Duncansby Head
{{Short description|Most northeasterly part of the British and Scotland mainland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
| qid = Q28465909
| name = Duncansby Head Lighthouse
John-o'-Groats
| image = Duncansby Head lighthouse.JPG
| caption = Duncansby Head Lighthouse
| location = Duncansby Head
Scotland
United Kingdom
| coordinates = {{coord|58.6439|-3.0253|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| yearbuilt = 1924
| construction = concrete tower
| shape = square tower with balcony and lantern
| marking = white tower, black lantern, ochre balcony
| height = {{cvt|11|m|ft}}
| focalheight = {{cvt|67|m|ft}}
| intensity = 596,000 cd
| range = {{cvt|22|nmi|km}}
| characteristic = Fl W 12 s
| managingagent = Northern Lighthouse Board{{Cite rowlett|sctnw|accessdate=10 May 2016}}[http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Lighthouse/Duncansby-Head/ Duncansby Head] Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 10 May 2016
}}
Duncansby Head ({{langx|gd|Ceann Dhunngain}}[http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/gaelic/gaelicnorseinthelandscape.pdf Gaelic and Norse in the Landscape: Placenames in Caithness and Sutherland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921192834/http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/gaelic/gaelicnorseinthelandscape.pdf |date=21 September 2011 }}. Scottish National Heritage. or Dùn Gasbaith{{Cite web |title=Cabaan \(Ross\), An Cadha Bàn |url=https://archive2021.parliament.scot/Gaelic/placenamesC-E.pdf |access-date=26 June 2023 |website=The Scottish Parliament}}) 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 in Caithness, Highland, in north-eastern Scotland.{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland|volume=3|author=Society of Antiquaries of Scotland|publisher=Neill and Company|year=1862|page=499}} The headland juts into the North Sea, with the Pentland Firth to its north and west and the Moray Firth to its south.
Lighthouse
The point is marked by Duncansby Head Lighthouse, built by David Alan Stevenson in 1924.{{cite web|title=Duncansby Head Lighthouse |publisher=The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses |url=http://lighthousemuseum.org.uk/galleries/named-d-f/duncansby-head-lighthouse/ |access-date=23 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727013128/http://lighthousemuseum.org.uk/galleries/named-d-f/duncansby-head-lighthouse/ |archive-date=27 July 2014 }}
A minor public road leads from John o' Groats to Duncansby Head,{{Cite web|url=https://www.scothighlands.com/Details?content=How-to-drive-to-Duncansby-Head-from-John-OGroats&id=170|title=Scothighlands - How to drive to Duncansby Head from John O'Groats|website=www.scothighlands.com|access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=27 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527000500/https://www.scothighlands.com/Details?content=How-to-drive-to-Duncansby-Head-from-John-OGroats&id=170|url-status=dead}} which makes Duncansby Head the farthest point by road from Land's End.
The Duncansby Head Site of Special Scientific Interest includes the {{convert|6.5|km|mi|frac=2|abbr=off|adj=on}} stretch of coast south to Skirza Head. It includes the Duncansby Stacks, prominent sea stacks just off the coast.[http://gateway.snh.gov.uk/pls/portal/Sitelink.Show_Site_Document?p_pa_code=564&p_Doc_Type_ID=1 SSSI citation]{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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.{{Cite news |date=31 October 2016 |title=Experts nearly dropped an atomic bomb on a Scottish landmark in the 1950s |newspaper=Sunday Post |url=https://www.sundaypost.com/news/experts-nearly-dropped-atomic-bomb-scottish-landmark-1950s/ |first=Jim |last=Lawson |access-date=8 November 2018}}
See also
{{stack|{{Portal|Scotland|Engineering}}}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Main/ Northern Lighthouse Board]
{{commons category|Duncansby Head}}
File:The Stacks of Duncansby, Common Heather, John O'Groats, Moray Firth, Scotland.jpg, Moray Firth, Scotland]]
{{Lighthouses of the Northern Lighthouse Board}}
{{Authority control | additional=Q28465909}}
Category:Headlands of Scotland
Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Caithness
Category:Landforms of Highland (council area)
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