In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Duncansby like this:
Duncansbay Head, a promontory in Canisbay parish, Caithness, forming the north-eastern extremity of the Scottish mainland, 1¾ mile E of John o' Groat's House, and 18½ miles N by E of Wick. Rising almost sheer from the sea to a height of 210 feet, it is clothed to the very brink of the precipice with a mixture of greensward and stunted heath, and bears remains of an ancient watch-tower on its highest point, which commands a magnificent view of the Pentland Firth and the Orkneys, and over the Moray Firth, away to the seaboard and hills of Elgin, Banff, and Aberdeen shires. ...
In its northern front, near the top of the precipice, is a vast cavern, called the Glupe; and elsewhere its seafowl-haunted cliffs are gashed with deep wide fissures, one of them spanned-by a natural bridge. The Stacks of Duncansbay, two rocky islets ¾ mile SSW of the promontory, are stupendous pyramidal masses of naked sandstone, that lift their fantastic summits far into the air, and look like huge pinnacles of some old Gothic pile.—Ord. Sur., sh. 116, 1878.
Additional information about this locality is available for Canisbay
Duncansby through time
Duncansby is now part of Highland district. Click here for graphs and data of how Highland has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Duncansby itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Duncansby, in Highland and Caithness | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/26929
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Duncansby".