Green Island is an island in
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley (ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being t ...
in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
. It lies in the central south part of the harbour, south of
Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust with the northern half managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and ...
and
Furzey Island
Furzey Island is an island in Poole Harbour in the English county of Dorset. The island lies to the south of the larger Brownsea Island. Seen from the water, or adjoining land, the island looks like another wild pineclad island. However, hidden in ...
. The island is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (
AONB), Site of Special Scientific Interest (
SSSI) and Special Protection Area (
SPA).
Geography
The island covers approximately at low
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
while the central raised part of the island is approximately . The island is covered in extensive woodland in the centre, made up of
Scots pine
''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...
with several small zones of
heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
. The island also has a large
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...
and several small glades, as well as a beach area. Most of the island is made of sandstone. It has two buildings: a two-bedroom summer house and a single-story cabin known as the Greensleaves. The island has a helicopter landing pad and a private wooden jetty. The island, along with Brownsea Island and Furzey Island, is one of the few known places in England where
red squirrels
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent.
In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...
are still found.
Green Island lies within the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the P ...
. The parish forms part of the
Purbeck local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
.
[
]
History and ownership
The island is currently privately owned by Mr Edward Iliffe, a multi-millionaire from Berkshire. The island was owned from 1987 by the Davies family until 2005. In 2005 the island was put up for sale at an asking price of £2.5 million. In previous years, the island was used by the Green Island Holiday Trust which ran a limited number of holidays for disabled and disadvantaged people on the island. It was also used for corporate events, weddings and functions. The Green Island Holiday Trust now conducts its activities at Holton Lee (near Upton).
The island was featured on television in the archaeology programme ''Time Team
''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
''. In 2003 ''Time Team'' visited the island and conducted works to examine the island's rich history. The dig uncovered a furnace as well as pottery fragments. Evidence suggests that at one point Green Island was twice its size and a major place of trading in southern England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. This episode was first broadcast on 8 February 2004. The island is part of a current project run by Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s.
The univer ...
to discover the history of Poole Harbour, in conjunction with Poole Maritime Trust.
References
External links
{{Commons category, Green Island, Dorset
Dorset Society Magazine Green Island Article
Islands of Dorset
Private islands of the United Kingdom
Poole Harbour
Corfe Castle