Sanday, Orkney

Sanday

Norse name	Sandey
Meaning of name	Old Norse: sand island
An aerial view of the southern coast of Sanday, looking west. Tres Ness and Conninghole are in the foreground.
Location
Sanday Sanday shown within Orkney
OS grid reference	HY677411
Coordinates	59°15′N 2°33′W / 59.25°N 2.55°W / 59.25; -2.55
Physical geography
Island group	Orkney
Area	5,043 ha (19.5 sq mi)
Area rank	21
Highest elevation	The Wart 65 m (213 ft)
Administration
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Council area	Orkney Islands
Demographics
Population	494
Population rank	22
Population density	9.8 people/km2
Largest settlement	Lady
References

Start Point Lighthouse

Start Point Lighthouse in 2007
Orkney
Location	Start Point Sanday Orkney Scotland United Kingdom
Coordinates	59°16′39″N 2°22′33″W / 59.277431°N 2.375906°W / 59.277431; -2.375906
Year first constructed	1806 (first)
Year first lit	1870 (current)
Automated	1962
Construction	stone tower
Tower shape	cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markings / pattern	white and black vertical stripes tower, black lantern, ochre trim
Height	25 metres (82 ft)
Focal height	24 metres (79 ft)
Light source	solar power
Range	24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi)
Characteristic	Fl (2) W 20s.
Admiralty number	A3718
NGA number	3276
ARLHS number	SCO-225
Managing agent	Northern Lighthouse Board

Sanday is one of the inhabited islands of Orkney that lies off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of 50.43 square kilometres (19.5 sq mi), it is the third largest of the Orkney Islands. The main centres of population are Lady Village and Kettletoft. Sanday can be reached by Orkney Ferries or by plane from Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland.

The Picts were the pre-Norse inhabitants of Sanday but very few placenames remain from this period. The Norse named the island Sandey or Sand-øy because of the predominance of sandy beaches and this became "Sanday" during the Scots and English speaking periods. The similarly named Sandoy is in the Faroe Islands.

Many places and natural features derive from Old Norse. According to Dorward (1995), the placename Kettletoft means "Kettil's croft" although "toft" in this context may mean ""abandoned site of house" from the Norse topt. The suffix -bister found in Sellibister and Overbister is from bólstaðr meaning "dwelling" or "farm". Other common suffixes are -ness and -wick from the Norse vik and nes and meaning "bay" and "headland" respectively. According to Frances Groome, Otterswick was originally known as Odinswic.

Sanday lies south of North Ronaldsay and east of Eday and Westray. It is divided naturally into two roughly equal halves by Otterswick, a bay which runs in from the north, and Kettletoft Bay in the south. The narrow isthmus between them formed the boundary between the historic parishes Cross and Burness to the west and Lady to the east. The novelist Eric Linklater described Sanday's shape seen from the air as being like that of a giant fossilised bat.