| Rackwick | |
|---|---|
 View of Rackwick from Moor Fea | |
  Rackwick Location within Orkney | |
| OS grid reference | ND201992 |
| Civil parish | |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STROMNESS |
| Postcode district | KW16 |
| Dialling code | 01856 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Rackwick is a small coastal crofting township in the north west of the island of Hoy in Orkney, Scotland.
As well as a handful of tourist amenities the township is largely made up of crofts and other small dwellings, however most now form second homes with Rackwick having very few full time residents.[1][2] In 2016 there were only three dwellings occupied year round.[3]
The Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown's poem Rackwick describes the township as "the hidden valley of light" and "Orkney's last enchantment".
The name Rackwick may derive from the Old Norse reka-vík, meaning bay of jetsam.[4]
- ^ Lee, Daniel (December 2016). Hoy and Walls Landscape Project: Rackwick Survey 2014-2015 (PDF) (Report). Kirkwall: Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology. p. 22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Hoy Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland". www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ Lee 2016, p. 39.
- ^ "Cover". Scottish Place-Name News. No. 29. Scottish Place-Name Society. Autumn 2010. p. 1.