St Margaret’s Hope is a picturesque old fishing village in South Ronaldsay, Orkney. It used to be the commercial centre for Orkney’s South Isles. To the west lies Scapa Flow, one of the great natural harbours of the world. Norway is to the east, and the Scottish mainland is just over an hour’s ferry trip away on Pentland Ferries to the south. South Ronaldsay is connected to Burray and the Orkney Mainland by the Churchill Barriers, causeways built during the Second World War to protect Royal Navy ships in the Flow. Orkney is closer to the Arctic Circle than it is to London.
The village is the third-largest settlement in Orkney after Kirkwall and Stromness. While many islanders continue to earn their living from the sea and the land, many work in mainland Orkney. The island is also home to artists, craft workers, writers and specialists who work from home. There is a strong tradition of locally organised community activity. Click for details of local services in Burray and South Ronaldsay.
All of the members of Hope Cohousing have been heavily involved with local initiatives – and on these pages, we feature three: Marengo Community Garden, The Workshop and Loft Gallery, and The Cromarty Hall.
If you are visiting, or want to know more about St Margaret’s Hope and South Ronaldsay, then you might like to take a look at two particular pages:
A (very) brief history of South Ronaldsay
Visiting and exploring South Ronaldsay
updated: March 16, 2025