About
Hoy Heritage Centre occupies a former nineteenth-century church on the island of Hoy, the second-largest of the Orkney Islands and by far its most dramatic in landscape terms, home to the towering sea stack known as the Old Man of Hoy and some of the highest sea cliffs in Britain. The centre tells the story of an island whose rugged terrain, more mountainous and less fertile than most of Orkney's other islands, has shaped a distinctive local history combining crofting and fishing with a particularly rich record of maritime disaster, given Hoy's exposed position facing the full force of the Atlantic and Pentland Firth.
Shipwrecks form a central strand of the centre's collections, documenting the numerous vessels lost along Hoy's dramatic and often treacherous coastline over the centuries, from sailing ships caught by sudden Atlantic storms to more recent maritime losses, with artefacts, photographs and survivor accounts illustrating both the human cost of these disasters and the resourcefulness of island communities who frequently played crucial roles in rescue efforts for stricken vessels and their crews. This maritime disaster material sits alongside the island's connection to Scapa Flow, the great natural harbour sheltered by Hoy and the other southern Orkney islands that served as a major Royal Navy anchorage during both World Wars, giving Hoy a significant twentieth-century military history dimension beyond its older maritime tragedies.
The centre also houses a Nature Room containing an extensive natural history library and displays reflecting Hoy's distinctive ecology, including its internationally important seabird colonies nesting on the island's towering cliffs and its unusual concentration of Arctic-alpine plant species surviving in the sheltered valley of Berriedale, reputedly Britain's most northerly native woodland. This natural history dimension complements the centre's human history material, reflecting Hoy's particular status within Orkney as an island defined as much by its dramatic and ecologically distinctive landscape as by its human settlement history.
Run as a genuine community resource for Hoy's small resident population as much as for visitors, the centre includes a community archive documenting the island's more recent social history, alongside practical visitor facilities including toilets and a kitchen area reflecting its dual function as both heritage centre and informal community meeting space on an island where such shared infrastructure carries particular importance given the population's modest size and the practical challenges of island life.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check Orkney ferry times to Hoy before travelling, as the centre operates on an open-access basis coordinated around the island's transport links.
- The building is largely unstaffed — this is a self-service community resource, so bring any questions for local residents you meet.
- Combine your visit with a walk to the Old Man of Hoy sea stack for one of Orkney's most dramatic landscapes.
- Visit the nearby Scapa Flow Museum at Lyness for a fuller picture of the wartime naval history connected to Hoy.
- Bring layered clothing — Hoy's terrain and coastal cliffs are more exposed than much of the rest of Orkney.
- A vehicle ferry is recommended if you plan to explore beyond Moaness, given Hoy's limited public transport.
Highlights
Shipwrecks of Hoy
Shipwreck history forms a central strand of the centre's collections, documenting the numerous vessels lost along Hoy's dramatic and often treacherous coastline over the centuries, from sailing ships caught by sudden Atlantic storms to more recent maritime losses in the notoriously dangerous waters of the Pentland Firth and open Atlantic.
Artefacts, photographs and survivor accounts illustrate both the human cost of these disasters and the resourcefulness of island communities who frequently played crucial roles in rescue efforts for stricken vessels and their crews, often at considerable personal risk to the rescuers themselves.
The Old Man of Hoy
Hoy's most famous natural landmark, the towering 137-metre sea stack known as the Old Man of Hoy, features prominently in the centre's displays, connecting the heritage centre's historical and natural history material to the island's most internationally recognised visual icon. Displays explain the stack's geological formation and its significance as a major rock-climbing destination since the first ascent in 1966, an event broadcast live on television that brought Hoy considerable public attention across Britain.
Formed from Old Red Sandstone eroded away from the surrounding cliffline, the stack continues to change shape gradually under ongoing coastal erosion, and climbers and geologists alike return regularly to document its slow transformation.
Scapa Flow and Naval History
Hoy's connection to Scapa Flow, the great natural harbour sheltered by Hoy and the other southern Orkney islands that served as a major Royal Navy anchorage during both World Wars, gives the centre a significant twentieth-century military history dimension alongside its older maritime disaster material.
Displays cover Hoy's role supporting this strategically vital naval base, including wartime infrastructure and the island's contribution to the wider defence of Scapa Flow against enemy attack during both conflicts. Visitors seeking fuller wartime interpretation are directed to the dedicated Scapa Flow Museum at nearby Lyness, with the heritage centre's own displays focusing more specifically on how Hoy's own communities experienced this period.
The Nature Room
A dedicated Nature Room houses an extensive natural history library and displays reflecting Hoy's distinctive ecology, including its internationally important seabird colonies nesting on the island's towering cliffs, among the highest in Britain, and its unusual concentration of Arctic-alpine plant species.
This natural history dimension complements the centre's human history material, reflecting Hoy's particular status within Orkney as an island defined as much by its dramatic and ecologically distinctive landscape as by its human settlement history. The library's reference books support both casual visitors and more serious naturalists planning fieldwork elsewhere on the island's cliffs and hills.
Collections
Hoy Heritage Centre, housed in a former nineteenth-century parish church, documents the history of Hoy, the most dramatic and mountainous of the Orkney Islands, home to the Old Man of Hoy sea stack and some of Britain's highest sea cliffs. Collections span shipwreck history along Hoy's treacherous coastline, the island's connection to the Scapa Flow naval anchorage during both World Wars, and crofting and fishing social history, alongside a dedicated Nature Room covering Hoy's seabird colonies and the unusual Arctic-alpine flora of Berriedale, Britain's most northerly native woodland.
Run as an open-access community resource with a community archive and shared kitchen facilities, the centre serves Hoy's small resident population as much as visiting tourists.
Shipwrecks and the Sea
The maritime disaster history of Hoy's exposed Atlantic and Pentland Firth coastline, told through artefacts, photographs and survivor accounts.
Hoy's Natural Landscape
The island's distinctive ecology, including seabird colonies, Arctic-alpine plants and Berriedale's native woodland, alongside the Old Man of Hoy sea stack.
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.