 for his plans , when she left she was found to be pregnant ; in another version of the story , she and her fisherman sweetheart successfully eloped . West Voe , the inner part of which is called ' Robies Noust ' is the main voe in the north coast , the smaller Culla Voe lying immediately to the west .   The main settlement on the island today is Biggings , which overlooks Housa Voe and is surrounded by in @-@ bye land to the east of the hill dyke ( which runs south from West Voe ) . To the west the island is bisected by a belt of glacial moraine about one and a half kilometres in length . Much of the rest of the area consists of a shallow stony soil that may be derived from glacial till . There is an almost complete absence of peat on the island and due to the volcanic rocks the soils are relatively fertile . The lack of peat led to ' turf scalping ' for fuel and the bare areas of rock in the interior .   The highest point on the island is in the north west at Virda Field , which rises to 87 metres ( 285 feet ) . Virda is possibly from the Old Norse for ' heap of stones ' .   = = = List of outliers = = =   In addition to the larger islets mentioned above there are various other isles and skerries around the coast of Papa Stour . They include : Aesha Stack , Boinna Skerry , Borse Skerry , Fogla Skerry , Forewick Holm , Galti Stacks , Holm of Melby , Koda Skerry , Lyra Skerry , Skerries of Quidaness , Skerry of Lambaness , Sula Stack , Swat Skerry , The Horn , Tiptans Skerry and Wilma Skerry . The Ve Skerries lie 5 kilometres ( 3 @.@ 1 mi ) to the north west . They include : Helliogoblo , North Skerry , Ormal , Reaverack and The Clubb . In between Papa Stour and Ve Skerries lies the shallow bank of Papa @-@ rof .   On 21 June 2008 , Stuart Hill , the owner and only resident of the 1 hectare ( 2 @.@ 5 acres ) island of Forewick Holm ( which he has renamed " Forvik Island " ) made a declaration of dependence , creating the Crown Dependency of Forvik . On the basis of a marriage arrangement between King Christian of Norway and King James III of Scotland that dates to 1468 , Hill argued that the island should be considered a British crown dependency , and thus not a part of the United Kingdom or of the European Union . This claim was not recognised by the United Kingdom .   = = Geology = =   The island is composed of a variety of volcanic and sedimentary rock formations from the Devonian period . At that time the Scottish landmass formed part of the Old Red Sandstone Continent and lay some 10 @-@ 25 degrees south of the equator . The accumulations of Old Red Sandstone , laid down from 408 to 370 million years ago , were created as earlier Silurian rocks , uplifted by the formation of Pangaea , eroded and then were deposited into river deltas . The freshwater Lake Orcadie existed on the edges of the eroding mountains , stretching from Shetland to the southern Moray Firth . The structure of Papa Stour is largely made up of ashes and lavas from volcanic activity associated with this period , including bands of solidified volcanic ash and lava ( rhyolite ) , but there is also a Devonian fish bed at Lamba Banks . There are numerous large boulders deposited by Pleistocene glaciation .   