© Calum McRoberts (CC BY-SA 2.0 via Geograph)

Informal Closed / unavailable Temporarily closed Island access

Burnmouth Cottage

Orkney · Orkney

3 published sources

Temporarily closed. Confirm status before travelling.

Isle of Hoy, Orkney

Sleeps
Many
Elevation
40 m
Grid ref
ND204987
Estate
Hoy Development Trust
Coordinates
58.8687, -3.3807
Reviewed and sourced The guide has named sources and no outstanding editorial checks.

Approach

Burnmouth stands beside Rackwick Bay on Hoy. It can be reached from the public road at Rackwick by a short walk across the township towards the shore. Visitors arriving on foot from Moaness can use the marked Rackwick and Old Man of Hoy routes, but that is a much longer hill walk. The Hoy Trust keeps the cottage open without charge and asks for donations towards maintenance. Check Orkney ferry and island transport arrangements before setting out.

Official mountain conditions

Broad-area links only. Howff does not import a live avalanche rating. Check issue and valid times on the official page. Area coverage reviewed 2026-07-25.

Facilities

Indoor fireplace / stove
Raised sleeping platform
Toilet (spade)
Water nearby
Electricity
Shower
Boat / ferry access
Stalking notice

Nearest Munro

Ben Hope · 927 m · 87.2 km away

Nearby mapped trails

Proximity does not prove that a trail reaches the bothy. Stored geometry is a mapped reference, not a calculated or verified route.

Download all available nearby trail GPX →

History

Burnmouth is an early nineteenth-century crofthouse with an adjoining byre, built from rubble stone with flagstone and heather roofs. The Nicholson family occupied it until the 1950s. It was derelict by the 1960s, then restored in the 1970s for a BBC adaptation of George Mackay Brown's A Time to Keep. The Hoy Trust later took it on as a bothy. It is Category A listed as a rare surviving Orkney crofthouse.

Historic Environment Scotland; Orkney.com restoration report; NorthLink Ferries Rackwick history · Updated 2026-07-25

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