Editing Hoy, Orkney (section)

== Geography ==
At {{cvt|14318|ha|acre}} in extent, Hoy is the 12th largest of [[List of islands of Scotland|Scotland's islands]]. It is also the "highest and wildest and wettest ({{cvt|1500|mm}} of rain) of all the Orkney islands".<ref name =Smith/> 

The [[Old Man of Hoy]], a sea stack formed from [[Old Red Sandstone]], can be found in the northwest on the Rackwick coast. It is one of the tallest stacks in the United Kingdom at a height of {{Convert | 449 | ft | order=flip}}. The Old Man is popular with climbers, and was first climbed in 1966. Created by the erosion of a cliff through [[hydraulic action]] sometime after 1750, the stack is no more than a few hundred years old, and a painting from 1817 shows the stack with an arch at the bottom which has now further eroded and no longer remains. It may soon collapse into the sea.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Tasha |date=2022-07-31 |title=The stunning Scottish landmark that could disappear 'overnight' |url=https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/lifestyle/stunning-scottish-landmark-could-disappear-27593705 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=scottishdailyexpress |language=en}}</ref>

The dramatic coastline of Hoy can be seen by visitors travelling to Orkney by ferry from the Scottish mainland. It has some of the highest sea cliffs in the UK at St John's Head, which reach {{Convert|350|m}}.<ref name=Smith/>

The name Hoy comes from the [[Old Norse language|Norse]] word ''Háey'' meaning "high island".<ref name=OK/> It is therefore not surprising that the island of Hoy is the most mountainous in the Orkney [[archipelago]]. The highest point on the island (and the whole archipelago) is in the north at [[Ward Hill, Hoy|Ward Hill]], which stands at {{Convert | 481 | m}}. There is a [[Triangulation station|trig point]] at the summit.<ref name=OS6/>

The main settlements on the island are Lyness, Rackwick and Quoyness.<ref name=OS6/> Longhope is a village on neighbouring [[South Walls]]. A road linking Hoy to South Walls was constructed towards the end of the 19th century. Prior to that time the latter had only been accessible by land across the [[shingle beach]] of the Ayre at low tide.<ref>Muir, Tom  "Geology and Landscape" in Omand (2003) p.220.</ref> The status of South Walls is now considered by some writers as a peninsula attached to Hoy and by others as still being an island. For example neither the 2001 or 2011 censuses mention South Walls in their lists of inhabited islands<ref name=NRS>{{NRS1C}}</ref><ref name=GRO>{{GRO10}}</ref> and Haswell-Smith states that South Walls "was an island" until the causeway over the Ayre was constructed.<ref name=Smith/> The [[Gazetteer for Scotland]] states that it is "a peninsula, sometimes described as an island."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst6330.html|title=South Walls|publisher=[[Gazetteer for Scotland]]|accessdate=2024-02-11}}</ref> 

The island is part of the [[Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area]], one of 40 in Scotland.<ref>[http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/national-designations/nsa/ National Scenic Areas] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311014235/http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/national-designations/nsa/|date=11 March 2017}}. SNH. Retrieved 30 March 2011</ref>