Holm

Aerial view of Holm and the Churchill Barriers

HOLM (ON Homn, haven or good anchorage) is pronounced "Ham". The eastern part of the parish is known as Paplay (ON Papa-byli, home or settlement of Papae). According to the Orkneyinga Saga the Sigurd who married Earl Erlend's widow, Thora, the mother of St Magnus, lived here. The old church is on the shore at Howes Wick (HY513005) and this may well be the site of a much earlier Celtic church.

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