Farne Islands

The Farne Islands lie scattered off North Sunderland in Northumberland. They form two groups separated by Staple Sound: the Inner Group with Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef and the Wideopens, and the Outer Group including Staple Island, Brownsman and Longstone. The highest point on Inner Farne reaches nineteen metres above sea level while Staple Island rises fourteen metres. The islands appear and disappear with the tides, joining at their lowest ebb. They have no permanent residents, only National Trust rangers who live on the islands for nine months each year. The islands carry the remains of early Christian hermits and monks. Saint Cuthbert lived on Inner Farne from 676 until his death in 687, introducing some of the world’s first bird-protection laws for eider ducks and other seabirds. A small Benedictine cell was established around 1255 and dissolved in 1536. The islands later belonged to Durham Cathedral before passing through private owners to the National Trust in 1923. Grace Darling’s rescue of nine survivors from the wrecked Forfarshire in 1838 made her a national heroine. Visitors to Inner Farne find Prior Castell’s Tower and the remains of St Cuthbert’s Chapel. Two lighthouses operate automatically today: Farne Lighthouse built in 1811 and Longstone Lighthouse from 1826. The islands host huge seabird colonies in summer—puffins, terns and guillemots—while grey seals gather to pup in late autumn. Arctic terns defend their chicks by dive-bombing anyone who approaches too closely.