Burn of Ayreland

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The Burn of Ayreland is a northwesterly flowing coastal stream on Mainland Orkney, Scotland that discharges to the Clestrain Sound about two miles south of Stenness.[1] Draining chiefly agricultural lands elevated mosses and moorland. This stream has a notable lack of turbidity and a pH level of approximately 8.[2] Armouring of the stream bottom consists of pebbles, cobbles and occasional boulders.

[edit] Prehistory and history

This burn is located a few miles south of very significant Neolithic and Iron Age archaeological sites. A few miles to the north are the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar.[3] About three miles to the northeast is the Iron Age Maes Howe site.

The Burn of Ayreland supplied the Mill of Ayreland with water power since the Late Middle Ages; this mill functioned into at least the late 1880s. The mill is now operated as a country inn.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger 45, Orkney Mainland, 1:50,000 scale, 2003
  2. ^ C.M Hogan, Natural History of the Orkney Islands, Aberdeen (2006)
  3. ^ J. Gunn, Orkney, the Magnetic North, Thomas Nelson and Sons, Edinburgh (1932)


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