Corrigall Farm Museum

Corrigall Farm Museum

Corrigall Farm Museum is a museum of agriculture and rural life set in a group of stone 18th-century buildings restored to late 19th-century appearance, giving a glimpse of traditional Orkney life in the Victorian period.

The house is a typical 'but and ben', a two-roomed cottage. The outer room, or 'but', was used as a kitchen or antechamber, with the inner room, or 'ben', used as the main living area.

Aside from the main house, there is a barn, byre, and several outbuildings. The barn has stabling for horses at one end and a kiln for drying grain at the other.

The byre has a stone channel down the centre for clearing away muck, and stalls are made with large upright stone slabs. The house roof is heather thatch and turf, and you might just see one of the museum's North Ronaldsay sheep on top of the roof eating the grass!

Exhibits show everyday objects used on a typical Orkney farm. One of the most unusual objects is a 200-year-old parish loom. See horse=drawn agricultural machinery, a working barn and grain kiln.

There are a variety of hands-on activities for children, with a number of farmyard animals to enjoy. The farm buildings are heated with peat fires, and there are regular demonstrations of farm skills.

Entry is free, but the museum is closed over the winter months.