Farne Islands
Encyclopedia
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland
, England. There are between 15 and 20 or more islands depending on the state of the tide
. They are scattered about 2.5–7.5 km (1½–4¾ miles) distant from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group. The main islands in the Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef and the East and West Wideopens (all joined together on very low tides) and (somewhat separated) the Megstone; the main islands in the Outer Group are Staple Island
, the Brownsman, North and South Wamses, Big Harcar and the Longstone. The two groups are separated by Staple Sound. The highest point, on Inner Farne, is 19 metres (62 feet) above mean sea level.
s, some connected with Lindisfarne
. This followed the old Celtic tradition of island hermitages, found in England, Ireland
, and Scotland
.
The first visitor recorded by name was Saint Aidan
followed by Saint Cuthbert
. The latter 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, Saint 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 have no permanent population, the only residents being National Trust
bird wardens during part of the year: they live in the old pele tower
on the Inner Farne, the largest and closest inshore of the islands, and the lighthouse cottage on the Brownsman in the outer group. The pele tower was built by or for Thomas Castell, Prior of Durham
about 1500. There is also a chapel set up on the site of St Cuthbert's oratory 600 years ago. It was restored in recent times with old material from a contaminated Cathedral.
All the lighthouse
s on the Farnes are now automatic and have no resident keepers, although in former years they did. Ruins of older lighthouses may be seen, for example on the Brownsman where there are two. Before the lighthouses there were beacons on several of the islands. The prominent white streak on the cliff facing the mainland (see photo) is often thought by visitors to be bird droppings: although many parts of the islands do exhibit this colouring, 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.
and the wreck of the Forfarshire
. Grace Darling was the daughter of Longstone lighthouse-keeper, William Darling, and on September 7, 1838, at the age of 22 years, she and her father rescued nine people in a strong gale and thick fog from the wreck of the Forfarshire, which had run aground on Harker rock. The story of the rescue attracted extraordinary attention throughout Britain and made Grace Darling a heroine who has gone down in British folklore.
. Local boats are licensed to land passengers on Inner Farne, Staple Island and the Longstone; landing on other islands is prohibited to protect the wildlife. At the right time of year many puffins
can be seen and these are very popular with visitors; on the Inner Farne, the arctic tern
s nest close to the path and will attack visitors who come too close (visitors are strongly advised to wear hats). Some of the islands also support a population of rabbit
s, which were introduced as a source of meat and have since gone wild. The rabbit and puffin populations use the same burrows at different times, the puffins being strong enough (with a vicious bite) to evict the rabbits from the burrows during the nesting season. The islands also hold a notable colony of about 6,000 grey seals, with several hundred pups born every year in September–November.
Breeding birds on the Farnes (as of 2005) include:
A total of 290 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. It remains a complete mystery how it arrived here.
A longer-staying unusual visitor was "Elsie" the Lesser Crested Tern
, who visited the Farnes every summer from 1984 to 1997; during that period, she (paired with a male Sandwich Tern) 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; it is thought that "Elsie" took a wrong "tern" 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 of over 22000 km (13,670.2 mi) in just three months from fledging. This remains one of the longest distances travelled by any bird.
One classic view of the Farnes, very popular with photographers, is that from the harbour at Seahouses. However, 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.
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 cliff
s, and the sea around the islands is scattered with stacks
up to 20 metres (66 feet) high. 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
slopes slightly upwards to the south, giving the highest cliffs on the south and some beach
es to the north.
location, with a variety of sites suitable for all levels of diver. The islands appeal to divers for the seals and wrecks. The grey seal colony at the Farnes numbers about 5,000. They are curious and will often look in on divers in the water and are impressive to watch underwater.
Hundreds of ships have been wrecked on the Farnes over the years, providing plenty for wreck divers to look at. Among them are:
It is generally possible to dive at the Farnes regardless of wind direction. There is always shelter somewhere. Some dive locations even provide the opportunity to combine diving and bird watching, in particular the Pinnacles, where Guillemots can be found fishing at safety stop depth.
