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St Magnus’ Church and execution site monument, Egilsay Island

Egilsay Island

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St Magnus’ Church and execution site monument, Egilsay Island

A modern pilgrimage route connecting the saintly places of St Magnus begins with a sea journey to this blessed isle of his martyrdom

Highlights

  • Site of St Magnus’ execution and early church

Follow the trail of St Magnus’ martyrdom to its source, and the reward is time in the wild meadows of Egilsay. A stone monument in the middle of this small island marks the place where the saint was executed around 1116/7. It is surrounded by a blaze of wildflowers, planted to attract birds and insects but also appealing to any pilgrims willing to make the 7-mile boat journey from Orkney’s mainland.

The monument was built in 1937 to mark the site of the saint’s death at the hands of Earl Hakon, his political rival and cousin, and also commemorates the 800th anniversary of the cathedral built in his memory. The two had come here for peace talks, but St Magnus was tricked and killed.

The saint was buried by his grieving followers on the island, which became a site of miracles within months. Lush grass grew around the previously barren land where he had been slain, a precursor to the profusion of wildflowers here today. His body was removed to Birsay on the mainland a year later (see page 579 overleaf).

By 1136 a church had been built on Egilsay to mark the saint’s death, perhaps on the site where he was once buried. The church is a 10-minute walk uphill from the execution monument. Its medieval ruins still stand above the island’s little jetty, its conical tower looking like an industrial chimney from a distance.

The church ruins are open at any time, the walls still standing to their full height though the interior is now bare. It is routinely compared to the round tower churches of Ireland and East Anglia (see for example Burgh Castle in Norfolk).

However, Orkney has plenty of stone brochs, which are tall Iron Age round towers, that seem a more obvious design inspiration.

Apart from bird watching, these monuments to St Magnus are the sum total of visitor attractions on Egilsay. The ferry timetable will leave you several hours to ponder the witness of St Magnus and the treachery of his power-hungry cousin. St Magnus came to Egilsay to meet Earl Hakon for peace talks. The two were joint rulers of Orkney but had become entangled in various disputes. Hakon broke the terms of the peace talks by arriving with a large detachment of armed men. St Magnus offered to leave Orkney or surrender himself as a prisoner. Hakon and his men decided that only one earl of Orkney could be allowed to remain alive.

Hakon asked his standard bearer Ofeig to perform the execution, but he refused. Hakon then turned to his cook Lifolf, who also initially refused. In the end it was St Magnus himself who bravely talked Lifolf into carrying out the deed: “Be firm poor man, for I have prayed to God for you that he may have mercy upon you.” Within moments St Magnus lay dead.

This description of the saint’s death, in the Orkneyinga Saga, is a little embroidered, as one might expect of a man with political as well as spiritual significance. His descendants were keen to cement his place in the affections of the Orkney people. Though St Magnus was killed for dynastic reasons, his peaceful demeanour in the face of death is reminiscent of martyrs killed for their faith. Judging by the wounds on the saint’s skull, which is in the cathedral church at Kirkwall (overleaf), he was actually hacked to death rather than cleanly executed – as other accounts confirm. A picture of his damaged skull is reproduced in the St Magnus Cathedral guide.

Other stories from the saint’s life do however back up the idea that he was a peace-loving soul. He was taken on a pirate raid to Anglesey in 1098 but refused to fight, opting to stay on board the ship and sing psalms instead.

There are no cafes or shops on Egilsay island. It began to rain when I arrived, and I prepared myself to spend three hours sitting in the cramped section of the church with a short roof. Within minutes the heavy clouds vanished leaving blue sky from horizon to horizon. I spent the rest of the morning swimming from the deserted beach on the east coast. A pair of seals tracked me through the azure water, their dark bodies shadowing pure white sand.

Beyond Egilsay

To the north of Egilsay lies Westray island, and behind that is Papa Westray where St Triduana was born. She has a holy well in Edinburgh where she served as a nun. There is a ruined chapel on the east shore of the Loch of St Tredwell, a place of pilgrimage up until the 18th century popular with people suffering from eye complaints. The ancient ritual was to walk round the lake in silence and then bathe, but in late October a gale was blowing, so I stripped and waded in quickly, emerging as healthy as I’d entered, if rather more awake. The chapel is at GPS: 59.3414N 2.8869W. The plane journey from Westray to Papa Westray is the shortest scheduled airline flight in the world, lasting a total of 2 minutes including the taxi.

Directions

Mainland ferry from: Tingwall Pier, Gorseness Road, Tingwall, Orkney KW17 2HB

www.orkneyferries.co.uk

W3W: pays.filer.yield

GPS: 59.1569N 2.9353W

Church

W3W: multiply.pizzeria.liver

GPS: 59.1536N 2.9281W

Monument

The journey from Orkney mainland to Egilsay takes about 50 minutes. Ferries run several times a day from Tingwall, which is 14 miles north-west of Kirkwall. Schedules and booking information are on the ferry website or tel: 01856 872044. St Magnus’ Church is in the middle of the island, half a mile from the jetty at Skaill. Walk up the road and the footpath to the prominent church is on the left. To find the monument, walk 180m down the vehicle track from the church and turn right along the road. After 300m turn left at the crossroads, by the school, and the footpath to this monument is on your right after 150m.

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Key facts

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Britain’s Pilgrim Places

This listing is an extract from Britain’s Pilgrim Places, written by Nick Mayhew-Smith and Guy Hayward and featuring hundreds of similar spiritually charged sites and landscapes from across Britain.

Proceeds from sale of the book directly support the British Pilgrimage Trust, a non-profit UK charity. Thank you.

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Church

St Magnus’ Church and execution site monument, Egilsay Island

Egilsay Island

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