Dunnet Head () is a peninsula on the northern coast of Caithness, Scotland, west of John o' Groats. It terminates at Easter Head, the northernmost point on the island of Great Britain.
Geography
Dunnet Head forms the western limit of the
Pentland Firth, the eastern limit being
Duncansby Head. The peninsula's boundary with the rest of the Scottish mainland can be defined as a north–south line running from
Little Clett () to the mouth of
Dunnet Burn () in
Dunnet Bay. This line is followed along most of its route by a single track road, the B855, which links Brough with the village of
Dunnet, making this the most northerly road on mainland Britain. From this line, the headland projects westward and northward into the
Atlantic Ocean and the Pentland Firth and shelters the more southerly waters of Dunnet Bay.
The peninsula is north-east of the burgh of Thurso, and on a clear day, it affords views of the islands of Stroma to the east, and Hoy and the Orkney Mainland, 15 km (9 miles) away to the north, across the Pentland Firth.
Military use
Near the Dunnet Head lighthouse are minor fortifications built during World War II to protect the naval base at
Scapa Flow, including a Chain Home Low
radar station and a bunker used by the Royal Observer Corps during the
Cold War.
Burifa Hill on Dunnet Head was the site of the master station and a monitoring station of the northern GEE chain of radio navigation stations during World War II. There was also an artillery range on Dunnet Head during World War II.
Angling
Dunnet Head
are restocked every two years with
brown trout fry; fishing by permit is between 1 April and early October.
Bird watching
Dunnet Head has a viewing platform where visitors can watch birds in the neighbouring cliffs. Depending on the season, birds may include
,
,
,
,
,
Parasitic jaeger,
, and – at sea –
and
.
Geodesy
Dunnet Head was the central meridian of the and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of
Caithness.
[ Geodesy , charlesclosesociety.org. Accessed 16 October 2022.]
Ptolemaic record
Dunnet Head is recorded as Virvedrum in
Ptolemy's 2nd-century Geography.
See also
-
List of extreme points of the United Kingdom
-
List of lighthouses in Scotland
-
List of Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses
External links
