Papa Stronsay

The geology is middle old red sandstone. A thin tongue of land curls west from the main part of the island, and then south to form the Point of the Graand (a local word meaning a "sandbar"). The island, in general, is low-lying, reaching a mere at its highest point. There is an light beacon in the north east. ==History==

The island has the remains of two chapels and has been described as the site of the most northerly early Christian monastery ever found. St Nicholas' chapel dates from the eleventh century, and an eighth-century Pictish monastery may lie under it. St Bride's Chapel, located near to what is now the monastery, was of a similar size to St Nicholas's. It was in ruins in 1900 and all surface trace of it had vanished by 1928. Other remains include cairns, a burnt mound, and a number of abandoned crofts. The island is one of the "Papeys" or "islands of the papar". Joseph Anderson noted that in the Orkneyinga saga "The two Papeys, the great and the little (anciently Papey Meiri and Papey Minni), now Papa Westray and Papa Stronsay, are both mentioned in the Saga. Fordun in his enumeration of the islands, has a 'Papeay tertia' [third Papey], which is not now known." Earl's Knoll Earl's Knoll, or Earl's Know, is the remains of a chambered cairn constructed in the Neolithic period, likely of the Orkney-Cromarty type, located at the south east overlooking the Golgotha Monastery and the island's Bountifur pier. circa 1046: Modern era A fertile island, it became an important centre for the curing of herring in the eighteenth century, but was abandoned in the 1970s. ==Present day==

can be seen in the background. On 31 May 1999, the island was purchased from farmer Charles Ronald Smith by the monastic community of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, a traditionalist Catholic religious congregation formerly affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X. In 2008 the congregation, along with most of its members, was received into full communion with the Holy See. Monks at the Golgotha Monastery, which has a working farm, hail from as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, South Africa and Poland. The ancient monastic ruins dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries mark Papa Stronsay as a holy island and the intention is to rebuild them. A replica of the Papa Stronsay cross is positioned at the entrance of Golgotha Monastery. The original, which is believed to date from the medieval period, was found on the island in a graveyard close to St Nicholas’ Chapel around 1850. It was taken to Melsetter House on Hoy and an image of the stone was drawn for the 1856 first volume of Sculptured Stones of Scotland by John Stuart. By 1888 the stone had been lost. Described as a "Greek cross with scroll terminals and rectangular base" the cross is featured on the coat of arms of the monastery. although by 2011 there were no "usual residents" living there as recorded by the census. a dozen monks lived there ==Folklore==

Earl's Know is traditionally thought to be the final resting place of Sir Patrick Spens. His burial there is related by William Edmonstoune Aytoun (1813–1865), who after his retirement as Sheriff and Lord Admiral of Orkney and Shetland edited a collection of Scottish poetry. In his forward to the ballad about Spens, Aytoun wrote: According to folklore, some of the Papa Stronsay natives were descended from a female selkie. This was because they had horny skin on their feet and hands, and permanently smelled of fish. ==See also==