The Holm of Scockness is a small island in the Orkney Islands, between

Rousay Rousay (, sco, Rousee; non, Hrólfsey meaning Rolf's Island) is a small, hilly island about north of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. It has been nicknamed "Egypt of the north", due to its archaeological diversit ...

and

Egilsay Egilsay (, sco, Egilsay) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, lying east of Rousay. The island is largely farmland and is known for its corncrakes and St Magnus Church, dedicated or re-dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the i ...

. It is currently used for grazing. Its name is Norse in origin and means "little island of the crooked headland".

Geography and geology

The bedrock is middle red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

like the neighbouring islands. It is similar to a map of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in shape, "pointing" southwards. It is in the north of Rousay Sound, and separated from Rousay itself by the Sound of Longstaing, and from Egilsay by Howie Sound. It is south west of

Kili Holm Kili Holm is a tidal island in the Orkney Islands, linked to Egilsay. Unusually, like its neighbour Egilsay, it may have a partly Gaelic etymology,Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) ''Orkneyinga Saga''. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goud ...

and due north of Wyre's far east coast.

References

Uninhabited islands of Orkney {{Orkney-geo-stub