St Helen's ( kw, Enys Elyd or ) is one of the fifty or so uninhabited islands in the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

of the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

and has an approximate

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

of . On the south side of the island is one of the earliest Christian sites in Scilly, an early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

religious complex, which is thought to be the remains of St Elidius Hermitage, an 8th-century chapel lived in by

Saint Lide Saint Lide, also known as Elid or Elidius, was a legendary bishop who lived on the island of St Helen's in the Isles of Scilly. The name of the Island of St Helen's is supposed to be a corruption of Lide's name. His feast day is on 8 August and i ...

, (also known as Elid or Elidius). There are also the remains of an isolation hospital used to quarantine sailors with

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. The island is the major part of a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

and some features have been given the designation of

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. Access to the island is through chartered or private boat, although there are some season trips throughout the summer. St Helen's is currently managed by the

Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, formed in 1985, is a Wildlife Trust covering the Isles of Scilly, a group of islands off the coast of Cornwall. It became the 46th member of The Wildlife Trusts in 2001 and is dedicated to ensuring that the a ...

Geography

St Helen's is the third largest of the uninhabited islands and is situated in the northern part, between

Tresco Tresco may refer to: * Tresco, Elizabeth Bay, a historic residence in New South Wales, Australia * Tresco, Isles of Scilly, an island off Cornwall, England, United Kingdom * Tresco, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia * a nickname referring to ...

and St Martin's. It has an area of and rises to . Some of the nearby islands are considered to be part of the St Helen's group, these are; Foreman's Island, Men-a-vaur, Northwethel, Round Island and

Teän Teän ( , sometimes written ''Tean'' without the diaeresis; kw, Enys Tian) is an uninhabited island to the north of the Isles of Scilly archipelago between Tresco, to the west, and St Martin's, to the east. Approximately in area, the islan ...

. The island mostly consists of a hill of coarse-grained, highly jointed

Hercynian The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea. Nomenclature The name ''Variscan'', come ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies undergro ...

. The landing site for the island is on a sandy beach on the south side where there are the remains of a granite quay and low

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

at the top of the beach. The ruined pest house is situated on a flat area behind the dunes and further inland the religious complex is based at the foot of the hill. To the east of the complex is a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

and the walls of several fields.

Pre-history

Cairns

The platform

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s on St Helen's make up a large amount of the total 387 surviving cairns on the Isles of Scilly, and so have been registered as an ancient monument. The remaining

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

cairn field on the island consists of four ring cairns on the slight north-west facing slope. The first cairn is 4 m in diameter with a ring of earth with protruding spaced stones, 1m wide and 0.2 m high. The second cairn is oval 4 m by 3 m with a ring 0.4 m wide and 0.2 m high, incorporate two contiguous slabs embedded on edge. The third cairn is 6 m in diameter with a ring with spaced stones averaging 1m wide and 0.3 m high. The fourth cairn is 4 m in diameter with a ring of spaced stones which averages 0.7 m wide and 0.2 m high.

History

Early Christian chapel

On the south slope of St Helen's there is an early

religious complex that is thought to be the remains of St Elidius Hermitage, an 8th-century chapel lived in by

(also known as Elid or Elidius) which is also Saint Lide alleged burial place.

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

suggest that the site developed from a solitary

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

site, with a single round hut and oratory, to a communal hermitage with a number of rectangular huts for individual accommodation, surrounding the church and oratory buildings. Five graves from the early hermitage were also excavated east of the living section. A field system was also present providing food for the Hermitage/Chapel, and later the Pest House residents. In the early 11th-century a small church was built on the north east side of the living section and around 1120 AD the church was granted to

Tavistock Abbey Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. Nothing remains of the abbey except the refectory, two gateways and a porch. The abbey church, dedicated to Our Lady and S ...

. This increased the numbers of pilgrims visiting the site due to it being the shrine of Elidius, and many alterations and remodeling were made to the complex. Additionally, further excavations of the site have uncovered decorated ridge-tiles and parts of the 12th century Purbeck Marble shrine that is thought to have once housed Saint Elidius

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s. It is also said that there was once a causeway from abbey church at

across the downs to the church on St Helen's Isle. Currently there are yearly open air service on 8 August to celebrate the feast of St Elidius at the small ruined church.Parslow, R. (2007) ''The Isles of Scilly''.

