About: Rackwick

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. In 2016 there were only three dwellings occupied year round. 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.