Noup Head Lighthouse
Noup Head Lighthouse stands at the northwestern tip of Westray, one of the most northerly and windswept of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Perched dramatically on sheer red sandstone cliffs that drop vertically into the North Atlantic, it is one of the most isolated and visually striking lighthouses in the United Kingdom. The lighthouse marks a genuinely perilous headland where the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Westray Firth converge, and its warning light has guided mariners through some of the most treacherous and tide-riven seas in northern Europe for well over a century. For those who make the journey to its base, the combination of raw natural power, historical resonance, and extraordinary wildlife makes it one of the most memorable destinations in the Orkney archipelago.
The lighthouse was built by the firm of David and Thomas Stevenson, the same celebrated engineering dynasty responsible for dozens of Scottish lighthouses — and, famously, the family into which Robert Louis Stevenson was born. It was completed and lit in 1898, and its tower rises approximately 24 metres above ground level, with the light itself sitting some 79 metres above mean high water, making it visible for a considerable distance at sea. The Northern Lighthouse Board, which has administered Scotland's lighthouses since 1786, has maintained the station throughout its operational life. Like many Scottish lighthouses, Noup Head was eventually automated, removing the need for a resident keeper and ending the isolated but purposeful way of life that lighthouse families maintained at the station for decades.
In physical terms, the lighthouse is a white-painted cylindrical stone tower of the classic Stevenson pattern, neat and functional against the immensity of the surrounding cliffs and sky. The associated keeper's cottages, also white-painted and harled, stand nearby and lend the complex a modest domestic character that contrasts with the severity of the headland. Standing at the clifftop in anything more than a light breeze, the sound is overwhelming — the constant booming and hissing of the sea far below, the keening of the wind across the clifftops, and above all the extraordinary cacophony of tens of thousands of seabirds that nest on every available ledge and outcrop of the sandstone cliffs. The smell of the sea and the guano, and the sheer noise of the colony in spring and early summer, create a sensory experience that has few equivalents anywhere in Britain.
The cliffs at Noup Head are among the most important seabird colonies in the United Kingdom and are designated as both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reserve. The breeding colony here is one of the largest guillemot colonies in Britain, with many thousands of birds crowding the ledges each season alongside razorbills, kittiwakes, fulmars, puffins, and shags. Peregrine falcons are also regularly seen hunting along the cliffs, and the headland is a notable point for watching skuas, gannets, and various oceanic species passing offshore, particularly in late summer and autumn. For birdwatchers, a visit during the late spring breeding season is virtually unmatched in the Orkney Islands.
The surrounding landscape of northwestern Westray is strikingly open and elemental. The island's interior is largely agricultural — low stone-walled fields where cattle and sheep graze — but the moorland and coastal fringes around Noup Head are wilder, dominated by maritime heath, rough grass, and the ever-present red sandstone. The views from the headland on a clear day can extend across to the distant outline of Rousay and the Orkney Mainland to the south, and northward into open ocean. The nearby village of Pierowall is the main settlement on Westray and has basic facilities, and the island also contains Noltland Castle, a remarkable and roofless sixteenth-century tower house, and the Bay of Noup, a sheltered sandy bay not far from the headland.
Reaching Noup Head requires first getting to Westray itself, which is accessible by ferry from Kirkwall, the Orkney capital, on a crossing operated by Orkney Ferries that takes approximately ninety minutes. There is also a small passenger air service connecting Westray to Kirkwall, one of the shortest scheduled flights in the world. Once on the island, the lighthouse is reachable by car or bicycle along the minor road that runs northwest from Pierowall toward the headland; the road ends near the lighthouse complex, from which a short walk leads to the clifftop. There is no formal visitor centre at the lighthouse itself, and access to the tower interior is not generally available to the public, but the cliffs and headland are freely accessible. The keeper's cottages are operated as self-catering holiday accommodation by the Northern Lighthouse Board's heritage letting scheme, giving visitors the remarkable opportunity to stay overnight at the lighthouse.
The best time to visit for wildlife is between late April and early July, when the seabird colony is at its most spectacular and puffins are reliably present. Outside the breeding season the headland retains its drama but loses some of its biological intensity; in winter it can be ferociously exposed to Atlantic gales, and the short daylight hours of a northern December make the light itself particularly striking against a dark sea. Whatever the season, warm and windproof clothing is essential, and conditions can change with extraordinary speed in this latitude. For those with even a passing interest in remote landscapes, lighthouse heritage, or simply standing somewhere genuinely wild and elemental, Noup Head justifies every effort required to reach it.