Melledgan

Melledgan is one of the smaller islands in the Western Rocks, a scattered group of uninhabited skerries south-west of St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly. The island is composed of Hercynian granite with thin soils and lies at the southern end of the archipelago. It measures just under one hectare and has no permanent human presence. The name comes from the Cornish for ‘slug’ or ‘snail’, describing the slow, low profile of the terrain. Grey seals haul out on its shores and cormorants and shags nest among the rocks. The island once held the third largest colony of European storm petrels in England, with 140 occupied sites recorded in 2000. By 2006 the colony had declined to 69 sites and was overtaken by Roseveor. Melledgan remains important for breeding seabirds and seals, with shag and storm petrel still present. The seals’ droppings enrich the shingle plant community, supporting species such as tree mallow and common scurvygrass. In 2022 a rare sea slug, Babakina anadoni, was found here for the first time in UK waters. Visitors find a windswept granite platform with sparse vegetation and sheer edges dropping to the sea. The island offers no landing places, so landings are discouraged and difficult. Views extend across the Western Rocks to Bishop Rock lighthouse and the open Atlantic. The only sounds are waves on rock and the cries of seabirds. It is a place where nature reclaims every inch, untouched by human hands.