Steep Holm
Steep Holm (Welsh: Ynys Rhonech) is an English island lying in the Bristol Channel. The island covers 48.87 acres (19.78 ha) at high tide, expanding to 63.26 acres (25.60 ha) at mean low water.
At its highest point it is 78 metres (256 ft) above mean sea level. Administratively it forms part of the unitary authority of North Somerset within the ceremonial county of Somerset. Nearby is Flat Holm island (Welsh: Ynys Echni), part of Wales.
The Carboniferous Limestone island rises to about 200 feet (61 m) and serves as a wind and wave break, sheltering the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel. The island is now uninhabited, with the exception of the wardens. It is protected as a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with a large bird population and plants including wild peonies.
There was a signal station or watchtower on the island in Roman times, but there may have been human habitation as early as the Iron Age.
In the 6th century it was home to St Gildas and to a small Augustinian priory in the 12th and 13th centuries. An inn was built in 1832 and used for holidays in the 19th century. The Inn operated on a “duty free” basis until a legal case in the 1880s meant that duty had to be paid!
A bird sanctuary was established in 1931 and since 1951 has been leased to charitable trusts. It is now owned by the Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust.
In the 1860s the island was fortified with ten 7-inch rifled muzzle loading guns as one of the Palmerston Forts for the coastal defence of the Bristol Channel until it was abandoned in 1898.
The infrastructure was recommissioned during World War I and II when 6-inch breech-loading guns and search lights were installed.
To enable the movement of materials, soldiers from the Indian Army Service Corps initially used mules and then installed a cable-operated narrow gauge railway which used components salvaged at the end of World War I from the German Feldbahn on the Western Front.
In the late 20th Century the excursion steamers PS WAVERLEY and MV BALMORAL would make occasional calls bringing visitors that had to be tendered ashore to the landing beach.
Excursions are currently operated to the island on a regular basis from Weston Super Mare during the summer season and about monthly from Cardiff.
Read MoreAt its highest point it is 78 metres (256 ft) above mean sea level. Administratively it forms part of the unitary authority of North Somerset within the ceremonial county of Somerset. Nearby is Flat Holm island (Welsh: Ynys Echni), part of Wales.
The Carboniferous Limestone island rises to about 200 feet (61 m) and serves as a wind and wave break, sheltering the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel. The island is now uninhabited, with the exception of the wardens. It is protected as a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with a large bird population and plants including wild peonies.
There was a signal station or watchtower on the island in Roman times, but there may have been human habitation as early as the Iron Age.
In the 6th century it was home to St Gildas and to a small Augustinian priory in the 12th and 13th centuries. An inn was built in 1832 and used for holidays in the 19th century. The Inn operated on a “duty free” basis until a legal case in the 1880s meant that duty had to be paid!
A bird sanctuary was established in 1931 and since 1951 has been leased to charitable trusts. It is now owned by the Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust.
In the 1860s the island was fortified with ten 7-inch rifled muzzle loading guns as one of the Palmerston Forts for the coastal defence of the Bristol Channel until it was abandoned in 1898.
The infrastructure was recommissioned during World War I and II when 6-inch breech-loading guns and search lights were installed.
To enable the movement of materials, soldiers from the Indian Army Service Corps initially used mules and then installed a cable-operated narrow gauge railway which used components salvaged at the end of World War I from the German Feldbahn on the Western Front.
In the late 20th Century the excursion steamers PS WAVERLEY and MV BALMORAL would make occasional calls bringing visitors that had to be tendered ashore to the landing beach.
Excursions are currently operated to the island on a regular basis from Weston Super Mare during the summer season and about monthly from Cardiff.
