Walls. Walls is a parish in the South Isles district of Orkney. It consists of the southern part, or considerably more than the half, of the island of Hoy. But the part of it to the south of Longhope Bay, being very deeply peninsulated by that bay, and at times completely insulated by an influx of spring tides to the head of that bay from the opposite coast, constitutes Walls proper, and is sometimes spoken of as a separate island from Hoy. Its name is popularly pronounced Waas, and was anciently written Waes or Valis, and is supposed to be a corruption of the word Voes, which signifies bays or inlets of the sea. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Flotta. Flotta is a parish comprehending the inhabited islands of Flota, Pharay, and the uninhabited islands of Flota-Calf, Switha, and Little Rysay, in the south of Orkney. It lies wholly between Scalpa Flow on the north and the Pentland Firth on the south. The island of Flota lies at nearly equal distances from the nearest part of South Ronaldsay on the east and the nearest part of Hoy Island on the west. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Longhope
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The church of Walls was dedicated to St Columba. Walls was a commune kirk of Kirkwall Cathedral. In the sixteenth century the parishes of Walls and Flotta were united. Flotta was severed again quoad sacra on 17 Jul 1882. There is a mission chapel in Flotta on the island of South Pharay.
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
Walls and Flotta (QO)
Flotta (QO)
(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)
Parish registers turned over to the Registrar-General, as a result of the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act of 1854. The letters B. D. and M. indicate Births (or Baptisms), Deaths (or Burials), and Marriages (or Proclamations of Banns) respectively. Numbers indicate separate volumes or books. Note: These records are by no means complete or without damage; consult the Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872) to learn more about the condition of the records.
| OPR and RD Numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Range | Name | Number | Type |
| 1707-1854 | Walls | 32 | OPR |
| 1708-1854 | Flotta | 32 | OPR |
| 1855-1858 | Walls and Flotta | 32 | RD |
| 1859-1971 | Walls | 32-1 | RD |
| 1859-1971 | Flotta | 32-2 | RD |
| 1972-2003 | Walls | 150 | RD |
| 1972-2003 | Flotta | 151 | RD |
| 2009 | (Graemsay) Orkney Islands, Gramesay | 150 | RD |
| 2009 | (Flotta) Orkney Islands, Flotta | 151 | RD |
| 2026 | (Flotta) Orkney Islands Council; Flotta Community Council | ||
| 2026 | (Walls) Orkney Islands Council; Graemsay, Hoy and Walls Community Council | ||
(2009: Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland - Old and New, National Records of Scotland)
Local community councils (2026) are provided as a potential source of additional information for settlements within the original boundaries of the parish. (Source)
Statistics from informal and official censuses
Groat, Johnston, Robertson, Ross, Sabiston, Simpson, Stout, Sutherland, Taylor, Thomson
Note: Names appearing in research materials, other than censuses. Simple names (First name, surname only) have been omitted unless they appear associated with large properties. All women's names, and men's names with occupations, military ranks, or peerage titles are included.
By the Reverend Mr James Bremner.
"The people are very peaceable and inoffensive, apparently very simple but in fact abundantly shrewd. Their address is without embarrassment or rudeness, but not without a degree of politeness and good manners, though sometimes an affectation of refinement in the last, makes it ridiculous. What has been said of their charity, may serve as a criterion of their sense of religious obligation. Being strangers to all the different opinions of sectaries, they are strangers also to those vain disputations, violent dissensions, and strife about words, so frequently to be met with in other places."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)
Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 17, p. 312
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 15, Section III, p. 70
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
