Holborn Head is a headland on the north-facing

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast of

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

, in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The ''point'' of Holborn Head is at (

grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

). It has a lighthouse at its south end and the remains of an old fort at its tip.

Hill fort

The name ''Holborn'' appears Norse in origin, meaning ''hillfort'', and the headland may be the ''Tarvedunum promotorium'' noted by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

. At the tip is a bank, all that remains of a

promontory fort A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

, which has been listed as a protected monument since 1933. One source says no radiocarbon dating, or excavation for

stratified Stratification may refer to: Mathematics * Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols * Data stratification in statistics Earth sciences * Stable and unstable stratification * Stratification, or st ...

remains has been done at the fort, so its age is unknown. Another says it is

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

Pictish Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...

, possibly 2400 BC to 900 AD, and another says Count Moddan, one of the

Earls of Orkney Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally founded by Norse invaders, the status of the rulers of the Nort ...

, in the early 11th century, had his army on ''promontario Thorsnesia'', which its source takes to be Holburn Head. However, ''Thurso promontory'' could have equally described the later

Scrabster Castle Scrabster Castle was a castle, near Burnside, about north and west of Thurso, and south of the village of Scrabster, Highland in Scotland, south of Thurso Bay.Coventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.297 It is on ...

Lighthouse

A walk around the headland can be accessed through a gate next to the Principal Keeper's House. There are stiles and bridges, which allow access to the unfenced off promontory of Holborn Head itself. There are clear views over to Dunnet Head and to the Orkney Islands. HolburnHead

Holburn Head Lighthouse, spelt 'Holburn', unlike the headland which is Holborn Head, is about one kilometre (half a mile) south of the point, near

Scrabster Harbour Scrabster ( sco, Scraibster, gd, Sgrabastair/Sgrabstal) is a small settlement on Thurso Bay in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. It is some from Thurso, from Wick, from Inverness and 271.7 miles (437.2 km) from Edinburgh. Sc ...

on the western shore of

Thurso Bay Thurso Bay, known also as Scrabster Bay, is a bay of Atlantic water between the points of Clairdon Head and Holborn Head on the north coast of Caithness, Scotland. The bay receives fresh water from the River Thurso and the Wolf Burn. The river ...

, at . Designed and built by

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and

Thomas Stevenson Thomas Stevenson PRSE MInstCE FRSSA FSAScot (22 July 1818 – 8 May 1887) was a pioneering Scottish civil engineer, lighthouse designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the Stevenson sc ...

, it was completed in 1862. The tower for the light is integral with the keepers' house which is unusual since most Scottish lighthouses are separate from the house. After entering the upper floor front doorway there is a vestibule with 2 entrances, one to the Lightkeepers House and the other to the Lighthouse Tower. There were 2 Lightkeepers houses and the Tower within the building. Separate to this was the Principal Keeper's House. The light was discontinued in 2003.

References

Northern Lighthouse Board's link on the Holborn Head Lighthouse
(QuickTime required) *''The History of the Celtic Placenames of Scotland'' (Watson, 2004, )
Weekend Notes article describing access to the walk around Holborn Head promontory
Headlands of Scotland Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Caithness Landforms of Highland (council area) {{UK-lighthouse-stub