During the Middle Ages, Stronsay was divided into 3 parishes: St Peter’s, comprising of the north end of the island, including Papa Stronsay, the Huip Holm, Linga Holm and Little Linga Holm; Lady Parish, which embraced the centre of the island plus the whole of the Rothiesholm Peninsula, and St Nicholas, formed by the south end of the island, the district of Everbay and the island of Auskerry. Each of these parishes had their own Parish Church with a cemetery alongside, with St Nicholas’ Parish apparently being regarded as the most important and valuable of those. Indeed the post of Priest at St Nicholas’ appears to have been tied to the role of Treasurer for the Church in Orkney, a quite prestigious position.

The remains of St Peter’s Kirk is out along the shore to the north-west of Whitehall Village and is described in ‘The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Scotland’ as:

The walled graveyard E of Whitehall village occupies a situation characteristic of the Orkney ‘Peterkirks’. The church foundation was said to be traceable in 1879, but the graveyard is now hopelessly confused and overgrown. The walled enclosure occupies the E Slope of an extensive settlement mound, which rises rather higher to the W of it. This mound fills the space between the shore and a shallow loch and extends 25m W of the graveyard wall, reaching a height of 2.5m above loch level. On the seaward side the mound shows a series of rectilinear wall-footings, while on the lower slope above the loch, a curved wall face and some erect slabs indicate prehistoric structures.

The site of what is remembered as  Lady Bervy's Castle, a grand house allegedly built by a king for his daughter,  is also near by.

For more information on these sites, click on the button below the image and explore the broader section dedicated to Stronsay.