Noup Head

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Noop or Noup, a small bay and a headland on the NW coast of Westray island, Orkney. With a breadth across the entrance of 4 ³/₈ miles, and a depth thence to its inmost recessof 1 ³/₈ mile, the bay looks northward so as to be fully exposed to the fury of the Atlantic, and is crossed by a reef, the Bow of Rackwick, which has proved fatal to many a vessel. Noop Head, flanking the W side of the bay, projects north-westward from an eminence called Noop Hill, has a bold beetling character, and is sometimes designated the Stack of Noop.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer