Auskerry is a small island in eastern Orkney, Scotland. It lies in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 south of Stronsay

Stronsay

Stronsay is an island in Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. The main village is Whitehall, home to a heritage centre. It is in size, and at its highest point....

 and has a lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

, completed in 1866.

Description

Auskerry is a small, flat, red sandstone islet, 3 miles (5 km) south of Stronsay

Stronsay

Stronsay is an island in Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. The main village is Whitehall, home to a heritage centre. It is in size, and at its highest point....

. A standing stone and mediaeval chapel are signs of early settlement. The island was uninhabited for a time after the automation of the lighthouse in the 1960s. It was previously a popular location for hunting seals.

Auskerry has been inhabited for 30 years by a family who keep a flock of rare North Ronaldsay sheep

North Ronaldsay sheep

The North Ronaldsay is a breed of sheep living on North Ronaldsay, the northernmost of the Orkney Islands, Scotland. They are one survivor of a type of sheep formerly found across the islands of Orkney and Shetland , belonging to the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds.They are...

. There are three small wind turbines and four solar panel

Photovoltaic module

A solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...

s on the island, which provide most of the power. After a series of expansions and renovations, the single roomed stone bothy

Bothy

A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, northern England, Ireland, and Wales....

 is now a modern house with four bedrooms, kitchen, shower room and living room. The chemical toilet is outdoors due to the complication of installing septic tanks. Mail is delivered from Stronsay, once a month, by a fishing boat.

Lighthouse

The Hastings County, a 116 metre Norwegian cargo ship

Cargo ship

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...

 ran ashore on north west of Auskerry in 1926 during thick fog. The vessel broke in half and wreckage is spread over a wide area, with the engine on the beach.

The lighthouse lights the north entrance to the Stronsay Firth. It was built in 1866 by engineers David

David Stevenson (engineer)

David Stevenson FRSE FRSSA was a Scottish lighthouse designer, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, and helped found a great dynasty of lighthouse engineering.-Background:...

 and Thomas Stevenson

Thomas Stevenson

Thomas Stevenson PRSE MInstCE FRSSA FSAScot was a pioneering Scottish lighthouse designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the Stevenson screen used in meteorology...

. It is attached to two flats; the lower one is used all year as a store and the top one is used mainly in summer.

Wildlife

Auskerry is designated a Special Protection Area

Special Protection Area

A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...

 due to its importance as a nesting area for Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern

The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...

 and Storm Petrel; 4.2% of the breeding population of Storm Petrel in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

nest on the island.

Footnotes