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The Great Britain Guide

Islands · Scottish Islands

Barrel of Butter

Barrel of Butter in Orkney + Shetland, United Kingdom.

Barrel of Butter navigation light, Scapa Flow - geograph.org.uk - 7266330

Michael Earnshaw — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
4 h–12 h

About

Barrel of Butter is a place of interest in Orkney + Shetland, United Kingdom — drawn from open-data sources for visitor reference. See the linked Wikipedia article for the full description.

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From the Wikipedia article

The Barrel of Butter, formerly known as Carlin Skerry, is a skerry in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

Formerly known as Carlin Skerry, the rock gained its strange name, not from its shape, or position, as is often the case, but from the annual rent paid on it, by the residents of Orphir. In return for a barrel of butter per year, they gained permission from the local laird to hunt the seals on it. On 21 June 1919, the waters between the Barrel of Butter and Cava became full of scuttled German ships, including the , , , and . Some of these are still popular with divers.

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
58.8905, -3.1260
Address
Barrel of Butter<br/>Scapa Flow<br/>Orkney<br/>Scotland<br/>United Kingdom

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Barrel of Butter?
Barrel of Butter is in Scottish Islands, in the United Kingdom — coordinates 58.8905°, -3.1260°.