- Hestan Island
-
Hestan Island is a small coastal island in the Solway Firth, southwest Scotland.
Hestan island in the Solway
Hestan Island lies at the mouth of Auchencairn Bay [1] in the region of Dumfries and Galloway in the former county of Kirkcudbrightshire. A lighthouse was built on the eastern side of the island by Alan Stevenson in 1850.
At certain conditions of low tide the island is accessible on foot as there is a natural causeway of shingle and mussels from Almorness Point to the northern tip of Hestan.
At the southern tip of the island is the notably-named "Daft Ann's Steps", a series of pinnacles where, legends say, a girl of lesser intelligence attempted to lay stepping stones ahead of her to reach the Balcary Point and drowned.[2]
There are ruins of a manor house built for Edward Balliol near the north of the island.
In the 18th century the island was used as a centre of smuggling activity, with goods being stored in the caves on the south west of the island where there was reputed to have been shelves cut into the rock. Samuel Rutherford Crockett made great play with this in his novel The Raiders.[2]
The island is a popular destination for sea kayakers.[3]
See also
- List of outlying islands of Scotland
References
- ^ "Gazetteer for Scotland". http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst1598.html. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ a b "A History of Auchencairn and District". www.Auchencairn.org.uk. http://www.auchencairn.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=107. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ "Daft Anne's Steps, Hestan Island, the Solway Firth". Seakayakphoto.blogspot.com. http://seakayakphoto.blogspot.com/2007/01/daft-annes-steps-hestan-island-solway.html. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
External links
Islands of the Solway Firth Coordinates: 54°49′56″N 3°48′33″W / 54.8321°N 3.8092°W
Categories:- Islands of the Solway
- Dumfries and Galloway geography stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
