Sanday, Orkney: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Sanday is one of the inhabited islands in the Orkney Islands group off the northern coast of Scotland.

Sanday, so called because of its sandy beaches ("sand island") is thought to have been mostly underwater at some periods of prehistory and is thought at one time to have consisted of several smaller islands which joined together when the sea level decreased. The island has large sand dunes where seals and otters can be found. Inland it is fertile and agricultural.

The main village on Sanday is Kettletoft, from which planes fly to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland, to which ferries also sail.

Attractions on the island include the Quoyness chambered cairn, dating from the 3rd millennium BC.