Esha Ness facts for kids
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Esha Ness, also called Eshaness, is a cool piece of land that sticks out into the sea. It's found on the west coast of Northmavine, which is part of Mainland, Shetland, in Scotland. A famous building here is the Esha Ness Lighthouse. It stands on the west coast, just south of a place called Calder's Geo. The lighthouse was designed by David Alan Stevenson and started working in 1929. In the small village of Tangwick, you can visit the Tangwick Haa Museum. It opened in 1987 inside an old house that belonged to a local important family.
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Geography of Esha Ness
Esha Ness is on the western side of Northmavine, a part of the Mainland, Shetland island. It's located northwest of St Magnus Bay and north of Papa Stour. There are a few small communities on this peninsula. These include Stenness and Tangwick in the south, Braewick and Braehoulland in the east, and Ure near the north coast. The main road that goes through Esha Ness is the B9078 road. It passes near Braewick and West Heogaland before reaching the coast and ending at Stenness.
Amazing Coastal Features
Calder's Geo is a very large crack in the black volcanic cliffs on the west side of Esha Ness. North of this geo, there's a huge sea cave. This cave is more than one and a half times bigger than a famous chamber called "Frozen Deep" in England. This might make it the largest natural cave in Britain!
You can also find many "blowholes" around Esha Ness. A blowhole is a hole in the ground where sea water shoots up. A famous one is the Holes of Scraada. Here, the sea appears about 300 yards away from the cliff edge on the west coast. Along the cliffs, there are also huge fields of boulders. These rocks were thrown onto the land from the cliffs during powerful storms.
Islands Near Esha Ness
Several small islands are located just off the coast of Esha Ness. These include Dore Holm, the Isle of Stenness, and the Skerry of Eshaness. The Skerry of Eshaness is a small island about 1,200 yards off the south coast. About two and a half miles from a small bay called Hamna Voe, you'll find another island named Ossa Skerry.
Landmarks of Esha Ness
The Esha Ness Lighthouse is on the west coast, just south of Calder's Geo. It was designed by David Alan Stevenson and started shining its light in 1929. The incredible power of the Atlantic Ocean storms can be seen at a place called the Grind o Da Navir. This is a large, bowl-shaped area just north of the Eshaness lighthouse. Here, the waves have been so strong that they've thrown rocks up to 3 meters high more than 15 meters above the sea!
Historical Sites
Cross Kirk Cemetery is near the Loch of Breckon. Here, you can find the graves of interesting people, like a doctor named John Williamson, also known as Johnnie Notions. His gravestone has a mix of old Roman and Runic writing.
Sae Breck Broch is an ancient roundhouse ruin. It was partly dug up by Charles S. T. Calder in 1949. It's about 200 meters up a steep hill west of the cemetery. This site also has the remains of an old coast guard watchtower. About 1 kilometer directly east of here is the spot where Hogaland Broch once stood. The Broch of Houlland is on a large piece of land sticking out into the Loch of Houlland. This old site has three rows of defensive walls that once protected it.
Another important historical spot is March Cairn. This is a Neolithic (very old stone age) square pile of stones that looks over Muckla Water. When it was dug up in 1949, people found a cross-shaped room inside, about 1 meter high, supported by big stones. They also found two pieces of pottery, two stone discs, and a quartz tool there. Another similar stone structure, Muckla Water square cairn, is about 250 meters east-northeast of this site.
Tangwick Haa Museum
The small village of Tangwick is home to the Tangwick Haa Museum. This house used to belong to the Cheyne family, who were important landowners in Tangwick. The last owner, John Cheyne VIII, passed away in 1840, and the house was left to his caretaker. After many years of being uncared for and used as a workshop, the Shetland Amenity Trust decided to restore it in 1985. It then opened as a museum in 1987, telling the story of the area.
