Duncansby_Head

Duncansby Head

Duncansby Head

Most northeasterly part of the British and Scotland mainland

Duncansby Head (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Dhunngain[3] or Dùn Gasbaith[4]) is the most northeasterly part of both the Scottish and British mainlands, slightly northeast of John o' Groats. It lies approximately 20 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Dunnet Head, the northernmost point of both the Scottish and British mainlands. Duncansby Head is located in Caithness, Highland, in north-eastern Scotland.[5] The headland juts into the North Sea, with the Pentland Firth to its north and west and the Moray Firth to its south.

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Lighthouse

The point is marked by Duncansby Head Lighthouse, built by David Alan Stevenson in 1924.[6]

A minor public road leads from John o' Groats to Duncansby Head,[7] which makes Duncansby Head the farthest point by road from Land's End.

The Duncansby Head Site of Special Scientific Interest includes the 6.5-kilometre (4-mile) stretch of coast south to Skirza Head. It includes the Duncansby Stacks, prominent sea stacks just off the coast.[8]

Atomic Weapon Test

In 2016, it was reported in The Sunday Post newspaper that scientists from the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldemarston had proposed a nuclear weapon test on the Stacks of Duncansby in 1953, but that the prevailing wet weather was too much for contemporary electronics and the idea was shelved.[9]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Scotland: Highlands". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  2. [2]
    Duncansby Head Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 2016-05-10
  3. [3]
    Gaelic and Norse in the Landscape: Placenames in Caithness and Sutherland Archived 2011-09-21 at the Wayback Machine. Scottish National Heritage.
  4. [4]
    "Cabaan \(Ross\), An Cadha Bàn" (PDF). The Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  5. [5]
    Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1862). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Vol. 3. Neill and Company. p. 499.
  6. [6]
    "Duncansby Head Lighthouse". The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  7. [7]
    "Scothighlands - How to drive to Duncansby Head from John O'Groats". www.scothighlands.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  8. [8]
    SSSI citation[permanent dead link]
  9. [9]
    "Experts nearly dropped an atomic bomb on a Scottish landmark in the 1950s - Sunday Post". Sunday Post. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
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Duncansby Stacks, rock pinnacles to the immediate south of Duncansby Head


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