New Naturalist The New Naturalist Library (also known as ''The New Naturalists'') is a series of books published by Collins in the United Kingdom, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the British Isles. The aim of the series at the start was: "To ...

Library. London: HarperCollins The Pest House St Helen's - geograph

St Helen's Pool

St Helen's Pool is a stretch of water just off St Helen's island which provided sheltered anchorage for shipping, though there is a chance ships may experience swells near

high water 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 can ...

. There is evidence to show that during the later medieval period the

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s of Tresco may have collected tolls from ships for anchorage in St Helen's Pool, as it is considered that it was the main harbour of the islands in medieval times.

The Pest House

St Helen's Isolation hospital, also known as the ''Pest House'', was a

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

station built in 1764 to house

cases from visiting ships calling at

Old Grimsby Old Grimsby ( kw, Enysgrymm Goth) is a coastal settlement on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, England.Ordnance Survey mapping It is located on the east side of the island and there is a quay. At the southern end of the harbour bay is t ...

and St Helen's Pool. It was constructed after an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in 1754 decreed that any plague-ridden ship north of

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

heading for

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 ...

should anchor off this island. The station included the building of an isolation hospital as well as a

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

and an extensive

quay A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...

to serve it. The pest house was still open to receive patients from quarantined vessels. The hospital building is a rectangular, roofless building, 7 m by 5.5 m externally with a two–roomed extension on its east side. The walls of the building are 0.6 m wide and 3 m high, and are constructed of mortared rubble with other details picked out in larger stones. The building has recently been repaired and stabilized to prevent its collapse with the help of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

funding through the Isles of Scilly (IOS) Grant Scheme, administered by Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Community Grants Programme (CIOS). There is also a graveyard associated with the pest house which is known to include the grave of a 27-year-old naval

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

who was sent to treat the sick and died within a week himself, and various passengers from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

who also died at the station.

Wildlife and ecology

The island is part of the St Helen's (with Northwethel and Men-a-vaur) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is designated for its rare flora and breeding seabirds. The SSSI was first notified in 1971, re-notified in 1986 and covers all land above the mean high-water mark.

Flora

In 1940 the highest land on St Helen's was covered in maritime heath with ling (''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wid ...

'') and bell heather (''

Erica cinerea ''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe. The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar produ ...

'') which was destroyed by fires from incendiary bombs from German aircraft during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. There were further fires during the dry weather of 1949, and when J E Lousley surveyed the vegetation in 1957 the soil was only one or two inches deep, grey and with granite chips. The most abundant plant was buck's-horn plantain (''

Plantago coronopus ''Plantago coronopus'', the buck's-horn plantain, is a herbaceous annual to perennial flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. Other common names in the US and Italy include minutina and erba stella. Description ''Plantago coronopus'' prod ...

'') and English stonecrop (''

Sedum anglicum ''Sedum anglicum'', the English stonecrop, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Sedum'' in the Family (biology), family Crassulaceae. Description ''Sedum anglicum'' is a low-growing perennial with stubby, succulent, untoothed, alternat ...

''). The fires probably also affected the frequency and cover of the

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus, fungi species in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship.bryophytes The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited i ...

. At the time of the publication of Lousley's flora (1971) the vegetation had still not reverted to heath and by 1987 Hottentot fig (''

Carpobrotus edulis ''Carpobrotus edulis'' is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus '' Carpobrotus'', native to South Africa. Its common names include hottentot-fig, sour fig, ice plant or highway ice plant. Description ''Carpobrotus edulis' ...

'') had spread over much of the area. By 2002 much of this plant had disappeared possibly because of salt spray, or because of unusually cold weather. At the last SSSI assessment in 2009, vegetation on the island including the heath was considered to be in ″''a favourable condition''″. Lousley found large areas of cliffs and rocks were also covered with Hottentot fig which is spread by gulls carrying the plant to their nests. It can then take root and spread over bare ground and vegetation. The lower lying ground to the south of the hill, has deeper soils with black

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

and white sand grains. The flora is dominated by a tangle of bracken (''

Pteridium aquilinum ''Pteridium aquilinum'' (bracken, brake or common bracken), also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. Originally native to Eurasia and North America, the extreme lightness o ...

'') and bramble (''

Rubus ulmifolius ''Rubus ulmifolius'' is a species of wild blackberry known by the English common name elmleaf blackberry or thornless blackberry and the Spanish common name ''zarzamora''. It is native to Europe and North Africa, and has also become naturalized ...

