Completed
The Vestibule
For a century a wooden lobby stood inside the west door, hiding the arch behind it. The Friends paid for the oak and glass vestibule that replaced it, so…
what your support has achieved
Our Projects
£m+
Contributed to Cathedral projects
Year the Society was founded
+
Years of history protected
Since our formation in 1958, the Society of the Friends of St Magnus Cathedral has raised funds to protect and enhance this extraordinary building.
From emergency structural repairs to the conservation of priceless fixtures and furnishings, every project has been made possible by the generosity of our members and supporters from across Orkney and around the world.
Completed
HMS Royal Oak: Recording the Memorial’s Story
A film of Fran Flett Hollinrake’s talk on the history of the HMS Royal Oak memorial in St Magnus Cathedral, commissioned by the…
Completed
The Saga of St Magnus
For visitors who arrive knowing nothing of Magnus, the Friends funded the film that tells his story. Over the years the Society has funded both the original film and…
In Progress
Comfort and Welcome
Not every gift to the cathedral is visible. Much of what the Friends have funded since 1958 has simply made the building usable: warm enough to sit in, lit…
In Progress
The Willis Organ
At the heart of St Magnus Cathedral lies one of the most powerful voices in Orkney’s musical life, its great pipe organ. Built in 1925 by Henry Willis and…
In Progress
Stonework and the Cathedral Mason
Sir Henry Dryden called St Magnus the finest example in Great Britain of the use of stones of two different colours. Keeping that stone sound has no end…
Completed
The West Window
The great west window is not medieval. It was made in 1987 for the cathedral’s 850th anniversary, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II, and paid for by hundreds of individual…
Completed
St Rognvald Chapel
The cathedral was founded in 1137 by Earl Rognvald, in memory of his uncle Magnus. For eight centuries there was no chapel dedicated to him. The Friends made…
Completed
The Spire
The copper spire is a twentieth-century addition to the cathedral, erected in 1916. By 1990 its cladding was failing and the Friends launched an appeal to renew…
Completed
The Save St Magnus Appeal
When the west end of the Cathedral was at risk of structural collapse in the 1970s, the Friends launched a major appeal that raised around £300,000, enabling vital works…