclosure with a low flagstone wall. West of the enclosure are two adjoining single-storey gabled outbuildings, which have roofs covered with corrugated or 'crinkly tin' sheeting.
Local climate
Old Bea Farmhouse, Birsay sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,170 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 90% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 98% 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
- No related consent applications matched
- 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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