Giant's Causeway
Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast | |
---|---|
Native names Irish: Clochán an Aifir/Clochán na bhFomhórach[1] Ulster Scots: Tha Giant's Causey[2] | |
Location | County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
Coordinates | 55°14′27″N 6°30′42″W / 55.24083°N 6.51167°W |
Official name | The Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast |
Type | Natural |
Criteria | (vii), (viii) |
Designated | 1986 (10th session) |
Reference no. | 369 |
Region | Europe |
The Giant's Causeway (
It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 and a national nature reserve by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland in 1987. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named the fourth-greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.[5]
The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some have four, five, seven, or eight sides.[6] The tallest are about 12 metres (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres (92 ft) thick in places.
Much of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is owned and managed by the National Trust. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland,[7] receiving over 998,000 visitors in 2019.[8] Access to the Giant's Causeway is free of charge: it is not necessary to go via the visitor centre, which charges a fee.[9] The remainder of the site is owned by the Crown Estate and several private landowners.
Geology
Around 50 to 60 million years ago,
Geological heritage site
In respect of its key role in the development of volcanology as a geoscience discipline, and notably the origin of basalt, the Palaeocene rocks of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast were included by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 "geological heritage sites" around the world in a listing published in October 2022.[12]
Legend
According to legend, the columns are the remains of a
Overall, in
Letitia Elizabeth Landon comments on these mythological associations in her notes to The Giant's Causeway., a poetical illustration to a painting by Thomas Mann Baynes.[19]
Tourism
The
The site first became popular with tourists during the 19th century, particularly after the opening of the Giant's Causeway Tramway, and only after the National Trust took over its care in the 1960s were some of the vestiges of commercialism removed. Visitors can walk over the basalt columns that are at the edge of the sea, a half-mile walk from the entrance of the site.[citation needed]
Visitor centre
The causeway was without a permanent visitor centre between 2000 and 2012, as the previous building, built in 1986, burned down in 2000.
There was some controversy regarding the content of some exhibits in the visitor centre, which refer to the
Notable features
Some of the structures in the area, having been subject to several million years of weathering, resemble objects, such as the Organ and Giant's Boot structures. Other features include many reddish, weathered low columns known as Giant's Eyes, created by the displacement of basalt boulders; the Shepherd's Steps; the Honeycomb; the Giant's Harp; the Chimney Stacks; the Giant's Gate and the Camel's Hump.[36]
-
The Giant's Boot
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Basalt columns
-
The Chimney Stacks
Flora and fauna
The area is a
Similar structures
Basalt columns are a common volcanic feature, and they occur on many scales and with some variations in formation.[38]
Transport access
The
See also
References
- ^ a b "Clochán an Aifir / Giant's Causeway – Placenames Database of Ireland". Placenames Commission. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- The News Letter. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ^ a b "Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ISBN 9781842159750. Archivedfrom the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Caves win 'natural wonder' vote" Archived 1 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine. BBC, 2 August 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2006.
- .
- Northern Ireland Tourist Board. 18 August 2008. Archived from the originalon 14 July 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
- ^ "Visits Made in 2022 to Visitor Attractions in Membership with ALVA". Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ "Giant's Causeway: Public right of way to be protected". BBC News. 14 March 2018. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "University of Toronto (2008, December 25). Mystery of Hexagonal Column Formations". Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
- doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1034(199609)31:3<259::AID-GJ711>3.0.CO;2-8. Archived from the originalon 13 August 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
- ^ "The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites" (PDF). IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage. IUGS. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- ^ "The Giant's Causeway". The Dublin Penny Journal, issue 5 (1832), p.33
- ^ Jones, Richard. Myths and Legends of Britain and Ireland. New Holland Publishers, 2006. p.131
- ^ Formation of basalt columns / pseudocrystals Archived 7 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Giants" Archived 25 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888). Sacred-Texts.com.
- ^ Lyle, Paul. Between Rocks and Hard Places: Discovering Ireland's Northern Landscapes. The Stationery Office, 2010. p.3
- ^ Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing, 2004. p.198
- ^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1831). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832. Fisher, Son & Co. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1831). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832. Fisher, Son & Co. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ISBN 0-500-20148-X.
- ^ "Susanna Drury, the Causeway, and the Encyclopédie, 1768" Archived 28 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Lindahall.org. Retrieved 14 March 2007.
- ^ "Investigation into Causeway blaze". BBC News. 30 April 2000. Archived from the original on 14 April 2004. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "Developer set to get Causeway nod". BBC News. 10 September 2007. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
- ^ "Developer's DUP link "no bearing"". BBC News. 11 September 2007. Archived from the original on 11 January 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "Causeway must be public ; council". BBC News. 12 September 2007. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "Developer ends Causeway challenge". BBC News. May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
- ^ Maguire, Anna (5 July 2012). "Causeway visitors' centre: A giant leap forward?". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ^ "Giants Causeway gets £9m tourist board grant". BBC. 22 March 2010. Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ^ "Giants Causeway Visitor Centre Reviews, Trip Advisor". Trip Advisor. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ "ALVA – Association of Leading Visitor Attractions". alva.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "National Trust in Giant's Causeway creationism row". The Independent. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ^ "Causeway centre gives creationist view". U TV. 4 July 2012. Archived from the original on 6 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ^ "Online group calls for removal of creationist exhibit at Giant's Causeway". BBC Northern Ireland. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ "Trust in Causeway creationism row". Irish Independent. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ "Trust amends Causeway centre "Creationist" exhibit". BBC News. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ "Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland". Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ Stromatolite colony found in Giant's Causeway Archived 29 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News. 14 October 2011.
- ISBN 9783031113857.
Basalt columns are formed when lava that has already solidified cools down [..] The most famous location is certainly Giant's Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland. But there are also occurrences [in Scotland, Iceland, USA, etc]
Further reading
- Deane, C. Douglas (1983). The Ulster Countryside. Belfast: Century Books. OCLC 1330868074.
- Jagla, E. A.; Rojo, A. G. (2002). "Sequential fragmentation: the origin of columnar quasihexagonal patterns". S2CID 33030461.
- Watson, Philip S. (2000). The Giant's Causeway and the North Antrim coast. Dublin: O'Brien Press. OCLC 45829602.
External links
- Giant's Causeway information at the National Trust
- Website and video of the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust
- Causeway Coast and Glens Tourism – Official Tourist Board visitor information for the Causeway and surrounding area
- Landscapes Unlocked – Aerial footage from the BBC series Sky High explaining the physical, social & economic geography of Northern Ireland