View source for Yesnaby

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = Scotland
|official_name= Yesnaby
|gaelic_name=
|population =
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|coordinates = {{coord|59.023|-3.352|dim:5000_region:GB|display=title}}
|map_type=Scotland
|unitary_scotland= [[Orkney Islands]]
|civil_parish = [[Sandwick, Orkney|Sandwick]]
|lieutenancy_scotland=
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|static_image_name=Ruin alongside standing stone - geograph.org.uk - 5397762.jpg
|static_image_caption=
}}
[[File:Sea stack near Yesnaby on Orkney mainland - geograph.org.uk - 35405.jpg|thumb|upright|Yesnaby Castle sea stack]]
[[File:Yesnaby Cliffs Orkney Mainland.jpg|thumb|upright|Yesnaby Cliffs with a westerly wind blowing]]
'''Yesnaby''' (''historic: Yeskenaby, Yestnaby'') is a historic [[Township (Scotland)|township]]<ref>{{cite book|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland: From Abbey to Jura, Vol I|author=Samuel Lewis|year=1846|page=646}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Vol II|author=Samuel Lewis|year=1846|page=452}}</ref> in [[Sandwick, Orkney|Sandwick]], on the west coast of [[Orkney Mainland]], [[Scotland]], south of [[Skara Brae]]. It is renowned for its spectacular [[Old Red Sandstone]] coastal cliff scenery which includes [[sea stack]]s, [[blowhole (geology)|blowhole]]s, [[geo (landscape)|geo]]s and frequently boiling seas. A car park, coastal trail and interpretive panels serve visitors. The area is popular with climbers because of [[Yesnaby Castle]], a two-legged sea stack just south of the [[Brough of Bigging]]. The stack is sometimes described as a smaller version of the [[Old Man of Hoy]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Yesnaby is also one of the very few places where [[Primula scotica]] grows.
==Geology==
The coastal cliffs are formed from the Lower [[Devonian]] sandstones ascribed to the [[Yesnaby Sandstone Group]] - a set of geological formations restricted to the Yesnaby area, and to the overlying beds of the [[Caithness Flagstone Group|Lower Stromness Flagstones]]. Fossil [[stromatolite]]s from 390 to 400 million years ago can be found in the cliffs in the latter. They are locally known as Horse Tooth Stones from a supposed resemblance.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}
== Culture==
Orkney folklore has it that a woman known as the "Yesnaby Healer" had the ability to stop bleeding in any person, even over a distance. The [[Orkney]] [[composer]] [[Peter Maxwell Davies]] has immortalised Yesnaby through "Yesnaby Ground", an [[wikt:interlude|Interlude]] for solo piano.
The Archaeology Institute of the [[University of the Highlands and Islands]] initiated the Yesnaby Art & Archaeology Research Project<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FYesnabyArtArchaeologyResearchProject|title=Facebook|website=Facebook}}</ref>
==History==
During the [[Second World War]] an [[anti-aircraft battery]] was built on the cliff top at Yesnaby as part of the defences of the [[Royal Navy]] base at [[Scapa Flow]]. The battery was manned by the Royal Navy and some traces of the wartime buildings remain.<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=James|title=Scapa, Britain's Famous Wartime Naval Base|publisher=Birlinn|year=2001|pages=99–101|isbn=1843410052}}</ref>
==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Yesnaby.jpg|Panorama of Yesnaby
Image:Yesnaby01.jpg|Sea cliffs
Image:YesnabyPuffin.jpg|Puffin
Image:Yesnaby08.jpg|Geo (inlet)
Image:YesnabyBlackguillemots.jpg|Black Guillemots
Image:Yesnaby Cliffs 2018.jpg|Black Guillemots in summer plumage
Image:Yesnaby07.jpg|Cliff
Image:Yesnaby06.jpg|Cliffs
Image:Yesnaby05.jpg|Cliff
Image:Yesnaby04.jpg|Cliffs
</gallery>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.landforms.eu/orkney/images/Yesnaby%20Geology%20Map.jpg Yesnaby Geology Map]
*[http://www.orkney-seastacks.co.uk/yesnaby.htm A Climber's Guide to Orkney]
*[http://www.visitorkney.com/rockclimbing.asp Official Orkney Tourism site]
*[http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/witchcraft/yesnabyhealer.htm Wichcraft in the Orkney Isles: The Yesnaby Healer]
[[Category:Villages on Mainland, Orkney]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Orkney]]
[[Category:Landforms of Orkney]]
[[Category:Geological type localities of Scotland]]
[[Category:Cliffs of Scotland]]