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In the foreground the old model farm at Stove. 2007
View Large VersionPicture added on 13 January 2012 at 13:19
Who built Stove farm and when? Was there a reason for it being built so close to the shore? Why was it allowed to fall into disrepair? One would have thought that with the revolutionary concept which it appears to have been at the time, that the the methods would have spread throughout the Islands, but maybe it was a step too far.
Added by Fred Johnston on 13 January 2012
Fred, I too wondered about the origin and fate of the 'model farm' of Stove, having first visited the site in the 1980s. There's surprisingly little info in the more popular Orkney books. In his splendid 'Orkney Farm-Names' (1952) Hugh Marwick says 'For some centuries down to about 1920, when it was bought by the Scottish Board of Agriculture and split up among small-holders, Stove was one of the largest farms in Orkney . . .' A British Listed Buildings internet site says Stove farm was owned by one Francis MacKenzie at the close of the 19th century and he 'spared no expense' in making the farm up-to-date. The Board of Agriculture split the farm into '9 small holdings' for WW1 veterans. A fire in 1972 apparently destroyed much of the original steading.
Added by Ian Hourston on 15 January 2012
Thank's Ian. That answers some of my questions
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Added by Fred Johnston on 16 January 2012
Sanday
