| Loch of Kirbister | |
| Other Name: | Kirbister loch, Loch of Orphir[1] |
| Pushpin Map: | Scotland Orkney |
| Coords: | 58.9522°N -3.0933°W |
| Catchment: | 8mi2 |
| Basin Countries: | Scotland |
| Length: | 1.25miles |
| Width: | 0.5miles |
| Area: | 227acres |
| Depth: | 4feet |
| Max-Depth: | 6feet |
| Volume: | 41000000ft3 |
| Elevation: | 52feet |
| Islands: | Holm of Groundwater |
The Loch of Kirbister is a small, shallow, somewhat triangular-shaped loch located on Mainland Orkney, Scotland, in the parish of Orphir. It lies 5miles southwest of Kirkwall on a cultivated land between two hills. There is a small turf-covered islet known as the Groundwater of Holm just off the eastern shore of the loch. It measures 37 m (121 ft) by 19 m (62 ft) and exhibits stone traces of an oval structure and a small projecting pier.[2] The loch is a popular spot for trout fishing. Located on the lodge of the loch is the Orkney Trout Fishing Association which operates a hatchery at the Kirbister pumphouse [3] .
Mill Burn, the southern outflow from the loch, was used to power the 18th-century Kirbister Mill.[4]
The loch was surveyed[1] in 1903 by T.N. Johnston and R.C. Marshall and later charted [5] as part of Sir John Murray's The Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland 1897-1909.[6]