Settlement on Sanday may be traced back to Neolithic times; the site at Pool has been dated to 3500 BCE. There are a number of Iron Age sites, as well as the more high-profile Viking sites on the island.
Sanday’s geology means that its archaeological sites are incredibly well preserved. Unfortunately there is another side to Sanday’s archaeological coin; sites are subject to astounding attacks from the sea and subsequent coastal erosion – although that same erosion may reveal to us previously unknown sites.
Some sites on Sanday are well-known (Quoyness, Scar), others less so; one site, at Brough, has been featured on television’s Time Team, and the discovery of a Rune Stone in the 1990s caused considerable academic excitement.
The Sanday Development Trust has produced an information leaflet “Sanday’s Archaeology: exploring 5000 years of island life.” Look out for copies at information points across the island, and at information centres on mainland Orkney.
Clearly, Sanday’s history did not cease with the Vikings. The island has been under continuous settlement to the present day.
Gradually, the crofting way of life developed, being interrupted somewhat rudely by the onset of two World Wars, in both of which Sanday’s role was significant. There are several sites of interest on the island and these range from shipwrecks to the former radar station site. Again, a Sanday Development Trust information leaflet is available: “Sanday at War!”
One other feature of significant historical interest is somewhat emblematic of our island. Start Point Lighthouse, built by Robert Stevenson, was completed in 1806. It was the first Scottish lighthouse to have a revolving light and since 1915 has been painted with distinctive black and white vertical stripes, a feature unique in Scottish lighthouses. The light is operated by the Northern Lighthouses Board which, since the light’s 200th anniversary, has allowed visitors to the lighthouse. The Sanday Ranger accompanies regular parties to the light throughout the summer months.
We do not forget the everyday history of ordinary folk; we have island projects working to preserve both Oral Histories and a Photographic Archive.
