Loch of Kirbister

The Loch of Kirbister is a small, shallow, somewhat triangular-shaped loch located on Mainland Orkney, Scotland, in the parish of Orphir. It lies 5 mi (8.0 km) southwest of Kirkwall on a cultivated land between two hills. There is a small turf-covered islet known as the Groundwater of Holm just off the eastern shore of the loch. It measures 37 m (121 ft) by 19 m (62 ft) and exhibits stone traces of an oval structure and a small projecting pier. The loch is a popular spot for trout fishing. Located on the lodge of the loch is the Orkney Trout Fishing Association which operates a hatchery at the Kirbister pumphouse. Mill Burn, the southern outflow from the loch, was used to power the 18th-century Kirbister Mill. The loch was surveyed in 1903 by T.N. Johnston and R.C. Marshall and later charted as part of Sir John Murray's The Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland 1897-1909.