Loch of Kirbister facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Loch of Kirbister
Kirbister loch, Loch of Orphir
Looking roughly SW over moorland down to the loch.
Location	Mainland Orkney, Scotland
Coordinates	58°57′08″N 3°5′36″W
Type	freshwater loch
Primary inflows	several burns
Primary outflows	Mill burn at south end in to Waulkmill Bay
Catchment area	8 sq mi (21 km2)
Basin countries	Scotland
Max. length	1.25 mi (2.01 km)
Max. width	0.5 mi (0.80 km)
Surface area	227 acres (0.92 km2)
Average depth	4 ft (1.2 m)
Max. depth	6 ft (1.8 m)
Water volume	41,000,000 cu ft (1,200,000 m3)
Surface elevation	52 ft (16 m)
Islands	Holm of Groundwater

The Loch of Kirbister is a small, shallow, somewhat triangular shaped loch on Mainland Orkney, Scotland, in the parish of Orphir. It lies 5 mi (8.0 km) south west of Kirkwall on cultivated land between two hills. There is a small (37 m (121 ft) by 19 m (62 ft)) turf covered islet known as the Groundwater of Holm just off the eastern shore of the loch. It shows traces in stone of an oval structure and small projecting pier. The loch is popular for trout fishing and the Orkney Trout Fishing Association has a hatchery at the Kirbister pumphouse on the loch edge.

Mill Burn, the southerly outflow from the loch, was used to power the 18th century Kirbister Mill.

The loch was surveyed in 1903 by T.N. Johnston and R.C. Marshall and later charted as part of Sir John Murray's The Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland 1897-1909.