Orkney Image Library

Bankburn cottage (it was never classified as a croft) was built for the Laird of Bigswell and was known as the 'Lairds house'. It was first occupied by William Isbister and his wife Jane Bewes before they moved to Grandon which they also owned.

Harold lived in the house, rent free, and gradually planted the land belonging to the cottage. He wired up a small water generator on the burn and lit the house with hydro power. Some time after Harrold's death, the property was sold to the Orkney Island Council for one pound because of some Council ruling about gifts! The owner of the property at the time was Prof. Dr. med. William Hugh Isbister whose ancestors had owned Bigswell since the sixteenth century. According to J. Storer Clouston, Bigswell was one of only three properties in Orkney in which direct descent could be documented for such a long period.