Ar Nor | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Coordinates | 49°58′45″N6°17′32″W / 49.979071°N 6.292114°W |
OS grid reference | SV924176 |
Archipelago | Isles of Scilly |
Area | 0.059 sq mi (0.15 km2) |
Administration | |
United Kingdom | |
Civil parish | St Martin's |
Demographics | |
Population | 0 |
White Island (Cornish : Ar Nor, "facing the mainland" or Enys Wynn "white island" [1] ) is one of the larger unpopulated islands of the Isles of Scilly, part of the United Kingdom, and lies off the coast of the northernmost populated island of the group, St Martin's, to which it is joined by a tidal causeway, or isthmus. The island is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Geological Conservation Review site and is managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall. [2]
Access to the island can be dangerous when the rocky causeway is covered by the sea, as there are strong currents across it. [3]
This White Island should not be confused with a much smaller island of the same name, which lies off the coast of Samson.
The uninhabited island lies off the north coast of St Martin's. It is about 15.25 hectares (37.7 acres) [4] and until comparatively recently was part of St Martin’s. [5] In 1814 the area of the island was estimated as fifty acres. [6] At the north-east end of the island a fragment of altered killas, which at one time covered a much wider area, could be seen in 1911. [7]
In common with the larger island, the place names are mostly English with the exception of Camper on the south-east coast (meaning tide race or roost in Cornish) and Porthmoren, a place on the west of the shingle and boulder bar that separates the two islands. In Cornish moren is a girl, or maiden, and porth is a landing place. The north-west of the island rises to a height of 21 metres (69 ft) and is topped by a ruined entrance grave. There are also other ancient monuments, including a chambered cairn and several other cairns, To the south, and sheltered by the hill, are six small mounds or cairns. [3] [8] Two walls indicating a bank and ditch field system are also present. [5] An examination of one cairn in 1975 showed that it was about 3 metres (9.8 ft) across, possibly double walled on the north side and probably too small to be a hut circle. [5] Only part of the island is scheduled as an Ancient Monument, but the county archaeological unit has recommended that the whole island should be scheduled. [9]
White Island is designated as a SSSI because of the waved maritime heath, maritime grassland, breeding seabirds and for the sequence of Late Pleistocene deposits in the cleft of Chad Girt which almost cuts the island in two. [4] The sequence of Quaternary deposits is as follows: [2]
Because it lies on the northern edge of the archipelago, the island is particularly exposed to high winds and salt spray. Consequently, the thin skeletal soil is covered in wind-blown maritime heath made up principally of western gorse ( Ulex gallii ), bell heather ( Erica cinerea ) and heather ( Calluna vulgaris ). English stonecrop ( Sedum anglicum ), bird's-foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus ) and heath bedstraw ( Galium saxatile ) can be found growing among the heath and gorse. On the deeper soils, bracken ( Pteridium aquilinum ) dominates, with bramble ( Rubus fruticosus ) and honeysuckle ( Lonicera periclymenum ). Along the western coast of the island is a small area of maritime grassland with the usual Isles of Scilly species of red fescue ( Festuca rubra ), thrift ( Armeria maritima ), common scurvygrass ( Cochlearia officinalis ), buck’s-horn plantain ( Plantago coronopus ) and sea beet ( Beta maritima ). [2] In April 2001 the first confirmed Scillonian record (since 1967) of the RDB gilt-edged lichen ( Pseudocyphellaria aurata ) was found on White Island. A widespread and frequent species in the tropics, often found in Macaronesia but rare on mainland Europe, this is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority species and is protected under schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. [4]
Four species of gull and one species of petrel breed on White Island. They are Great Black-backed Gull ( Larus marinus ), Lesser Black-backed Gull ( L fuscus ), Herring Gull ( L argentatus ), Kittiwake ( Rissa tridactyla ) and the Fulmar ( Fulmarus glacialis ).
Samson is the largest uninhabited island of the Isles of Scilly, off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. It is 38 hectares (0.15 sq mi) in size. The island consists of two hills, North Hill and South Hill, which are connected by an isthmus. Samson was named after Samson of Dol.
Bryher is one of the smallest inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly, with a population of 84 in 2011, spread across 134 hectares (1.34 km2).
St Martin's is the northernmost populated island of the Isles of Scilly, England, United Kingdom. It has an area of 237 hectares (0.92 sq mi).
Aire Point to Carrick Du SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Penwith Peninsula, Cornwall, England. It is 5.98 square kilometres in extent, stretching from grid reference SW360279 to grid reference SW513410. The site is designated both for its biological and its geological interest.
Annet is the second largest of the fifty or so uninhabited Isles of Scilly, 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of St Agnes with a length of 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) and approximately 22 hectares in area. The low-lying island is almost divided in two by a narrow neck of land at West Porth which can, at times, be covered by waves. At the northern end of the island are the two granite carns of Annet Head and Carn Irish and three smaller carns known as the Haycocks. The rocky outcrops on the southern side of the island, such as South Carn, are smaller. Annet is a bird sanctuary and the main seabird breeding site in Scilly.
Round Island Lighthouse, in the Isles of Scilly was designed by William Tregarthen Douglass for Trinity House and completed in 1887. At the time of building it was one of three lights in the Isles of Scilly, the others being the Bishop Rock and St Agnes lighthouse. The light was modernised in 1966, automated in 1987 and the island designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1995. It is now managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, and except for the maintenance of the Grade II listed lighthouse, landing is not allowed.
