Esha Ness, also written Eshaness, is a peninsula on the west coast of

Northmavine Northmavine or Northmaven (from Old Norse , "north of the narrow isthmus") is a peninsula in Shetland forming the northernmost part of Mainland. The peninsula has historically formed a civil parish of the same name. The modern Northmavine comm ...

, on the island of

Mainland, Shetland The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections. Geography It has an area of , making it the third-largest Scottish island a ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Esha Ness Lighthouse Esha Ness Lighthouse is situated at Esha Ness, on the Northmavine peninsula in the north-west mainland of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It sometimes rendered as Eshaness Lighthouse. The lighthouse is at the westernmost extremity of the penins ...

is located on the west coast of the peninsula, just south of

Calder's Geo Calders Geo is an inlet in the western cliffs of Esha Ness in Northmavine on the Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. A cave on the north side of the geo has been measured at more than one and a half times the size of "The Frozen Deep", a chamber in Re ...

. The lighthouse was designed by

David Alan Stevenson David Alan Stevenson (21 July 1854 in Edinburgh – 11 April 1938) was a lighthouse engineer who built 26 lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life He was born on 21 July 1854 the son of David Stevenson and his wife, Elizabeth Mackay. His e ...

and commissioned in 1929. The hamlet of Tangwick contains the

Tangwick Haa Tangwick Haa is an historic house and museum in Esha Ness, Northmavine, Shetland. The building has two stories in a rectangular layout and along with the adjacent walled garden is Category B listed. History The house was built in the 17th century, ...

, a former Laird's house that has been a museum since 1987.

Geology

Esha Ness and the surrounding rocks are the remnants of a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

, which was active around 395 MYA. The rocks testify that eruptions were violent and explosive, with the

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...

of Grind o da Navir being a deposit from

pyroclastic flows A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

. The island of Muckle Ossa is what remains of the main vent of the Esha Ness volcano, while Kirn o Slettans is a side-vent.

Geography

Esha Ness is on the west coast of

on the island of

. It lies to the northwest of

St Magnus Bay St Magnus Bay is a large coastal feature in the north-west of Mainland Shetland, Scotland. Roughly circular in shape with a diameter of about , it is open to the North Atlantic Ocean to the west. The indented coastline to the north, south and east ...

, to the north of

Papa Stour Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of fifteen people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares (3.2 ...

. There are several small settlements in the peninsula, including Stenness and Tangwick in the south, Braewick and

Braehoulland Braehoulland is a hamlet on Mainland, in Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region ...

in the east, and

Ure Ure or URE may refer to: People * Alan Ure, English football manager * Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde (1853–1928), Scottish politician and judge * Andrew Ure (1778–1857), Scottish doctor, scholar and chemist * Annie Ure (1893–1976), ...

near the north coast. The principal road running through the peninsula is the

B9078 road B9, B IX or B-9 may refer to: Science * Prodelphinidin B9, a plant phenolic compound * Vitamin B9, another name for folic acid * B-Nine WSG, a formulation of the plant growth regulator daminozide * Boron-9 (B-9 or 9B), an isotope of boron * A ...

which passes near Braewick and

West Heogaland West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, Germanic word pass ...

to the coast, ending at Stenness. Calder's Geo is a large

geo Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazi ...

that cuts into the western black volcanic cliffs of Esha Ness. To the north of the geo is a sea cave that has been measured at more than one and a half times the size of "Frozen Deep", a chamber in Reservoir Hole under

Cheddar Gorge Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar, Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years ...

in Somerset, potentially making it the largest natural chamber in Britain. There are numerous blowholes in the vicinity, notably the

Holes of Scraada A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

in a cleft where the sea appears about 300 yards from the cliff line on the west coast. There are also a number of giant boulder fields along the cliffsides, with rocks deposited from the cliffs during storms, and various islands offshore from Esha Ness including

Dore Holm The Dore Holm is a small uninhabited islet off the south coast of Esha Ness, located in the north-west of Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. Its natural arch can be seen from the coast between Tangwick and Stenness Stenness (pronounced ) (; ) is ...

, the

Isle of Stenness The Isle of Stenness is one of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is off north west Mainland in the Northmavine. It sheltered the old fishing harbour at Esha Ness Esha Ness, also written Eshaness, is a peninsula on the west coast of Northmav ...

, and the Skerry of Eshaness, a small island about 1,200 yards off the south coast. About two and a half miles from the small inlet of Hamna Voe is Ossa Skerry.

Landmarks

on the west coast, just south of Calder's Geo, was designed by

and commissioned in 1929. The power of the Atlantic Ocean storms is displayed at the

Grind o Da Navir A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and the centre contour of the blade's back (m ...

, a large amphitheatre just north of the Eshaness lighthouse that opens out through a breach in the cliffs. Here, the waves have thrown rocks of up to high over above the sea. Cross Kirk Cemetery lies near the

Loch of Breckon ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or " sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs which ...

, with the graves of physician John Williamson (

Johnnie Notions John Williamson (), more commonly known by the nickname Johnnie Notions ( ) was a self-taught physician from Shetland, Scotland, who independently developed and administered an inoculation for smallpox to thousands of patients in Shetland duri ...

), with a stone of mixed Roman and Runic inscriptions, and the grave of Donald Robertson with epitaphs. Sae Breck Broch, partially excavated by Charles S. T. Calder in 1949, is about up a steep hill to the west of the cemetery, and contains the remains of a coast guard watchtower. About directly east of here is the site of Hogaland Broch. The Broch of Houlland is on a large promontory on the

Loch of Houlland ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or " sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs which ...

, which has three rows of defensive walls. Also of note is March Cairn, a Neolithic square cairn overlooking Muckla Water. Excavated by Calder in 1949, it is across and contains a cruciform chamber of about in height, supported by large stones. Two pottery sherds, two stone discs and a quartz tool were unearthed at the site. Muckla Water square cairn is about east-northeast of the site. The hamlet of Tangwick contains the

Museum. The house belonged to the Cheyne family, who were the Lairds of Tangwick. The last Laird, John Cheyne VIII, died in 1840 and it was left to the caretaker. After a long period of neglect, functioning as a workshop, it was highlighted for restoration by the

Shetland Amenity Trust The Shetland Amenity Trust is a charitable trust based in Shetland, Scotland. It was formed in 1983. Among the Trust's aims are to preserve and protect the architectural heritage of Shetland and it owns and operates many historical buildings. I ...

in 1985 and opened as a museum in 1987.

References

External links

{{coord, 60.49, -1.59, type:landmark_region:GB_dim:10000, display=title Landforms of Shetland Peninsulas of Scotland Headlands of Scotland Mainland, Shetland Northmavine Volcanoes of Scotland Stratovolcanoes