The Longships is the name given to a group of rocky

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s situated approximately 1 miles (2 km) west of

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. The islets are marked by the Longships Lighthouse, the current structure being first lit in December 1873. The islets are very popular for

recreational diving Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

, the sea has clear water with prolific marine life and flora.

Geography

The Longships lie off the

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

headland of Land's End and the contact area between the granite

pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

and the ″country rocks″ is just offshore. The reef is within a metamorphic aureole formed after the granite intruded the earlier Devonian rocks between 268 and 275 million years ago, during the

Permian period The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

. Much of the Longship group is submerged at

high water High Water or Highwater may refer to: * High water, the state of tide when the water rises to its highest level. Film and television * Highwater (film), ''Highwater'' (film), a 2008 documentary * ''Step Up: High Water'', a web television series * ...

but the three largest islets in the group – Tal-y-Maen, Carn Bras, and Meinek – remain above the high water mark. Two smaller rocks known as Kettle's Bottom are situated midway between Longship and the coast. The Longships islets (but not Kettle's Bottom rocks) are in 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Sennen.

Names of the rocks

The names of the rocks that make up the reef have meanings in the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...

. *Cein (Cornish: Keyn, meaning ''back, ridge, or keel'') *Farkell Carn (Cornish: Karn Forhel, meaning ''forked rock-pile'') *Tal-y-maen (Cornish: Tal an Meyn, meaning ''brow of the stones'') *Carn Bras (Cornish: Karn Bras, meaning ''big rock-pile'') *Herly (Cornish: Hir Legh, meaning ''long ledge'') *Plassek (Cornish: Plosek, meaning ''foul one'') *Meinek (Cornish: Meynek, meaning ''stony place'')

Shipwrecks

It is not known how many ships have been lost in and around Land's End but there are hundreds recorded and probably thousands unknown. One of the earliest recorded on the Longships, is an unidentified ship lost at the Long Shipps in 1532 reported by the bayliffe John Penheleg. Other wrecks include: * 1898: S.S. Bluejacket, * 1901, November: 'Mary James.' Built 1862 by Richard Tredwen in

Padstow Padstow (; ) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary, approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

. For most of her life owned by the St. Just family of Harvey James and made many voyages to Wales with copper ore, bringing back coal for the mines. Sank after dismasting.Jenkin, C. J. (2009) ''Newlyn''. 'A view from Street-an-Nowan'. Penryn: R. Booth Ltd.

Gallery

File:Longships Lighthouse.jpg, Longships Lighthouse in the distance File:Longships Lighthouse 2.jpg, Longships Lighthouse

References

{{reflist, 30em Reefs of the Atlantic Ocean Reefs of England Uninhabited islands of Cornwall Sennen