'') and is comparatively rich compared with many of the other islands; probably because St Helen's has less salt spay due to its comparatively sheltered position being surrounded by other islands. The long history of human settlement has also allowed for the establishment of additional species, either by human introduction, or by

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

which has helped to develop deeper soils on the lower ground. Around the pest house there is rank grassland and scrub with flowering plants such as hemlock (''

Conium maculatum ''Conium maculatum'', colloquially known as hemlock, poison hemlock or wild hemlock, is a highly poisonous biennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa. A hardy plant capable of living in a ...

''), hogweed (''

Heracleum sphondylium ''Heracleum sphondylium'', commonly known as hogweed, common hogweed or cow parsnip, is a herbaceous perennial or biennial plant, in the umbelliferous family Apiaceae that includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and giant hogweed. It is nat ...

'') and good populations of balm-leaved figwort (''

Scrophularia scorodonia ''Scrophularia scorodonia'' is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). It is native to western and southwestern Europe, Northwest Morocco and the Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace" ...

'') which is spreading in one area. Unusually for a small Scillonian island there is also grey willow (''

Salix cinerea ''Salix cinerea'' (common sallow, grey sallow, grey willow, grey-leaved sallow, large grey willow, pussy willow, rusty sallow) is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain ...

''), wood spurge (''

Euphorbia amygdaloides ''Euphorbia amygdaloides'', the wood spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to woodland locations in Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus. It is a bushy evergreen perennial, growing to a height of , with dark green ...

'') and small reed (''

Calamagrostis epigejos ''Calamagrostis epigejos'', common names wood small-reed or bushgrass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae which is native to Eurasia and Africa. It is found from average moisture locales to salt marsh and wet habitats.

''). In the past the areas around the buildings would have been cultivated or grazed and North reported the island was uncultivated during his visit in 1850. To allow access for visitors to the August church service, the tall vegetation is cut around the ruined buildings and on the path from the landing place. On the north-west side of the island there is an area of maritime grassland with abundant thrift (''

Armeria maritima ''Armeria maritima'', the thrift, sea thrift or sea pink, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae. It is a compact evergreen perennial which grows in low clumps and sends up long stems that support globes of bright pink flow ...

''), sea beet ('' Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima'') and tree mallow (''

Lavatera arborea ''Malva arborea'' (also known as ''Lavatera arborea'', or, more recently as ''Malva eriocalyx''), the tree mallow, is a species of mallow native to the coasts of western Europe and the Mediterranean region, from Ireland and Britain south to Alger ...

''). Also on the north side and directly opposite Round Island, Issac North (1850) found a chasm richly covered in sea spleenwort (''

Asplenium marinum ''Asplenium marinum'' is a fern known as the sea spleenwort because of its preference for maritime habitats. Located around the coasts of Europe from Italy in the South to Norway in the North, its most Southern distribution extends to the Norther ...

'').

Shore dock

Shore dock (''

Rumex rupestris ''Rumex rupestris'', commonly known as shore dock, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Polygonaceae. Its native range is Western Europeand is one of the world's rarest dock species.Lousley JE, Kent DH. 1981. ''Docks and Knotwe ...

'') is one of the rarer docks and a

BAP BAP or bap may refer to: Food * Bap (bread), a type of bread roll * Bap (rice dish), a Korean food Music * BAP (Basque band), a hardcore punk group (formed 1984) * BAP (German band), a Colognian rock group (formed 1976) * B.A.P (South Korean ban ...

species; it is one of the reasons why the Isles of Scilly is a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(SAC). It was recorded in 1957 by Lousley, but has not been seen since and is thought to be extinct on St Helen's. It was recorded nearby on Teän in 2005.

Fauna

The

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

of the outer islands of the Isles of Scilly is generally poorly recorded because of, both the difficulty of reaching them, and the length of the time spent.

Mammals

St Helen's has a long history of habitation and when Issac North visited the islands in 1850 he reported goats ('' Capra aegagrus hircus'') and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

. The deer were still present in 1865, and in 1870 sheep (''

Ovis aries Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...

'') were said to run wild. A 1919 guide book recorded St Helen's only inhabitants as goats, deer, rabbits and sea fowl. The Scilly shrew (''

Crocidura suaveolens The lesser white-toothed shrew (''Crocidura suaveolens'') is a tiny shrew with a widespread distribution in Africa, Asia and Europe. Its preferred habitat is scrub and gardens and it feeds on insects, arachnids, worms, gastropods, newts and sma ...

