Stag Rocks

Stag Rocks is one of my favourite places along Northumberland’s wonderful coastline. In fact, I like it so much it has appeared in three of my paintings (so far)! 

I think it’s partly to do with the views. Look south and you get an inspiring view of Bamburgh Castle, to the east you look across the Inner Sound towards the Farne Islands and to the north the wide-open spaces of Ross Sands give way eventually to Holy Island. 

It’s one of my favourite places whatever the season. The walk along past the lighthouse and around the Budle Point is brilliant for blowing the cobwebs away, and there is always lots of wildlife to see, especially the Eider ducks which seem to always be bobbing around in the surf. At low tide it’s a great place for rock pooling.

But why Stag Rocks? Well, there’s a white stag painted onto the rocks just below the lighthouse (which happens to be England’s most northerly land-based lighthouse). There are many stories about why it’s there. One legend says it marks the escape of a white deer which jumped into the sea having run from a hunt in nearby Spindlestone, another says it was painted by Italian prisoners-of-war during World War Two and a third that it was painted by a local artist in the early 1900s. 

Whatever the truth, I can really recommend taking a trip down the Wynding and out to Stag Rocks. 

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