
Parish of Orphir
Orphir is a parish and settlement in Mainland, Orkney. It is averagely nine miles south west of Kirkwall, and comprehends a seaboard tract of about 7 by 3½ miles, and includes Cava and the Holm of Houton. The coast includes Houton Head, about 300ft tall, but all elsewhere is nearly level; and the interior is an assemblage of vales and hills, the latter culminating at about 700 ft above sea level, and commanding fine views.
A chief residence was the Hall of Clestrain; and chief antiquities include the ruins of Earl Paul's Palace, remains of pre-Reformation chapels, and several tumuli.
John Rae, the explorer of Canada's Arctic was born at the Hall of Clestrain in this parish

