An Orkney charity has received a near-£10,000 National Lottery Heritage funding windfall.
Rousay, Egilsay, and Wyre Heritage will use the cash to help bring the islands’ history to life.
Educational events and reenactments will be held in Rousay, which has two ongoing archaeological digs taking place each year.
The dig at Swandro is run by the University of Bradford while the Skaill Farm excavation is run by the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute.
Rousay, Egilsay, and Wyre Heritage has been working with these institutions to run reenactments already.
More are planned, using the £9,858 being received through The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Helen Castle is the secretary for the heritage organisation. She’s hoping the reenactment days will encourage people to visit the dig sites and find out more about Rousay’s history.
She said: “The reenactment guys show what life was like at the time and they do various activities with children.
“So far we’ve had an 18th-century reenactment for Skaill Farm. This Saturday we’ve got the first of the Iron Age reenactments at Swandro.
What life was like
“On the 6th of August we’ve got the Iron Age guys in the Rousay Heritage Centre with some replica finds.
“They’ll give more details on what life was like at that time. They’ll talk about the things they needed and the crafts and skills you had to have.
“In the Autumn, The University of the Highlands and Islands, will be doing a talk on food farming and trade in the 18th and 19th centuries at Skaill farm. They’ll also be showing their finds from this year’s dig.”
The heritage funding will also be used to update a booklet on the history of the islands. It will now include information gathered during the three digs that have taken place since the booklet was first produced.
Aside from that, the funding will be used to purchase a bench made from 100% recycled plastic, for the Rousay Heritage Centre and garden.
Replica artifacts of items found at the Swandro and Skaill digs will also be produced, to be displayed in the Rousay Heritage Centre.
Conversation