Casting a famous Orkney landmark

A campaign is under way to create a permanent monument for Birsay’s iconic whalebone.

It is hoped that the whalebone, an iconic Orkney image on the parish’s Northside, can be replaced with a bronze replica, ensuring the landmark will remain for generations to come.

It was in April 2023 that the whalebone, believed to originate from a whale in the 1870s, was blown down, and then removed and stored in order to preserve the ancient bones.

Since then, a working group has been exploring options for a permanent structure to return to the Northside, the result of these efforts being revealed in a public event in Birsay last month.

The group has set a target of raising £70,000 to recreate the famous bones in bronze.

Fittingly, many of those involved in the sculpture’s resurrection are Northside Birsay men, such as Kenny Ross, chairman of the Heritage Trust Whalebone Working Group.

Mr Ross is also a descendant of those who originally created the sculpture over a century ago.

“It does mean a lot to us,” said Mr Ross, 71, of the bone sculpture that had been a constant presence though his life.

“But it’s been an interesting exercise to gauge how folk that are not connected to it felt about it.

“That was something that we were not sure about at the outset — it’s surprising, the level of support that we’ve got for folks that don’t have the family connection, or even a connection to the north side of Birsay.”

Assisting the Birsay project is Dr Dan Lee of UHI Orkney which has given the group a digital 3D model to act as a blueprint.

A representation of how the whalebone was 12 years ago, this would act as the model for the bronze cast and has allowed the group to create 3D printed merchandise – the sales of which have already raised over £1,000.

With the working group in place and foundries offering quotes on a cast, it appears to Mr Ross that a permanent solution could be close to hand — a prospect which had appeared distant at times, he admitted.

“There have been times throughout this process when it has become laborious, to put in mildly and I wondered if it was ever really going to take off.”

“But now, as a project, it is really starting to build some momentum.”

The fundraiser for the project can be visited here.