Sandys Parish, Bermuda
Encyclopedia
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. It is named for English aristocrat Sir Edwin Sandys
Edwin Sandys (American colonist)
Sir Edwin Sandys was an English politician, a leading figure in the parliaments of James I of England. He was also one of the founders of the proprietary Virginia Company of London, which in 1607 established the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States in the colony of...
(1561-1629), and hence there is no apostrophe in the name, which is pronounced "Sands".
It is located in the northwest of the island chain, occupying the three islands of Ireland Island
Ireland Island, Bermuda
Ireland Island is the northwesternmost island in the chain which comprises Bermuda. It forms a long finger of land pointing northeastwards from the main island, the last link in a chain which also includes Boaz Island and Somerset Island. It lies within Sandys Parish, and forms the northwestern...
, Boaz Island
Boaz Island, Bermuda
Boaz Island, formerly known as Gate's Island or Yates Island, is one of the six main islands of Bermuda. It is part of a chain of islands in the west of the country that make up Sandys Parish, lying between the larger Ireland Island and Somerset Island, and is connected to both by bridges. Its east...
, and the larger Somerset Island
Somerset Island, Bermuda
Somerset Island is one of the main islands of the chain that makes up Bermuda. It lies in the far west of the territory, and covers 2.84 square kilometres. It comprises about half of the parish of Sandys, and is the largest of a chain of islands which extend along the northwestern coast of the...
, as well as a small part of the main island of Bermuda. These islands make up the northwestern coast of the Great Sound
Great Sound, Bermuda
The Great Sound is a body of water shaped by the islands of Bermuda. It dominates the southwest of the island chain, and forms a natural harbour. It is surrounded on all sides by the islands, except for the northeast, where it is open to the Atlantic Ocean....
, the large expanse of water which dominates the geography of western Bermuda, where it is joined to Southampton parish
Southampton Parish, Bermuda
Southampton Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named for Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton .It is located in the southwest of the island chain, occupying all of the western part of the main island, except for the westernmost tip...
. Like most other parishes in Bermuda, it covers 2.3 square miles (about 6.0 km² or 1500 acres).
Natural features in Sandys include Ely's Harbor, the Cathedral Rocks, Daniel's Head, and Mangrove Bay.
Other notable features of Sandys include the Somerset Bridge
Somerset Bridge, Bermuda
Somerset Bridge is a small bridge in Bermuda. Connecting Somerset Island with the mainland in the western parish of Sandys, Somerset Bridge is reputedly the smallest working drawbridge in the world....
, which links the mainland to Somerset Island, and the old Royal Naval Dockyard
Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda
HMD Bermuda was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609...
on Ireland Island.