Orkney Image Library

Is it near the Italian Chapel? No idea what it is for.

Not even close...

I thought it might be part of what wheelwrights used when making a wheel (you can see one in Peter's picture #212, and I think there is still one at the gateway next to the old slaughterhouse at the Crafty), but it's a bit on the small side.

This is on the landward side of the footpath close to the Castle of Yesnaby at Garthna Geo. I read somewhere that stone in this area was used in the manufacture of millstones, but whether this interesting stone feature has anything to do with that is anybody's guess.

This stone can be found on the path walking south from Yesnaby. It is near where they quarried stone from the cliffs to use as mill stones. This activity naturally took place during the summer months. This is an example of a stone which was obviously abandoned halfway through the cutting procedure. I believe the quarry went out of action many year ago.

its at yesnaby

This is out at Yesnaby, as you head for the Castle. I've often wondered if it was some sort of jig (for want of a better word) for making cartwheels, but couldn't understand why it would be lying away out here.

Yesnaby's spot on. I did wonder why it was sitting in the middle of nowhere too.

When I lived there I guessed wrongly that it was used to pull men up via a rope over the cliff, I didn't know about the quern stone idea back then.