Place:Burness, Orkney, Scotland

Burness was one of the three parishes on the isle of Sanday, later combined with the neighbouring parish of Cross to form "Cross and Burness". The isle of North Ronaldshay was also part of this combined parish, until 1831 when North Ronaldshay was created a "quod sacra" parish in its own right. ^[1]

In 1497, the Earl of Orkney (Lord Sinclair)'s "Rentall Book of Orkney" recorded the Island divided into three parishes: "Parrochia Sancti Crucis" (now know as Cross), "Parrochia Sancti Columbi" (now known as Burness) and "Parrochia Sancte Marie" (now know as Lady). The 1595 rental maintained the same division, calling them Sante Crucis, Sancte Columbae and Beatae Mariae.

The "Report of the Estate of the Isle of Sanday" in 1627 (p90), refers to the parishes as "Sainct Colme" and "the Croche parish" but the kirk is referred to as the "kirk of Bwrnes".