Erosion of the soft volcanic rocks by the sea has created an extraordinary variety of caves , stacks , arches , blowholes , cliffs , voes and geos that are amongst the finest in Britain . The ' Holl o Boardie ' is a cave that passes right through the north @-@ west tip of the island . It is nearly half a mile long and wide enough to row through . Kirstan ( or Christie 's ) Hole in the south west is another spectacular cave , part of the roof of which collapsed in 1981 . Yet another is ' Francie 's Hole ' close to Hamna Voe in the west . This was the favourite of John Tudor who wrote of the island in his Victorian memoirs and described the cave as :   ... in fairyland , so exquisite is the colouring of the roof and sides and so pellucid is the water ... [ with ] alcoves or recesses like stalls in a church .   In 1953 the spectacular headland , ' Da Horn o Papa ' fell into the sea during a storm . The nearby islet of Brei Holm also has caves that can be accessed by small
Ġfor Ġhis Ġplans Ġ, Ġwhen Ġshe Ġleft Ġshe Ġwas Ġfound Ġto Ġbe Ġpregnant Ġ; Ġin Ġanother Ġversion Ġof Ġthe Ġstory Ġ, Ġshe Ġand Ġher Ġfisherman Ġsweet heart Ġsuccessfully Ġel oped Ġ. ĠWest ĠV oe Ġ, Ġthe Ġinner Ġpart Ġof Ġwhich Ġis Ġcalled Ġ' ĠRob ies ĠN oust Ġ' Ġis Ġthe Ġmain Ġv oe Ġin Ġthe Ġnorth Ġcoast Ġ, Ġthe Ġsmaller ĠCull a ĠV oe Ġlying Ġimmediately Ġto Ġthe Ġwest Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe Ġmain Ġsettlement Ġon Ġthe Ġisland Ġtoday Ġis ĠBig g ings Ġ, Ġwhich Ġoverlook s ĠH ous a ĠV oe Ġand Ġis Ġsurrounded Ġby Ġin Ġ@ - @ Ġbye Ġland Ġto Ġthe Ġeast Ġof Ġthe Ġhill Ġdy ke Ġ( Ġwhich Ġruns Ġsouth Ġfrom ĠWest ĠV oe Ġ) Ġ. ĠTo Ġthe Ġwest Ġthe Ġisland Ġis Ġbis ected Ġby Ġa Ġbelt Ġof Ġgl acial Ġmor aine Ġabout Ġone Ġand Ġa Ġhalf Ġkilometres Ġin Ġlength Ġ. ĠMuch Ġof Ġthe Ġrest Ġof Ġthe Ġarea Ġconsists Ġof Ġa Ġshallow Ġst ony Ġsoil Ġthat Ġmay Ġbe Ġderived Ġfrom Ġgl acial Ġtill Ġ. ĠThere Ġis Ġan Ġalmost Ġcomplete Ġabsence Ġof Ġpe at Ġon Ġthe Ġisland Ġand Ġdue Ġto Ġthe Ġvolcanic Ġrocks Ġthe Ġsoils Ġare Ġrelatively Ġfertile Ġ. ĠThe Ġlack Ġof Ġpe at Ġled Ġto Ġ' Ġturf Ġscal ping Ġ' Ġfor Ġfuel Ġand Ġthe Ġbare Ġareas Ġof Ġrock Ġin Ġthe Ġinterior Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe Ġhighest Ġpoint Ġon Ġthe Ġisland Ġis Ġin Ġthe Ġnorth Ġwest Ġat ĠV ird a ĠField Ġ, Ġwhich Ġrises Ġto Ġ87 Ġmetres Ġ( Ġ285 Ġfeet Ġ) Ġ. ĠV ird a Ġis Ġpossibly Ġfrom Ġthe ĠOld ĠNorse Ġfor Ġ' Ġheap Ġof Ġstones Ġ' Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠList Ġof Ġoutl iers Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠIn Ġaddition Ġto Ġthe Ġlarger Ġis lets Ġmentioned Ġabove Ġthere Ġare Ġvarious Ġother Ġis les Ġand Ġsk er ries Ġaround Ġthe Ġcoast Ġof ĠPapa ĠSt our Ġ. ĠThey Ġinclude Ġ: ĠA es ha ĠStack Ġ, ĠBo in na ĠSk erry Ġ, ĠB orse ĠSk erry Ġ, ĠFog la ĠSk erry Ġ, ĠFore wick ĠHol m Ġ, ĠG alt i ĠSt acks Ġ, ĠHol m Ġof ĠMel by Ġ, ĠK oda ĠSk erry Ġ, ĠLy ra ĠSk erry Ġ, ĠSk er ries Ġof ĠQu idan ess Ġ, ĠSk erry Ġof ĠLam ban ess Ġ, ĠS ula ĠStack Ġ, ĠSw at ĠSk erry Ġ, ĠThe ĠHorn Ġ, ĠT ipt ans ĠSk erry Ġand ĠWil ma ĠSk erry Ġ. ĠThe ĠVe ĠSk er ries Ġlie Ġ5 Ġkilometres Ġ( Ġ3 Ġ@ . @ Ġ1 Ġmi Ġ) Ġto Ġthe Ġnorth Ġwest Ġ. ĠThey Ġinclude Ġ: ĠHell i og ob lo Ġ, ĠNorth ĠSk erry Ġ, ĠOr mal Ġ, ĠRe aver ack Ġand ĠThe ĠClub b Ġ. ĠIn Ġbetween ĠPapa ĠSt our Ġand ĠVe ĠSk er ries Ġlies Ġthe Ġshallow Ġbank Ġof