St Abbs is a small fishing village on the southeastern coast of Scotland, within theColdingham parish ofScottish Borders.
The village was originally known asColdingham Shore, the name St Abbs being adopted in the 1890s. The new name was derived fromSt Abb's Head, a rocky promontory located to the north of the village, itself named after the 7th-century saintÆbbe of Coldingham.
St Abbs was originally called Coldingham Shore. Prior to any buildings the fishermen who worked their boats from the beach resided at Fisher's Brae inColdingham. These fishermen had to carry their fishing gear one and a half miles down a path to where their fishing vessels were tied up. The path is now known as the Creel Path; creel is the local name for alobster pot.
The first building in St Abbs was constructed in about the middle of the 18th century followed later by a row of five cottages. This first row of houses was constructed in a traditional Scottish style with a central fire and a wide chimney. The walls were constructed of "clat and clay," a framework of wood interlaced with straw and daubed with moist clay.
By 1832 it is recorded that the inhabitants of the Shore comprised 16 families who, with 20 others residing in Coldingham, made their living by fishing. In addition to these residents, 30 people proceeded annually to the north for theherring fishing, which provided employment for 14 boats from the village.
The village was renamed at the end of the 19th century by the then-laird,Andrew Usher, who played a major role in improving the fishing village and harbour.[1] Usher purchased the Northfield estate on the edge of the village, enlarging and finishing the building of a countryside manor by the coastal shore in 1892.[1] He considered the local public hall inadequate and subsequently funded a new village hall and school, which was constructed in 1887 and is now occupied by the St Abbs visitor centre.[1] Usher also gave funds for the building of the local church in 1892 and the extension of the outer harbour wall in 1890.[1]
Local boarding house ownerIsabel Cowe campaigned for St Abbs to have its own lifeboat.[2] In November 1907 theMember of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire,Harold Tennant, announced that theRoyal National Lifeboat Society had agreed to supply St Abbs with a lifeboat, and that theBoard of Trade had also agreed to place life-saving apparatus at St Abbs as soon as possible.[3]
On 5 September 1914,HMSPathfinder was sunk offSt Abbs Head by the GermanU-21, the first Royal Navy ship to be sunk by a U-boat.
St Abbs was the main subject of the book,Ebb Tide: Adrift on the Waves of Memory With the Fisher Folk of Berwickshire, by Will Wilson.
St Abbs is a popular site forscuba divers. The sea around the village is unusually clear, in contrast to the more silt-laden coastal waters further to the north or south. These clear waters and the spectacular underwater scenery resulted in Britain's firstVoluntary Marine Reserve being established at St Abbs. The Marine Reserve was established on 18 August 1984 byDavid Bellamy.
Shore diving to a depth of about 15 metres is possible from the rocks on the outside of the harbour wall. It is common for trainees to do initial sea dives here.
The double archway at "Cathedral Rock" is just 50 metres from the shore.[4][5] Several small, nearby rocky islands, such as "Big Green Carr", "Broad Craig" and "Little Carr" are near to the harbour and can be easily circumnavigated underwater.[6]
A new visitor centre was opened in St Abbs in March 2011.[7] The centre is located in the former village hall, which was built in 1897 with funds made available by thewhisky tycoon Andrew Usher.[7]
St Abbs has its own privately funded independent volunteerLifeboat Station.[8] The lifeboat station was originally established in 1911 following the sinking of theS.S. Alfred Erlandsen.[9] The station was previously managed by theRNLI but following the withdrawal of the RNLI lifeboat in 2015, a local fundraising effort saw the station saved through public donations and generous funding from theTunnock's bakery company. The lifeboat station became operational again on 17 September 2016 when the new lifeboat was christened theThomas Tunnock and launched down the slipway.[8]
The village also features in the 2019 superhero filmAvengers: Endgame as the location of New Asgard, a town settled by the surviving Asgardians and led byThor. Following the film's release, the village saw a surge in tourism and popularity. The village sign has also been modified to say the village is twinned with New Asgard.[10][11]
In 2019, St Abbs featured as the "Isle of Eroda" in the music video ofHarry Styles' single "Adore You".[12]
Signs have been erected throughout the village declaring that it has been twinned with "New Asgard", as it was the location of filming inAvengers: Endgame.[11] It also has been twinned with "Eroda", a fictitious island created byHarry Styles for his videoAdore you (Harry Styles song).[13]
55°53′53″N2°07′52″W / 55.898°N 2.131°W /55.898; -2.131
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