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In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Hoy like this:
Hoy, island, Orkney, pop. 1380; P.O., 4 miles SW. of Stromness; is 13 miles and 6 miles in extreme length and breadth, and is the largest of the Orkney islands after Mainland, from which it is separated by the Sound of Hoy; is sometimes called the Highlands of Orkney, and rises in Ward Hill (the highest point of Great Britain N. ...
of the Pentland Firth) to a height of 1564 ft.; all along the W. coast, from the Kame of Hoy to Roray Head, are lofty cliffs, which at one point rise to a height of 1140 ft.; 1 mile N. of Roray Head is the Old Man of Hoy, a detached pillar-shaped rock, 450 ft. high; 4 m. SW. of Stromness is Hoy Lodge.
Hoy is now part of ORKNEY ISLANDS Council. Click here for graphs and data of how ORKNEY ISLANDS has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Hoy itself, go to Statistics.
How to reference this page:
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Hoy, in Orkney Islands and Orkney | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/17143
Date accessed: 08th April 2026
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Hoy".
