Location in Northumberland | |
Geography | |
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Location | Northumberland, England, UK Grid Reference NU230378 |
Coordinates | 55°37′52″N1°37′26″W / 55.631°N 1.624°W |
Staple Island is a small rocky island, or skerry, that is one of the Outer Group of the Farne Islands in Northumberland, England. The Farne Islands are a designated National Nature Reserve. [1] Staple Island is an important wildlife habitat known for its prolific breeding colonies of Atlantic puffins, razorbills and kittiwakes. A notable colony of grey seals breeds on the island with pups born every year in September–November. [2]
Staple Island is the southwesternmost of the Outer Group of Farne Islands, which are separated from the Inner Group by Staple Sound. The sound is about 550 m (1,800 ft) wide and is subject to very strong currents, especially during spring tides. The island has vertical cliffs on its southern side, and some detached rocks looking like broken pillars, known as "The Pinnacles". From the southwestern point, a dangerous ridge of rocks known as "Gun Reef" extends to the northwest. They begin to be uncovered when the tide is halfway through its ebb cycle. [3]
The island has no permanent population but local boats are licensed to land passengers. The National Trust owns and manages the island and has bird wardens on site during part of the year. [4] Although now uninhabited, the island has a history associated with the early monastic settlement of nearby Lindisfarne. [5] It does however provide breeding ground for large populations of seabirds. [3]
A lighthouse was built on Staple Island in 1778 and blown down in 1784; a replacement, built either in the same place or on nearby Brownsman's Island, was knocked down by heavy seas in 1800. [6]
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important centre of Celtic Christianity under Saints Aidan, Cuthbert, Eadfrith, and Eadberht of Lindisfarne. The island was originally home to a monastery, which was destroyed during the Viking invasions but re-established as a priory following the Norman Conquest of England. Other notable sites built on the island are St. Mary the Virgin parish church, Lindisfarne Castle, several lighthouses and other navigational markers, and a complex network of lime kilns. In the present day, the island is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a hotspot for historical tourism and bird watching. As of February 2020, the island had three pubs, a hotel and a post office.
Grace Horsley Darling was an English lighthouse keeper's daughter. Her participation in the rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked Forfarshire in 1838 brought her national fame. The paddlesteamer ran aground on the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland in northeast England; nine members of the crew were saved.
Calf of Man is a 2.50-square-kilometre (618-acre) island, off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man. It is separated from the Isle of Man by a narrow stretch of water called the Calf Sound. Like the nearby rocky islets of Chicken Rock and Kitterland, it is part of the historic parish of Rushen and the current parish district of Arbory and Rushen. It has only two seasonal inhabitants. The word 'calf' derives from the Old Norse word kalfr which means a small island lying near a larger one. One can reach the Calf of Man by boat from either Port Erin or Port St Mary. Cow Harbour and South Harbour are the main landing places. The highest part of the island is in the west where an unnamed peak reaches 126 m (415 ft) above sea level.
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. The group has between 15 and 20 islands depending on the level of the tide. They form an archipelago, divided into the Inner Group and the Outer Group. The main islands in the Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef, the East and West Wideopens, and the Megstone; the main islands in the Outer Group are Staple Island, Brownsman, North and South Wamses, Big Harcar, and Longstone. The two groups are separated by Staple Sound. The highest point, on Inner Farne, is 62 feet (19 m) above mean sea level.
Coquet Island is a small island of about 6 hectares, situated 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) off Amble on the Northumberland coast, northeast England. It is included in the civil parish of Hauxley.
The Mainland, also known as Hrossey and Pomona, is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections.
A skerry is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack.
The Skerries, coming from the Old Norse word sker, are a group of sparsely vegetated rocky islets (skerries), with a total area of about 17 hectares lying 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) offshore from Carmel Head at the northwest corner of Anglesey, Wales. The islands are important as a breeding site for seabirds, and they attract divers, who come to visit the numerous shipwrecks. The Skerries Lighthouse sits atop the highest point in the islands.
Longstone Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse located on Longstone Rock in the outer group of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast, England. Completed in 1826, it was originally called the Outer Farne Lighthouse, and complemented the earlier Inner Farne Lighthouse. The lighthouse is best known for the 1838 wreck of the Forfarshire and the role of Grace Darling, the lighthouse keeper's daughter, in rescuing survivors.
The Islands of the Forth are a group of small islands located in the Firth of Forth and in the estuary of the River Forth on the east coast of Scotland. Most of the group lie in the open waters of the firth, between the Lothians and Fife, with the majority to the east of the city of Edinburgh. Two islands lie further west in the river estuary.
The Northumberland Coast National Landscape is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covering 40 miles (64 km) of coastline from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to the River Coquet estuary in the Northeast of England. Features include: Alnmouth, Bamburgh, Beadnell, Budle Bay, Cocklawburn Beach, Craster, Dunstanburgh Castle, the Farne Islands, Lindisfarne and Seahouses. It lies within the natural region of the North Northumberland Coastal Plain.
Yell Sound is the strait running between Yell and Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. It is the boundary between the Mainland and the North Isles and it contains many small islands. Sullom Voe, on the shores of which is a substantial oil terminal, is an arm of Yell Sound.
The Western Rocks are a group of uninhabited skerries and rocks in the south–western part of the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom, and are renowned for the numerous shipwrecks in the area and the nearby Bishop Rock lighthouse. In 1971, the rocks and islands were designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for their breeding sea birds. Landing on the islands is both difficult and discouraged and there are few published records of visits by naturalists.
Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve is a 3,541-hectare (8,750-acre) UK national nature reserve. It was founded to help safeguard the internationally important wintering bird populations, and six internationally important species of wildfowl and wading birds winter here. For the pale-bellied brent geese from Svalbard, this is their only regular wintering place in all of the United Kingdom. Pinkfooted and greylag geese, wigeons, grey plovers and bar-tailed godwits are the other visitors.
Farne Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the southern tip of Inner Farne. Built in the early 19th century, it still functions as a lighthouse and is managed by Trinity House. In 1910 it was one of the first Trinity House lighthouses to be automated.
Grace Hickling was an English ornithologist and naturalist known for studying wildlife on the Farne Islands, in the North Sea off Northumberland.