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England. There are between 15 and 20 or more islands depending on the state of the tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
. They are scattered about 2.5–7.5 km (1½–4¾ miles) distant from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group. The main islands in the Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef and the East and West Wideopens (all joined together on very low tides) and (somewhat separated) the Megstone; the main islands in the Outer Group are Staple Island
Staple Island
Staple Island is a small rocky island that is one of the outer Farne Islands in Northumberland, England. Staple iIsland is known for its prolific breeding colonies of Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills and Kittiwakes. This uninhabited island has a history associated with the early monastic settlement...
, the Brownsman, North and South Wamses, Big Harcar and the Longstone. The two groups are separated by Staple Sound. The highest point, on Inner Farne, is 19 metres (62 feet) above mean sea level.
History
The earliest recorded inhabitants of the Farne Islands were various CuldeeCuldee
Céli Dé or Culdees were originally members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland and England in the Middle Ages. The term is used of St. John the Apostle, of a missioner from abroad recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 806, and of Óengus...
s, some connected with Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
. This followed the old Celtic tradition of island hermitages, found in England, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The first visitor recorded by name was Saint Aidan
Aidan of Lindisfarne
Known as Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Aidan the Apostle of Northumbria , was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England. A Christian missionary, he is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. Aidan is the Anglicised form of the original Old...
followed by Saint Cuthbert
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Saint Cuthbert was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop and hermit associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria, at that time including, in modern terms, northern England as well as south-eastern Scotland as far as the Firth of Forth...
. The latter 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
Æthelwold of Farne
Saint Æthelwold of Farne was a late 7th century hermit who lived on Inner Farne, off the coast of the English county of Northumberland....
took up residence instead. Among other acts, Saint Cuthbert introduced special laws in 676 protecting the Eider ducks
Common Eider
The Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a large sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on...
, and other seabirds nesting on the islands; these are thought to be the earliest bird protection laws anywhere in the world.
The islands have no permanent population, the only residents being National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
bird wardens during part of the year: they live in the old pele tower
Peel tower
Peel towers are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, intended as watch towers where signal fires could be lit by the garrison to warn of approaching danger...
on the Inner Farne, the largest and closest inshore of the islands, and the lighthouse cottage on the Brownsman in the outer group. The pele tower was built by or for Thomas Castell, Prior of Durham
Prior of Durham
The Prior of Durham was the head of Durham Cathedral Priory, founded c. 1083 with the move of a previous house from Jarrow. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540, when the priory was replaced with a deanery church.-List:...
about 1500. There is also a chapel set up on the site of St Cuthbert's oratory 600 years ago. It was restored in recent times with old material from a contaminated Cathedral.
All the 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....
s on the Farnes are now automatic and have no resident keepers, although in former years they did. Ruins of older lighthouses may be seen, for example on the Brownsman where there are two. Before the lighthouses there were beacons on several of the islands. The prominent white streak on the cliff facing the mainland (see photo) is often thought by visitors to be bird droppings: although many parts of the islands do exhibit this colouring, in this case it is the result of chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
deposits from the many years of spent calcium carbide
Calcium carbide
thumb|right|Calcium carbide.Calcium carbide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of CaC2. The pure material is colorless, however pieces of technical grade calcium carbide are grey or brown and consist of only 80-85% of CaC2 . Because of presence of PH3, NH3, and H2S it has a...
from the lighthouse being thrown down the cliff; this calcium carbide was used to generate acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
which was used as fuel for the light before electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
came.
Grace Darling
One of the great attractions of the Farne Islands is the story of Grace DarlingGrace Darling
Grace Horsley Darling was an English Victorian heroine who in 1838, along with her father, saved 13 people from the wreck of the SS Forfarshire.-Biography:...
and the wreck of the Forfarshire
Forfarshire (ship)
The Forfarshire was a paddlesteamer with brigantine rigging, built in Dundee in 1834, and which struck and later foundered on one of the Farne Islands on the 7 September 1838, giving rise to the rescue for which Grace Darling is famed....
. Grace Darling was the daughter of Longstone lighthouse-keeper, William Darling, and on September 7, 1838, at the age of 22 years, she and her father rescued nine people in a strong gale and thick fog from the wreck of the Forfarshire, which had run aground on Harker rock. The story of the rescue attracted extraordinary attention throughout Britain and made Grace Darling a heroine who has gone down in British folklore.
