Chessmen on display at new museum in July

It is hoped the appeal of the Chessmen will become a major visitor attraction, in what is already set to be a bumper summer tourist season, for the Islands.

It has been reported that the modern museum will be fully opened on July 14th.

The Chessmen - expected to be a King, a Queen, a Bishop, a Knight, a Warder and a Pawn are on ‘loan’ from the British museum - but will form a permanent exhibit at the new Islands museum.

The opening of the museum had to be delayed in order that security measures required to protect the exhibit were installed.

They are believed to have been made in Norway during the Viking period and imported on one of the Norse expeditions to the Hebrides.

As the largest and best group of early chessmen to survive, they are one of the most significant archaeological discoveries made in Scotland.