ĠPapa Ġ@ - @ Ġro f Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠOn Ġ21 ĠJune Ġ2008 Ġ, ĠStuart ĠHill Ġ, Ġthe Ġowner Ġand Ġonly Ġresident Ġof Ġthe Ġ1 Ġhect are Ġ( Ġ2 Ġ@ . @ Ġ5 Ġacres Ġ) Ġisland Ġof ĠFore wick ĠHol m Ġ( Ġwhich Ġhe Ġhas Ġrenamed Ġ" ĠFor vik ĠIsland Ġ" Ġ) Ġmade Ġa Ġdeclaration Ġof Ġdependence Ġ, Ġcreating Ġthe ĠCrown ĠDepend ency Ġof ĠFor vik Ġ. ĠOn Ġthe Ġbasis Ġof Ġa Ġmarriage Ġarrangement Ġbetween ĠKing ĠChristian Ġof ĠNorway Ġand ĠKing ĠJames ĠIII Ġof ĠScotland Ġthat Ġdates Ġto Ġ14 68 Ġ, ĠHill Ġargued Ġthat Ġthe Ġisland Ġshould Ġbe Ġconsidered Ġa ĠBritish Ġcrown Ġdependency Ġ, Ġand Ġthus Ġnot Ġa Ġpart Ġof Ġthe ĠUnited ĠKingdom Ġor Ġof Ġthe ĠEuropean ĠUnion Ġ. ĠThis Ġclaim Ġwas Ġnot Ġrecognised Ġby Ġthe ĠUnited ĠKingdom Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= ĠGe ology Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠThe Ġisland Ġis Ġcomposed Ġof Ġa Ġvariety Ġof Ġvolcanic Ġand Ġsediment ary Ġrock Ġformations Ġfrom Ġthe ĠDev onian Ġperiod Ġ. ĠAt Ġthat Ġtime Ġthe ĠScottish Ġland mass Ġformed Ġpart Ġof Ġthe ĠOld ĠRed ĠSand stone ĠContinent Ġand Ġlay Ġsome Ġ10 Ġ@ - @ Ġ25 Ġdegrees Ġsouth Ġof Ġthe Ġequ ator Ġ. ĠThe Ġaccum ulations Ġof ĠOld ĠRed ĠSand stone Ġ, Ġlaid Ġdown Ġfrom Ġ408 Ġto Ġ370 Ġmillion Ġyears Ġago Ġ, Ġwere Ġcreated Ġas Ġearlier ĠSil ur ian Ġrocks Ġ, Ġupl ifted Ġby Ġthe Ġformation Ġof ĠP ang aea Ġ, Ġeroded Ġand Ġthen Ġwere Ġdeposited Ġinto Ġriver Ġdel t as Ġ. ĠThe Ġfreshwater ĠLake ĠOrc ad ie Ġexisted Ġon Ġthe Ġedges Ġof Ġthe Ġer oding Ġmountains Ġ, Ġstretching Ġfrom ĠShe t land Ġto Ġthe Ġsouthern ĠMor ay ĠF irth Ġ. ĠThe Ġstructure Ġof ĠPapa ĠSt our Ġis Ġlargely Ġmade Ġup Ġof Ġashes Ġand Ġlav as Ġfrom Ġvolcanic Ġactivity Ġassociated Ġwith Ġthis Ġperiod Ġ, Ġincluding Ġbands Ġof Ġsolid ified Ġvolcanic Ġash Ġand Ġlava Ġ( Ġrhy ol ite Ġ) Ġ, Ġbut Ġthere Ġis Ġalso Ġa ĠDev onian Ġfish Ġbed Ġat ĠLamb a ĠBanks Ġ. ĠThere Ġare Ġnumerous Ġlarge Ġbould ers Ġdeposited Ġby ĠPle ist ocene Ġglac iation Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠE ros ion Ġof Ġthe Ġsoft Ġvolcanic Ġrocks Ġby Ġthe Ġsea Ġhas Ġcreated Ġan Ġextraordinary Ġvariety Ġof Ġcaves Ġ, Ġstacks Ġ, Ġar ches Ġ, Ġblow holes Ġ, Ġcliffs Ġ, Ġv oes Ġand Ġge os Ġthat Ġare Ġamongst Ġthe Ġfinest Ġin ĠBritain Ġ. ĠThe Ġ' ĠHoll Ġo ĠBoard ie Ġ' Ġis Ġa Ġcave Ġthat Ġpasses Ġright Ġthrough Ġthe Ġnorth Ġ@ - @ Ġwest Ġtip Ġof Ġthe Ġisland Ġ. ĠIt Ġis Ġnearly Ġhalf Ġa Ġmile Ġlong Ġand Ġwide Ġenough Ġto Ġrow Ġthrough Ġ. ĠKirst an Ġ( Ġor ĠChristie Ġ' s Ġ) ĠHole Ġin Ġthe Ġsouth Ġwest Ġis Ġanother Ġspectacular Ġcave Ġ, Ġpart Ġof Ġthe Ġroof Ġof Ġwhich Ġcollapsed Ġin Ġ1981 Ġ. ĠYet Ġanother Ġis Ġ' ĠFranc ie Ġ' s ĠHole Ġ' Ġclose Ġto ĠHam na ĠV oe Ġin Ġthe Ġwest Ġ. ĠThis Ġwas Ġthe Ġfavourite Ġof ĠJohn ĠTud or Ġwho Ġwrote Ġof Ġthe Ġisland Ġin Ġhis ĠVictorian Ġmemoir s Ġand Ġdescribed Ġthe Ġcave Ġas Ġ: Ġ Ġ Ġ... Ġin Ġfairy land Ġ, Ġso Ġexquisite Ġis Ġthe Ġcolour ing Ġof Ġthe Ġroof Ġand Ġsides Ġand Ġso Ġpe ll uc id Ġis Ġthe Ġwater Ġ... Ġ[ Ġwith Ġ] Ġal c oves Ġor Ġrecess es Ġlike Ġstalls Ġin Ġa Ġchurch Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠIn Ġ1953 Ġthe Ġspectacular Ġhead land Ġ, Ġ' ĠDa ĠHorn Ġo ĠPapa Ġ' Ġfell Ġinto Ġthe Ġsea Ġduring Ġa Ġstorm Ġ. ĠThe Ġnearby Ġis let Ġof ĠBre i ĠHol m Ġalso Ġhas Ġcaves Ġthat Ġcan Ġbe Ġaccessed Ġby Ġsmall