Ecology and natural history
In the warmer months the Farnes, an important wildlife habitat, are much visited by boat trips from SeahousesSeahouses
Seahouses is a large village on the North Northumberland coast in England. It is about 20 km north of Alnwick, within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.Seahouses attracts many visitors, mainly from the north east area...
. Local boats are licensed to land passengers on Inner Farne, Staple Island and the Longstone; landing on other islands is prohibited to protect the wildlife. At the right time of year many puffins
Atlantic Puffin
The Atlantic Puffin is a seabird species in the auk family. It is a pelagic bird that feeds primarily by diving for fish, but also eats other sea creatures, such as squid and crustaceans. Its most obvious characteristic during the breeding season is its brightly coloured bill...
can be seen and these are very popular with visitors; on the Inner Farne, the 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...
s nest close to the path and will attack visitors who come too close (visitors are strongly advised to wear hats). Some of the islands also support a population of rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s, which were introduced as a source of meat and have since gone wild. The rabbit and puffin populations use the same burrows at different times, the puffins being strong enough (with a vicious bite) to evict the rabbits from the burrows during the nesting season. The islands also hold a notable colony of about 6,000 grey seals, with several hundred pups born every year in September–November.
Breeding birds on the Farnes (as of 2005) include:
- Common EiderCommon EiderThe Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a large sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on...
– 875 pairs - FulmarFulmarFulmars are seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two that are extinct.-Taxonomy:As members of Procellaridae and then the order Procellariiformes, they share certain traits. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called...
– 176 pairs - CormorantCormorantThe bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
– 185 pairs - Shag – 937 pairs
- OystercatcherEurasian OystercatcherThe Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, also known as the Common Pied Oystercatcher, or just Oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with three races breeding in western Europe, central Eurasia,...
– 33 pairs - Herring Gull – 540 pairs
- Lesser Black-backed GullLesser Black-backed GullThe Lesser Black-backed Gull is a large gull that breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa...
– 431 pairs - Black-legged KittiwakeBlack-legged KittiwakeThe Black-legged Kittiwake is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus....
– 5,375 pairs - Sandwich Tern – 1,913 pairs
- Roseate TernRoseate TernThe Roseate Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in bill colour and minor plumage details....
– 1 pair (endangered species) - Common TernCommon TernThe Common Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, breeding in temperate and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and east and central North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions. It is sometimes...
– 155 pairs - Arctic TernArctic TernThe 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...
– 2,380 pairs - GuillemotCommon GuillemotThe Common Murre or Common Guillemot is a large auk. It is also known as the Thin-billed Murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific...
– 46,915 birds - RazorbillRazorbillThe Razorbill is colonial seabird that will only come to land in order to breed. It is the largest living member of the Auk family. This agile bird will choose only one partner for life and females will lay one egg per year. Razorbills will nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed...
– 277 pairs - PuffinAtlantic PuffinThe Atlantic Puffin is a seabird species in the auk family. It is a pelagic bird that feeds primarily by diving for fish, but also eats other sea creatures, such as squid and crustaceans. Its most obvious characteristic during the breeding season is its brightly coloured bill...
– 55,674 pairs in 2003 (not counted in 2005) - Rock PipitRock PipitThe Rock Pipit, Anthus petrosus, is a small passerine bird species which breeds on rocky coasts of western Europe northwards from Brittany. It is mainly resident in Ireland, Great Britain and France, in the west of its range, but the Scandinavian and Russian populations migrate south in winter;...
– 20 pairs
Great Auk
The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis, formerly of the genus Alca, was a large, flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, a group of birds that formerly included one other species of flightless giant auk from the Atlantic Ocean...
.
On 28–29 May 1979, an Aleutian Tern
Aleutian Tern
The Aleutian Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae....
, a rare tern
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
from the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, visited the Farnes. It was the first, and still the only, member of its species ever seen anywhere in Europe. It remains a complete mystery how it arrived here.
A longer-staying unusual visitor was "Elsie" the Lesser Crested Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
The Lesser Crested Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae...
, who visited the Farnes every summer from 1984 to 1997; during that period, she (paired with a male Sandwich Tern) raised several hybrid chicks, and attracted several thousand birders
Birdwatching
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...
keen to see this species in Britain. Lesser Crested Terns normally nest on islands off the coast of Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and migrate to West Africa for the winter; it is thought that "Elsie" took a wrong "tern" at the Straits of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...
on spring migration.
