Westray

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Westray
Westray, lighthouse at Noup Head
Westray, lighthouse at Noup Head
Waters North Sea
Archipelago Orkney Islands
Geographical location 59 ° 18 ′  N , 2 ° 59 ′  W Coordinates: 59 ° 18 ′  N , 2 ° 59 ′  W
Location of Westray
length 11.5 km
width 7 km
surface 47.13 km²
Highest elevation Fitty Hill
169  m
Residents 588 (2011)
12 inhabitants / km²
main place Pierowall

Westray is part of the Scottish Orkney Islands and is located 28 km north of the capital of the Kirkwall archipelago , which is on the Mainland . The island has an area of ​​47.13 km² with an extension of 17 × 11.5 km. The highest point in a chain of hills on the west coast is Fitty Hill at 169 m.

Most of the 588 inhabitants (as of 2011) live in the main town Pierowall with a ship connection to Papa Westray and in Rapness, in the extreme south, the ferry port to Mainland. The main industries are fishing and agriculture, and to a lesser extent tourism.

Noltland Castle
Typical stone-roofed Westray house
Lady Kirk
Links of Noltland

In addition to the ferry, there is also a flight connection to the small landing site in the north via the Loganair ; the flight to the neighboring island of Papa Westray is 2.73 km long and takes around two minutes, making it the shortest scheduled flight in the world. The one millionth passenger was welcomed on the route, which has been in operation since September 27, 1967, on October 31, 2016. The flight connection has been entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's shortest scheduled flight since 1974.

Excavations

Excavations at the Knowe of Skea on the southwestern tip of the island and at the Point of Cott brought valuable information about the Neolithic and Iron Age burials. The latter have so far been little researched. The extremely good degree of conservation of the more than 100 corpses in the Knowe of Skea is attributed to the high salt content of the soil. The figure of the Westray Wife and two other Neolithic figurines were found during excavations in the Links of Noltland.

Attractions

  • The ruins of Noltland Castle, built in the second half of the 16th century .
  • Pierowall's Westray Stone, found in a grave in 1981 , is similar to the entry stone from Newgrange in Ireland . A replica of the Westray Stone can be seen in the Kirkwall Museum. Another stone with petroglyphs was discovered at the Links of Notland in 2008.
  • the ruins of St. Mary's Church in Pierowall.
  • the ruins of the Westside Church at Tuquoy , a few kilometers south of Pierowall.
  • the remains of some boat houses from the Viking Age (written here noust) can be found along the entire coast .
  • in or near Caouter's Hill, Fitty Hill, Knucker Hill and Powdykes the remains of megalithic systems can be found.
  • the Broch of Burrastae is the best preserved.

A little north of the Notland Castle is the dune landscape of the Links of Noltland , under which there is a Stone Age village from the Grooved Ware period . In Tuquoy Bay there is a Viking settlement that is believed to have been home to Haflidi von Turqouy, who played a dominant role in Orkney in the mid-12th century. The area around the 104 m high North Hill is a species-rich bird and nature reserve. Breed here, among other guillemots , razorbills , guillemots , gannets , shags and puffins . The lighthouse of the same name, built in 1898, stands above the steep coast of the north-western tip of Noup Head .

literature

  • Wolfgang Schlick: The Orkney and Shetland Islands. Landscape and culture in the North Atlantic. DuMont, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7701-2174-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2011 census data
  2. ↑ Andreas Spaeth: Passes like in flight, in: FAS No. 2, January 14, 2018, p. 70.
  3. ↑ World's shortest flight celebrates its millionth passenger , in: The Guardian , November 1, 2016, accessed November 1, 2016
  4. ↑ Andreas Spaeth: Passes like in flight, in: FAS No. 2, January 14, 2018, p. 70.

Web links

Commons : Westray  - collection of images, videos and audio files