Located on the northern shore of Scapa Flow (Figure 17.1), this expansive site has as its focus today the remains of the 12th-century Round Church, dedicated to St Nicholas, and the grass-covered remains of substantial walling commonly identified with the Late Norse Earl’s drinking hall. However, the site is considerably larger than traditionally viewed, incorporating industrial activity at Lavacroon to the west, additional dwellings under the current Saga Centre, and a Norse-period horizontal mill with water management system, all complementing the considerable complexity of the visible grass-covered remains in the area under State Care (Guardianship). A Pictish symbol stone was incorporated into these remains, but otherwise it would appear that this site is unusual in being a virgin Viking-Age foundation, lacking immediate estate evidence of the Pictish/Iron-Age periods. There is, however, a growing body of data from the excavations considered here, that there was scattered evidence related to Late Neolithic and Bronze-Age activity, including an earlier discovery of a pecked and decorated stone, flint working and a Bronze-Age burnt mound with ceramics.

There are several entries in the Orkneyinga Saga concerning activities at the Earl’s Bu (farm) and the church at the site, which add considerable colour to our understanding of the archaeology.

Within this entry, the main elements of the site are described: the hall in some detail, but the distinctive Round Church is barely described at all. There are various interpretations about the origins for the form of the Orphir Church, citing inspiration from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem as well as southern Scandinavian similarities (summarised in Fisher 1993).