An 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...
from the Farnes, ringed
Bird ringing
Bird ringing or bird banding is a technique used in the study of wild birds, by attaching a small, individually numbered, metal or plastic tag to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the bird's life can be studied by the ability to re-find the same individual later...
as a chick not yet old enough to fly in summer 1982, reached Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in October 1982, a sea journey of over 22000 km (13,670.2 mi) in just three months from fledging. This remains one of the longest distances travelled by any bird.
One classic view of the Farnes, very popular with photographers, is that from the harbour at Seahouses. However, they are closer to the mainland further up the road northwards towards Bamburgh
Bamburgh
Bamburgh is a large village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It has a population of 454.It is notable for two reasons: the imposing Bamburgh Castle, overlooking the beach, seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, and at present owned by the Armstrong family ; and its...
and excellent views may be seen from here, in the vicinity of the Monks House Rocks, as well as from Bamburgh Castle
Bamburgh Castle
Bamburgh Castle is an imposing castle located on the coast at Bamburgh in Northumberland, England. It is a Grade I listed building.-History:...
and beach.
Geology
The Farnes are resistantGeological resistance
Geological resistance is a measure of how well minerals resist erosive factors, and is primarily based on hardness, chemical reactivity and cohesion. The more hardness, less reactivity and more cohesion a mineral has, the less susceptible it will be to erosion...
igneous
Igneous rock
Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...
Dolerite
Diabase
Diabase or dolerite is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. In North American usage, the term diabase refers to the fresh rock, whilst elsewhere the term dolerite is used for the fresh rock and diabase refers to altered material...
outcrops. These would originally have been connected to the mainland and surrounded by areas of less resistant limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. Through a combination of erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
of the weaker surrounding rock, and sea level rise
Current sea level rise
Current sea level rise potentially impacts human populations and the wider natural environment . Global average sea level rose at an average rate of around 1.8 mm per year over 1961 to 2003 and at an average rate of about 3.1 mm per year from 1993 to 2003...
following the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, 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 cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s, and the sea around the islands is scattered with stacks
Stack (geology)
A stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, isolated by erosion. Stacks are formed through processes of coastal geomorphology, which are entirely natural. Time, wind and water are the only factors involved in the...
up to 20 metres (66 feet) high. Many of the small islands are bare rock, but the larger islands have a layer of clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
subsoil and peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
soil supporting vegetation. The rock strata
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
slopes slightly upwards to the south, giving the highest cliffs on the south and some beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es to the north.
Diving
As well as being popular with bird watchers, the Farne Islands are a popular scuba divingScuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
location, with a variety of sites suitable for all levels of diver. The islands appeal to divers for the seals and wrecks. The grey seal colony at the Farnes numbers about 5,000. They are curious and will often look in on divers in the water and are impressive to watch underwater.
Hundreds of ships have been wrecked on the Farnes over the years, providing plenty for wreck divers to look at. Among them are:
- Chris Christenson, a Danish steamer that sank on 16 February 1915. She lies close into the reef off the south tip of Longstone, Outer Farnes in about 30-35m at (55°38.397′N 1°36.182′W)., a 453 ft German steamship that drove onto Knifestone, Outer Farnes, on 3 September 1921. She lies in about 9-20m at (55°38.9′N 1°36.12′W).
- Brittania, a 740t, 210 ft British cargo/passenger steamship that struck the Callers, Outer Farnes, in thick fog on 25 September 1915. The wreckage lies between about 8m-30m at (55°37.688′N 1°35.991′W).
- St Andre was a 1120t 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 17m-25m at (55°37.84′N 1°37.18′W).
It is generally possible to dive at the Farnes regardless of wind direction. There is always shelter somewhere. Some dive locations even provide the opportunity to combine diving and bird watching, in particular the Pinnacles, where Guillemots can be found fishing at safety stop depth.
External links
- Farne Islands information at the National Trust
- Farne Islands access and information (commercial)
- Northumberland Coast — Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) — Northumberland CoastNorthumberland CoastThe Northumberland Coast is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covering 39 miles of coastline from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to the River Coquet estuary in the north-east of England...
AONB Site - Diving around the Farne Islands