Gugh could be described as the sixth inhabited island of the Isles of Scilly, but is usually included with St Agnes with which it is joined by a sandy tombolo known as "The Bar" when exposed at low tide. The island is only about 1 km (0.62 mi) long and about 0.5 km (0.31 mi) wide, with the highest point, Kittern Hill at 34 m (112 ft). The geology consists of Hercynian granite with shallow podzolic soils on the higher ground and deeper sandy soils on the lower ground. The former Gugh farm is just north of the neck across the middle of the island between the two hills. The two houses were designed and built in the 1920s by Charles Hamlet Cooper.
St Helen's is one of the fifty or so uninhabited islands in the archipelago of the Isles of Scilly and has an approximate area of 0.1885 square kilometres. On the south side of the island is one of the earliest Christian sites in Scilly, an early medieval religious complex, which is thought to be the remains of St Elidius Hermitage, an 8th-century chapel lived in by Saint Lide,. There are also the remains of an isolation hospital used to quarantine sailors with plague. The island is the major part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and some features have been given the designation of scheduled ancient monument. Access to the island is through chartered or private boat, although there are some season trips throughout the summer. St Helen's is currently managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust.
Teän is an uninhabited island to the north of the Isles of Scilly archipelago between Tresco, 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) to the west, and St Martin's, 300 metres (330 yd) to the east. Approximately 16 hectares in area, the island consists of a series of granite tors with the highest point, Great Hill, rising to 40 metres (130 ft) at its eastern end. The low-lying land is overlain with glacial till and outwash gravels with glacial erratics abundant on the north coast beaches, which indicates the southern limit of outwash from an ice sheet for which it is designated a Geological Conservation Review site.
Cornwall is the county that forms the tip of the southwestern peninsula of England; this area has a mild and warm climate regulated by the Gulf Stream. The mild climate allows rich plant cover, such as palm trees in the far south and west of the county and in the Isles of Scilly, due to sub-tropical conditions in the summer.
Rosevear is the largest of the group of rocks known as the Western Rocks, Isles of Scilly. The islands are on eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean on the south-west approaches to the island of Great Britain and are renowned for the numerous shipwrecks in the area and the nearby Bishop Rock lighthouse. All the uninhabited islands are owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and are managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, which looks after the archaeological and historical remains on the islands, as well as the flora and fauna. Landing is not allowed on the island.
Treen Cliff is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located on the Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK, 6 miles (9.7 km) south-west of Penzance. First notified in 1951, with a revision in 1973, and a further notification on 1 July 1986, it is 49.3 hectares in area, stretching from grid reference SW387220 to SW402225. Designated for both for its biological and geological interest, part of the site, Treryn Dinas, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument consisting of a "cliff castle" with four ramparts and ditches and the Logan Rock. It is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the Penwith Heritage Coast and is part owned and managed by the National Trust.
Boscastle to Widemouth is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, noted for its biological and geological characteristics. The Dizzard dwarf oak woodland is unique and of international importance for its lichen communities, with 131 species recorded.
Steeple Point to Marsland Mouth is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for its biological characteristics.
Wingletang Down is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the southern side of the island of St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly, England, UK, which is noted for its biological characteristics. The site is managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust and is within the Isles of Scilly Heritage Coast and the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is the only site in Great Britain and Ireland for the small fern, least adder's–tongue. As of 11 September 2009 the SSSI was considered to be in ″unconditional recovering″ condition because European gorse and bramble are at unacceptable levels.
Godrevy Head to St Agnes is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Cornwall, England], noted for both its biological and geological characteristics. A number of rare and scarce plant species can be found on the site, along with many breeding seabirds.
The Eastern Isles are a group of twelve small uninhabited islands within the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of the Scilly Heritage Coast and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) first designated in 1971 for its flora and fauna. They have a long period of occupation from the Bronze Age with cairns and entrance graves through to Iron Age field systems and a Roman shrine on Nornour. Before the 19th century, the islands were known by their Cornish name, which had also become the name of the largest island in the group after the submergence of the connecting lands.
The Norrard (Northern) Rocks are a group of small uninhabited granite rocks in the north–western part of the Isles of Scilly, to the west of Bryher and Samson. In 1971 they were designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for their breeding seabird colonies and they are permanently closed to landings from boat passengers. The vegetation on the islands is limited by the extreme exposure and only six species of flowering plants have been recorded.
Peninnis Head is the southernmost point of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. The headland is within the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part of the Heritage Coast. It is also a Geological Conservation Review site for its Quaternary geomorphology and was first designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1971 for both its biological and geological interests. On the tip of the headland is a squat lighthouse built in 1911 by Trinity House as a replacement for the 17th century lighthouse on St Agnes.
Castle Down is a windswept plateau of maritime heath in the northern part of the island of Tresco, Isles of Scilly. The area has a number of designations including Castle Down (Tresco) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI); is part of the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; part of the Isles of Scilly Heritage Coast; and part of Plantlife's Isles of Scilly Important Plant Area. There are a number of Schedule Ancient Monument's ranging in age from Bronze Age cairns to castles built in the 16th and 17th centuries to protect the anchorage of New Grimsby harbour.