St Mary's Village, The Pier Holm, Scotland
Listed Building Data
St Mary's Village, The Pier has been designated a scheduled monument in Scotland with the following information. Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since listing.
- Historic Scotland ID
- 393682 (entity ID)
- Building ID
- 46389
- Canmore ID
- 104912
- Category
- B
- Name
- St Mary's Village, the Pier
- Parish
- Holm
- County
- Orkney Islands
- Easting
- 347557
- Northing
- 1001310
- Date Listed
- 16 September 1999
Listed Building Description
Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
1877, extended later. Long, low rectangular rubble pier, extended E at seaward end; chamfered concrete blocking course along E side; low, harled wall along W side with battered base; cemented surface; cemented slipway to E.
Listed Building Statement of Special Interest
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
Constructed to meet the needs of the ever-growing herring fishing industry which had begun to peak circa 1829. By 1877, after many petitions for financial assistance, St Mary's finally obtained its deep-water pier where the herring catches could be landed. The booming trade, with accompanying increases in associated workers, was abruptly halted in 1914 when block ships were sunk across the fairway and Holmsound to protect the Grand Fleet in Scapa Flow from underwater German attack. Consequently, St Mary's lost its link to the North Sea fishing grounds and their associated wealth.
Listed Building References
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
Appears on 1st edition OS map (1882); Groome, ORDNANCE GAZETTEER OF SCOTLAND (1892) p 271; 3RD S A (1953) p 59; J Hume, THE INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF SCOTLAND, VOL II, (1977), p 245;
