The Ness: Windpump, Tankerness Hall Road, Linksness

Mid 19th century farm steading with wind-powered water pump to NW of farmhouse. WIND-POWERED WATER PUMP: steel-framed tripod supporting steel sails in circular arrangement; wind-direction paddle from centre; rectangular water tank raised on concrete support adjacent to N. The wind pump is manufactured by Climax, of Horsham, Surrey, as were several other, basically identical pumps on the mainland. It was installed by the Army in the early 1940s at Holm, also on the mainland, where a large Army supply depot was located. The wind pump supplied water for the site. It was dismantled and rebuilt at the present site in the early 1950s, replacing a hand pump which was the previous method of water supply at the Ness. The upper mechanism consists of 18 sheet metal sails (reduced in length from the original) and a fan tail just over a meter long. A timber pump rod (now missing) was housed by the tapered metal frame and caused water to be delivered to the pressed steel tank flanking it. Very few wind pumps survive in Orkney, often having been dismantled when settlements were connected to a mains water supply. (ref: Historic Scotland)

August 2009: External inspection of the steading from a distance, in conjunction with up close digital images supplied by Orkney Islands Council, reveals that the wind powered water pump is broken and corroded.

12 September 2013: Limited external inspection possible from a distance which suggests the complex remains disused.

4 March 2024: Desk-based assessment suggests the building remains At-Risk.