# Farne Islands

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 and the Outer Group. The main islands in the Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef, the East and West Wideopens (all joined on very low tides), and (somewhat separated) 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 19 metres (62 ft) above mean sea level and on Staple Island is 14 metres (46 ft).

## History
### Monks and hermits

The earliest recorded inhabitants of the Farne Islands were various Culdees, some connected with Lindisfarne. This followed the old Celtic Christian tradition of island hermitages, also found in Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.
The islands are first recorded in 651, when they became home to Saint Aidan, followed by Saint Cuthbert. Cuthbert isolated himself on the islands until he was called to the bishopric of Lindisfarne, but after two years, he returned to the solitude of the Inner Farne and died there in 687, when Saint Aethelwold took up residence, instead. Among other acts, Cuthbert introduced special laws in 676 protecting the eider ducks, and other seabirds nesting on the islands; these are thought to be the earliest bird-protection laws anywhere in the world.
The islands were used by hermits intermittently from the seventh century. These included Saint Bartholomew of Farne. The last hermit was Thomas De Melsonby, who died on the islands in 1246.
A formal monastic cell of Benedictine monks was established on the islands circa 1255. The cell was dependent on Durham Abbey, now Durham Cathedral. A very small cell, it was usually home to only two monks, although on occasion this rose to as many as six. The cell was dissolved in 1536 as part of King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Following the dissolution of the monastic cell on the islands, they became the property of the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral, who leased them to various tenants. The islands remained a detached part of County Durham until 1844, when the Counties (Detached Parts) Act transferred them to Northumberland. In 1861, the islands were sold to Charles Thorp, who was at the time Archdeacon of Durham. In 1894, the islands were bought by industrialist William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong. The islands are currently owned by the National Trust.
Remains still exist of the seventh-century anchorite cell used by Saint Aidan and Saint Cuthbert, as do the remains of a 14th-century chapel associated with the cell. Known as St Cuthbert's Chapel, it is described as a "single-cell building of four bays". The remains of a second chapel have been incorporated into a later building.

### Grace Darling

The Farne Islands are associated with the story of Grace Darling and the wreck of the Forfarshire. Grace Darling was the daughter of Longstone lighthouse-keeper (one of the islands' lighthouses), William Darling, and on 7 September 1838, when she was aged 22, with her father she rescued nine people from the wreck of the Forfarshire in a strong gale and thick fog, the vessel having run aground on Harcar Rock. The story of the rescue attracted extraordinary attention throughout Britain, and made Grace Darling a heroine who has gone down in British folklore.

### Tourism

By the eighteenth century, picnics were being held on the Farne Islands. A picnic was held in 1778 on Pinnacle Island by Dr Kayne and his house party which consisted of ten persons and one dog. The picnic was illustrated by S.H.Grimm who made a drawing of the house party and a separate drawing of the accompanying seven servants enjoying a picnic meal.

## Today

The islands have no permanent population, but National Trust rangers live on the islands for nine months of the year, maintaining the site and monitoring wildlife. They live in Prior Castell's Tower on the Inner Farne (the largest and closest inshore of the islands), Lighthouse Cottage on Inner Farne and the lighthouse cottage on the Brownsman in the outer group. The pele tower was built during the early part of the 1494-1519 tenure of Thomas Castell as Prior of Durham.

