Hoy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Scottish Island of
Hoy |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
 |
|
| OS grid reference: | ND263961 |
| Names | |
| Gaelic or Celtic name: | Unkown |
| Norse name: | Ha-oy |
| Meaning of name: | Old Norse for 'high island' |
| Area and Summit | |
| Area: | 14,308 ha |
| Area rank if >40 ha: | 12 |
| Highest elevation: | Ward Hill 479 m |
| Population | |
| Population: | 392 |
| Population rank: | 23 out of 89 |
| Main settlement: | Lyness |
| Groupings | |
| Island Group: | Orkney |
| Local Authority: | Orkney Islands |
  |
|
| References: | [1][2][3][4] |
Hoy (from Old Norse há-øy meaning high island) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. With an area of 55 square miles, it is the second largest of the Orkney Islands after the Mainland.
The dramatic coastline of Hoy is what usually greets visitors travelling to the Orkney Islands by ferry from the Scottish mainland. It has extremes of many kinds: some of the highest cliffs in the UK at St John's Head; the impressive and famous sea stack, the Old Man of Hoy; some of the most northerly surviving natural woodland in the British Isles; the remote possibility that Arctic Char survive in Heldale Water and the most northerly Martello Towers, which were built to defend the area during the Napoleonic War, but were never used in combat.
The highest point in Orkney, Ward Hill, is found on Hoy.
The main naval base for Scapa Flow in both the First and Second World Wars was situated at Lyness in the south-east of the island. Some rather incongruous art deco structures nearby date from this period.
An unusual rock-cut tomb, the Dwarfie Stane, lies in a valley at the west of the island. It is unique in northern Europe, bearing similarity to Neolithic or Bronze Age tombs around the Mediterranean.
The northern part of the island is an RSPB reserve due to its importance for birdlife, particularly Great skuas and red-throated divers.
In Norse mythology, Hoy is the location of the never-ending battle between Hedin and Högni.
Orkney Ferries serve the island with two routes. One links Lyness and Longhope on Hoy with the island of Flotta and Houton on the Orkney Mainland. The other links Moaness in north Hoy to the island of Graemsay and Stromness on Orkney Mainland.
 Cliffs on the Atlantic coast of Hoy, south of Rackwick |
 The Old Man of Hoy, seen from the south |
 Scapa Flow Visitor Centre |
[edit] References
- ^ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
- ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate.
- ^ Orkney Placenames
- ^ Ordnance Survey
[edit] External links
 This Orkney location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
