Photograph by Robbie Thomson
Skaill house
Your Visit
Skaill House is part of a joint ticket experience with the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Skara Brae.
Your tour begins at the Skara Brae visitor centre where you can visit the replica house and finds exhibition before setting off for the site itself. Skaill House is next on the tour where you can explore the charming rooms and extensive collection gathered over four centuries.
Your visit
The Garden
Discover the spacious lawned gardens surrounding the house, in a beautiful secluded spot between the sea and the Loch.
Skaill House is surrounded by pretty sunken and terraced gardens which create a series of grass platforms and secluded sheltered spaces. A walled kitchen garden is positioned on the North side of the house, and an 18th Century dovecot positioned at the southeast corner of the gardens.
As the house evolved and extended the gardens were elaborated, with much of the present layout having been modified in the 1950s.
your visit
Skara Brae
The village of Skara Brae is steeped in 5000 years of history, and was inhabited before the Egyptian Pyramids and Stone Henge were even built.
Designated a UNESCO World heritage site in 1999, the site of Skara Brae is now in the guardianship of Historic Scotland.
The site presents a remarkable picture of life around 5,000 years ago. Visitors can experience a vivid impression of the realities of a prehistoric village and see ancient homes fitted with stone bed enclosures, dressers and seats. A replica construction allows visitors to fully understand the interior of a prehistoric house. An informative visitor centre provides touch-screen presentations, fact-finding quizzes for children and adults, and an opportunity to see artefacts discovered during further archaeological excavations in the 1970s.
Your visit
Education
An educational visit to Skaill House will help students learn about a range of topics, enable learners to engage with both local heritage and social history, and inspire creativity and encourage discovery through learning outside the classroom.
Teacher Resources
We offer a range of educational resources for teachers to use when planning a visit to Skaill House or a lesson in history. For helpful documents to lead your visit and teach your students about a number of topics.
Your Visit
Visit Us
For detailed information on how to find Skaill House, please follow the visit us link below.
As the house evolved and extended the gardens were elaborated, with much of the present layout having been modified in the 1950s.