### Lighthouses

The lighthouse would not have been painted red and white in Grace Darling's day.
The first lighthouse was built on the islands in 1773; prior to that, a beacon may have been installed on Prior Castell's Tower, permission having first been given for a light on Inner Farne in 1669.
Currently, two lighthouses are operated by Trinity House on the Farne Islands:
* Farne Lighthouse was built in 1811 and originally named Inner Farne Lighthouse.
* Longstone Lighthouse was built in 1826 and originally named Outer Farne Lighthouse.
Former lighthouses on the islands include:
* Farne Island Lighthouse was built in 1673, but never lit; its replacement was built by Captain John Blackett in 1778, itself replaced by Trinity House with the current Farne Lighthouse in 1811. A minor light, called the Low Light, was also established by Trinity House on the north-west of Farne between 1811 and 1910. to aid navigation by lining this light up with the Inner Farne light
* Staple Island Lighthouse was built by Captain Blackett in 1778 and blown down in the Great Storm of 1784; a replacement, built either in the same place or on Brownsman Island, was knocked down by heavy seas in 1800.
* Brownsman Lighthouse, built in 1800, was replaced by Trinity House with a new tower in 1811 and closed in 1826 when Longstone Lighthouse was established.
All the operational lighthouses on the Farnes are now automatic and have no resident keepers, although in former years, they did. The lighthouse is now maintained by Trinity House via its local lighthouse attendant, George Shiel, who provides guided tours inside the lighthouse. Ruins of some of the older lighthouses may be seen, for example on the Brownsman, which has two. Before the lighthouses, beacons were on several of the islands. The prominent white streak on the cliff facing the mainland (see photo) is similar to bird droppings; although many parts of the islands do exhibit this colouring during the breeding season only, in this case it is the result of chalk deposits from the many years of spent calcium carbide from the lighthouse being thrown down the cliff; this calcium carbide was used to generate acetylene, which was used as fuel for the light before electricity came.

## Ecology and natural history

The Farne Islands are an internationally important wildlife habitat. In summer eider duck, cormorant, shag, fulmar, kittiwake, Arctic tern, common tern, Sandwich tern, guillemot, razorbill, and puffins all breed here, while in late autumn a large colony of grey seals pup on the islands. Summer visitors to Inner Farne are strongly advised to wear hats due to Arctic terns dive bombing to protect their chicks.
Breeding birds on the Farnes (as of 2022; 2021 counts marked *) include:
* Canada goose – 4 pairs
* Mallard – 13 pairs
* Common eider – 417 pairs
* Red-breasted merganser – 1 pair*
* Oystercatcher – 17 pairs
* Ringed plover – 4 pairs
* Kittiwake – 4,772 pairs
* Black-headed gull – 479 pairs
* Great black-backed gull – 24 pairs
* Herring gull – 1,219 pairs*
* Lesser black-backed gull – 1,088 pairs*
* Sandwich tern – 336 pairs
* Roseate tern – last bred 2015 (1 pair)
* Common tern – 51 pairs
* Arctic tern – 882 pairs
* Guillemot – 59,168 birds
* Razorbill – 523 pairs
* Puffin – 36,211 pairs*
* Fulmar – 271 pairs*
* Cormorant – 98 pairs
* Shag – 437 pairs
* Carrion crow – 1 pair
* Barn swallow – 7 pairs
* Pied wagtail – 4 pairs
* Rock pipit – 11 pairs
A total of 303 bird species have been recorded on the Farnes, including in the 1760s, an example of the now extinct great auk.
On 28–29 May 1979, an Aleutian tern, a rare tern from the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean, visited the Farnes. It was the first, and still the only, member of its species ever seen anywhere in Europe.
A longer-staying unusual visitor was "Elsie" the lesser crested tern, which visited the Farnes every summer from 1984 to 1997; during that period (paired with a male Sandwich tern) she raised several hybrid chicks and attracted several thousand birders keen to see this species in Britain. Lesser crested terns normally nest on islands off the coast of Libya and migrate to West Africa for the winter; "Elsie" is thought to have taken a wrong turn at the Straits of Gibraltar on spring migration.
An Arctic tern from the Farnes, ringed as a chick not yet old enough to fly in summer 1982, reached Melbourne, Australia, in October 1982, a sea journey over 22,000 kilometres (14,000 mi) in just three months from fledging. This remains one of the longest known distances travelled by any bird.

