Buying a building plot in or around Kirkwall? See how the ground falls and what constraints apply before you commit, using the Scottish Government LiDAR flown over the area and published on the Scottish Remote Sensing Portal.
Across the Kirkwall area (20.56 km² from the OS Open Names extent), open LiDAR covers 98.2% of the ground. The best survey for most of it is Orkney Islands Council LiDAR 2023, flown 2023 on a 0.5 m grid (86.8% of the area).
Other parts use LiDAR for Scotland Phase 1, flown 2011–2012 (11.4%). A plot near the join between surveys may draw on both; the report shows which survey covers each part of your boundary.
That survey is recent (about 3 years old), but anything built or dug since still won't show. The flight date is on every page of the report.
Most of the ground across the area (96% of readings) lies between -0.6 m and 77.9 m above Ordnance Datum, with a median of 21.5 m. The extremes (-0.9 m to 87.9 m) can include water surfaces and data edges, so we don't quote them as ground levels.
Much of Kirkwall is gently sloping, with steeper banks in places (10.8% over 1 in 10). Two plots a street apart can differ a lot, so the plot-level contours matter more than the town average.
Parts of the area are less than 5 m above Ordnance Datum, so a plot report here also lists whether SEPA's mapped flood extents touch the boundary. That is a map layer, not a flood risk assessment.
Fitting a plane through the 10 m levels, the ground across Kirkwall falls generally towards the north-west at about 10.6 m per km (roughly 1 in 94). The lowest tenth of the ground lies mostly to the north-west, and the highest tenth lies mostly to the south-east.
About 30.8% of the 10 m samples are flatter than 1 in 40, while one in ten is steeper than 5.9°.
On SEPA's flood maps (medium likelihood), 2% of the Kirkwall extent is inside the river flood extent, 6.7% inside the surface water extent and 2.3% inside the coastal extent. The extent is a rectangle round the town, so it can take in foreshore, sea and open ground. These are indicative national maps, not a flood risk assessment; a plot report gives the figures for your own boundary.
Historic Environment Scotland has 256 listed building records in the extent (4 category A, 149 category B, 103 category C), and 5 scheduled monuments and 1 conservation area overlapping it. A plot report lists any that touch or sit near your boundary.
NatureScot protected areas overlapping the extent: North Orkney (SPA); Scapa Flow (SPA).
None of the Kirkwall extent is within the Coal Authority's Development High Risk Area.
Nearest towns with pages here: Stromness, 19.6 km west, median ground about 15 m higher; Thurso, 53.8 km south-west, median ground about 4 m higher; Wick, 60.4 km south, median ground about the same; Dornoch, 137.5 km south-west, median ground about 10 m lower.
Sampled every 10 m, the typical slope is 2.6°, and 10.8% of the area is steeper than 1 in 10. A single plot can be much flatter or steeper than this. Its report works at 0.5 m.
| Area checked | 20.56 km² (OS Open Names extent, at most 6 km across) |
|---|---|
| LiDAR coverage | 98.2% |
| Best survey | Orkney Islands Council LiDAR 2023, flown 2023, 0.5 m grid (86.8%); typical ±0.20 m |
| Also used | LiDAR for Scotland Phase 1, flown 2011–2012, 1.000002600000007 m grid (11.4%); typical ±0.15 m |
| Ground levels | mostly -0.6–77.9 m AOD (2nd–98th percentile), median 21.5 m |
| Slope (10 m sample) | median 2.6°, 90th percentile 5.9°, 10.8% steeper than 1 in 10 |
| Overall fall | towards the north-west, about 10.6 m per km |
| SEPA flood maps (medium likelihood) | river 2.0%, surface water 6.7%, coastal 2.3% of the extent (awareness only, not a flood risk assessment) |
| HES records in extent | 256 listed buildings (A 4, B 149, C 103), 5 scheduled monuments, 1 conservation areas, 0 gardens and designed landscapes |
| NatureScot protected areas | 2 |
| Coal Authority high risk area | 0.0% of the extent |
Read from the open LiDAR at a 10 m sample on 2026-10-23; local data checked 2026-10-23. A plot report reads the same data at 0.5 m for your boundary only.
Accuracy. We test Scottish LiDAR against independent survey overlaps and Ordnance Survey levelled trig pillars: heights are ±0.14 m typical on open ground (95% within ±0.28 m). Results by survey phase.
Stromness · Thurso · Wick · Dornoch
Place names and extents: OS Open Names. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. LiDAR: contains Scottish Government LiDAR data, Open Government Licence v3. ©SEPA 2025; this SEPA product is licensed under the Open Government Licence version 3.0. Third-party data attribution statements: https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/5zidnja5/sepa_flood_maps_data_attribution_statements.pdf (SEPA flood maps are indicative and not suitable for individual properties). Contains Historic Environment Scotland and Ordnance Survey data © Historic Environment Scotland - Scottish Charity No. SC045925 © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Open Government Licence v3. Contains NatureScot information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3. Contains Mining Remediation Authority (formerly the Coal Authority) data, Open Government Licence v3. See data licences.