St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland.

Today it is owned not by any church, but by the burgh of Kirkwall as a result of an act of King James III of Scotland following Orkney's annexation by the Scottish Crown in 1468.

On a raid led by the King of Norway on Anglesey, Wales, Magnus refused to fight and stayed on board singing psalms.

William the Old, Bishop of Orkney, warned that it was "heresy to go about with such tales", then was struck blind in his Birsay cathedral and subsequently had his sight restored after praying at the grave of Magnus, not long after visiting Norway (and perhaps meeting Earl Rögnvald Kolsson).

Gunhild, sister of Magnus, had married Kol, and the king of Norway granted their son Rögnvald Kolsson the right to his uncle's earldom in 1129.

His remains were moved east to St Olaf's Kirk in the small settlement known as Kirkjuvágr, meaning "church bay", now Kirkwall.

In 1919, a hidden cavity in a column was found, containing a box with bones including a skull showing a wound consistent with a blow from an axe.

[5] The Protestant Reformation in 1560 had a less dramatic effect on St Magnus Cathedral than in some other parts of Scotland, but the church had a narrow escape in 1614.

Major work was undertaken on the cathedral in 1908 by the architect George Mackie Watson:[6] this included replacing the dumpy slated pyramid atop the tower with a taller spire clothed in copper sheeting.

Restoration and renovation work on the building continues, with increased urgency since it was discovered in the 1970s that the west end of the cathedral was in danger of collapsing away from the remainder of the structure.

Other work has progressed further, and to celebrate its 850th anniversary in 1987 Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a magnificent new west window.

The cathedral contains memorials to prominent Orcadians including explorers William Balfour Baikie and Dr John Rae, writers Eric Linklater, George Mackay Brown and Edwin Muir, film-maker Margaret Tait, artist Stanley Cursiter and psychiatrist Sir Thomas Clouston.

People accused of witchcraft in Orkney from 1594-1708 were usually incarcerated in St Magnus Cathedral with trials also held in the church.

[8] The dungeon located between the choir and the south transept, also known as Marwick's Hole, was used as a prison until as late as the eighteenth century and those accused of witchcraft would have been held here before their trial and execution.

[10] At the same time as the original cathedral was being constructed, the Bishop's Palace was built nearby for William the Old, with a large rectangular hall above vaulted store rooms.

King Haakon IV of Norway, overwintering after his defeat at the Battle of Largs, died here in December 1263, marking the end of Norse rule over the Outer Hebrides.

The palace fell into ruins, then after 1540 was restored by Bishop Robert Reid who added a round tower, the "Moosie Toor".

Dryden notes that the third bell bears an inscription in plain capitals raised in two lines, rendered here in the original spelling: "Made by master Robbert Maxwell, Bischop of Orkney, the year of God MDXXVIII.

[12] Therefore, in July 1682, the church authorities contracted with Alexander Geddes, merchant in Kirkwall, to deliver the bell to Amsterdam, where it was recast by Claudius Fremy.