## Geology

The Farnes are resistant igneous dolerite outcrops. These would originally have been connected to the mainland and surrounded by areas of less resistant limestone. Through a combination of erosion of the weaker surrounding rock, and sea level rise following the last ice age, the Farnes were left as islands. Because of the way the rock is fissured, dolerite forms strong columns. This gives the islands their steep, in places vertical cliffs, and the sea around the islands is scattered with stacks up to 19 metres (62 ft) high on Inner Farne and 14 metres (46 ft) on Staple Island. Many of the small islands are bare rock, but the larger islands have a layer of clay subsoil and peat soil supporting vegetation. The rock strata slope slightly upwards to the south, giving the highest cliffs on the south and some beaches to the north.
One classic view of the Farnes, very popular with photographers, is that from the harbour at Seahouses, but they are closer to the mainland further up the road northwards towards Bamburgh, and excellent views may be seen from here, in the vicinity of the Monks House Rocks, as well as from Bamburgh Castle and beach

## Shipwrecks and diving

The Farne Islands are popular with bird watchers, and as scuba diving locations, with a variety of sites suitable for all levels of divers, for the seals and wrecks.
Hundreds of ships have been wrecked on the Farnes over the years, providing plenty for wreck divers to explore. Among them are:
    NameYear Abessinia1921 Acantha1915 Adelina1862 Advance1891 Aepos1920 African Prince1931 Aid1853 Alert1918 Alexander1845 Alexander1947 Arab1849 Arbutus1890 Ardincaple1833 Armed Dutch vessel1650–1715 Arms1825 Ascot (HMS)1918 Assuan1943 Athelduke1945 Attwood1876 Auckland Castle1918 Augusta1823 Autumn1834 Baltanglia1940 Bonaventure1559 Bowling1939 Brave of Inverness1850 Breeze1852 Britannia1795 Britannia III1875 Britannia IIII1915 Britannia PSS1849 Byron1851 Cairnduna1875 Calcium1876 Caledonia1917 Caledonia of Montrose1802 Caroline1955 Cherokee(1818) Cheviot1853 Children's Friend 1993 Chris Christensen1915 Christa1976 City of Aberdeen(1816) Constance1972 Coryton1941 Countess of Mar1847 Courier1875 Cresswell1869 Cydonia1916 Danio2013 (refloat) Doore1855 Dublin1805 Dunelm1949 (refloat) Earne1859 Eclipse 1851 Elizabeth Fawcett(1846) Elliott1852 Emerald1865 Emily Reaich1924 Emma1914 Empire Ford1943 (refloat) Enterprise1876 Est1871 Euphemia1848 Everene(1940) Excel1939 (refloat) Expedit1917 Faith(1847) Falcon1851 Fame1833 Fifeshire1852 Flora(1882) Florence Dombey1933 Florence Nightingale1860 Flower of Ross1890 Forfarshire1838 Formica1894 Fædreland French caravels (two)1462 Friends(1857) Friendship1795 G.R. Grey 1918 Garent1842 Gebruder1916 Generous Mind(1809) Geir1908 George & Mary1823 Glasgow packet1806 Glen(1909) Glenorm(1906) Glenorca1913 (refloat) Good Cheer2000 Gowan1917 Graciana1920 (refloat) Grade1955 (refloat) Grosvenor1935 Gudveig1940 Gustav Vigeland1916 Gwendoline1893 Harmony1857 Hazard1815 Helen1853 Helmsdale1939 Hero1817 Hetos1940 Hibernia1876 Holmrook1892 Holy Island Coble1895 Holy Island yawl1875 Hope (Smack)1819 Horley1922 Humber Packet1812 Igor1918 Ilala1876 Inatje Baaf1894 Industry1774 Isbul & Margarit 1849 Isabella Fowlie1941 Isorna1941 Ivanhoe1857 Jægersborg 1916 Jack Tar1854 James B Graham1922 James Harris1881 Jan Ryswyck1924 Jane and Margaret1867 Janet Johnson1853 Jean and Jessie1856 Jemima1851 Jeremiah1806 Jessie1847 Joan1845 Johns(1841) Johns(1845) John1849 John & Isabella1808 John G. Watson 1930 Juno1819 Kestrel1917 Kincardine1818 Kopanes1941 Lady Duff(1853) (refloat) Lady of the Lake1866 Lady Panmure1851 Lady Ross1847 Lancaster1854 Leda1886 Liberty1849 Liddle1774 Lilly Miles1899 Loch Leven1902 Lord Strathmore1917 (refloat) Lucerne1915 (refloat) Luiste Josephine1851 Lunesdale1929 Maggie Lauder1804 Maid of Aln1863 Manchant1852 Manly1852 Martha1827 May1894 Maystone1949 Medora1865 Mermaid1823 Merwede1918 Mistley1951 Monkwearmouth1823 Mormilion Frederick1800 Myrtle (brig)1864 Nellie1849 Neptune(1819) Nisus1853 Ocean Bridge1873 Orca1982 Otago1915 Otto M'Combie 1895 Paciline Defecamp1850 Pallas1901 Paragon1821 Paragon1842 Paragon1895 Patia1941 Peace and Plenty1860 Pearle1740 Peggy1774 Plough1850 Pluto1940 Prosperous1854 Queenstown1916 Rececca1899 Resolute1886 River Leven1953 Ryoll of Stockton1801 Saint Evelyn Joyce1922 Saint Louis1924 (refloat) San Bernado1916 Sarah1815 Scottish Prince1913 Sedulous 2 1975 Shadwan1888 Sisters1832 Skovdal1917 Sloop no. 28(1806) Snowdonia1881 Somali1941 Sootica1985 Smilax(1851) Sphynx1919 Spica1916 St Abbs Head1949 St Andre1908 St Fergus1885 St. Salvator1472 Stamfordham1916 Storfors1940 Strive1856 Success1774 Success1853 Thistle1883 Thomas1837 Thomas Jackson1825 Tioga1943 Tredegar Hall1916 (refloat) Trio1860 Two Brothers1841 U-12741945 Urdate1823 Vaagan1916 Valhal1890 Volunteer1846 (refloat) Waren Packet1830 Werner Kunstmann1914 William Thorpe1852 William (schooner)1864 Yagen1916 Yewglen1960

### Dive sites and wrecks

* Chris Christenson, a Danish steamer that sank on 16 February 1915, lies close into the reef off the south tip of Longstone, Outer Farnes, in about 30–35 metres (98–115 ft) at (55°38.397′N 1°36.182′W﻿ / ﻿55.639950°N 1.603033°W﻿ / 55.639950; -1.603033).
* Abessinia, a 138-metre (453 ft) German steamship that drove onto Knifestone, Outer Farnes, on 3 September 1921, lies in about 10–20 metres (30–66 ft) at (55°38.9′N 1°36.12′W﻿ / ﻿55.6483°N 1.60200°W﻿ / 55.6483; -1.60200).
* Brittania, a 750-tonne (740-long-ton), 64-metre (210 ft) British cargo/passenger steamship that struck the Callers, Outer Farnes, in thick fog on 25 September 1915 lies between 10–30 metres (26–98 ft) at (55°37.688′N 1°35.991′W﻿ / ﻿55.628133°N 1.599850°W﻿ / 55.628133; -1.599850).
* St Andre was a 1,140-tonne (1,120-long-ton) French steamship carrying pig iron. On 28 October 1908, she hit the Crumstone and floated off to sink finally at Staple Island. She lies in about 17–25 metres (56–82 ft) at (55°37.84′N 1°37.18′W﻿ / ﻿55.63067°N 1.61967°W﻿ / 55.63067; -1.61967).
Diving at the Farnes is generally possible, regardless of wind direction; shelter is always available somewhere. Some dive locations even provide the opportunity to combine diving and birdwatching, in particular the Pinnacles, where guillemots can be found fishing at safety-stop depth.

## Civil parish

Farne Islands was a civil parish, in 1951 the parish had a population of 3. On 1 April 1955 the parish was abolished and merged with North Sunderland.