'') was seen on low cliffs in 1964 and rabbit (''

Oryctolagus cuniculus The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has b ...

'') has not been recorded since 1980.

Birds

Cooper (2006) recorded a few great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') nesting, a scattering of herring gull (''Larus argentatus'') and an overflow colony of kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') on the eastern cliffs, while Parslow (2007) records a large colony of lesser black-backed gull (''Larus fuscus'') and a small colony of puffin (''

Fratercula arctica The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern P ...

''). The Seabird 2000 breeding seabird survey recorded five occupied nests of Manx shearwater ('' Puffinus puffinus'').

Other islands in the St Helen’s group

Foreman’s Island

Foreman's Island () is a low-lying island on the south side of St Helen's Pool between Teän and Tresco. It is one of a group of rocks and islets of importance for breeding seabirds. The common froghopper (''

Philaenus spumarius ''Philaenus spumarius'', the meadow froghopper or meadow spittlebug, is a species of insect belonging to the spittlebug family Aphrophoridae. In Italy and America, it is economically important as one of the vectors of Pierce's Disease (''Xylella ...

'') has been recorded on Foreman's.

Men-a-vaur

Men-a-vaur () is to the north-west of St Helen's and consists of three granite slabs covering an area of and rising to . It is part of the SSSI for its seabirds with eight breeding species. The razorbill (''

Alca torda The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis imp ...

'') population is of national importance and together with fulmar ('' Fulmaris glacialis'') and guillemot (''

Uria aalge The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...

'') are the largest in the Isles of Scilly; the other species are kittiwake, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, shag (''

Gulosus aristotelis The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and ...

'') and puffin. Peregrine falcon (''

Falco peregrinus The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, ...

'') and raven ( ''Corvus corax'') breed in some years. Lousley recorded common scurvygrass (''

Cochlearia officinalis ''Cochlearia officinalis'', common scurvygrass, scurvy-grass, or spoonwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. The plant acquired its common name from the observation that it cured scurvy, and it was taken on board ship ...

''), tree mallow and a species of orache ( ''Atriplex'' spp) although flowering plants are not a permanent feature. The rare

rove beetle The rove beetles are a family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra (wing covers) that typically leave more than half of their abdominal segments exposed. With roughly 63,000 species in thousands of genera, the ...

, ('' Omalium allardi'') has been recorded.

Northwethel

Northwethel () is a and high island in Old Grimsby Channel, off Grimble Porth, Tresco. The island consists of two hills connected by a low stretch of land. There is a sandy beach at the landing area on the south and a small brackish pool behind the sea bank. Human habitation dates back to the

with a cairn field of up to nine cairns including one that has a chamber in diameter with two cover stones still in place. The chamber is oriented east to west and long, wide at the centre and at the entrance. There is also a prehistoric field system and a settlement with (probably) six

hut circle In archaeology, a hut circle is a circular or oval depression in the ground which may or may not have a low stone wall around it that used to be the foundation of a round house. The superstructure of such a house would have been made of timber and ...

s. Some of the hut circles are integrated into the field walls of which there are three or four irregular shaped fields to across. The hut circles have an internal width of to . A number of finds of flint, bone and pottery of unknown date have been deposited with the Isles of Scilly Museum on St Mary's. It is said that 1,500 Parliamentarians landed on the island in the mistaken belief they were on Tresco and a roughly rectangular enclosure with two sides of drystone walling is a possible ″Parliamentary army shelter″. On the west side of the island are the remains of a rusting ship. The botanist J E Lousley visited the island one afternoon in May 1957 and recorded fifty-four species of plant, despite finding most of the island covered in a tangle of bracken and bramble to high and difficult to penetrate. Unusual plants (for the Isles of Scilly) in the brackish pool are sea-milkwort (''

Glaux maritima ''Lysimachia maritima'' is a plant species belonging to the family Primulaceae. It was previously called ''Glaux maritima'', the only species in the monotypic genus ''Glaux''. The species has a number of common names, including sea milkwort, sea ...

''), fennel-leaved pondweed (''

Stuckenia pectinata ''Stuckenia pectinata'' ( syn. ''Potamogeton pectinatus''), commonly called sago pondweed or fennel pondweed, and sometimes called ribbon weed, is a cosmopolitan water plant species that grows in fresh and brackish water on all continents except ...

'') and red goosefoot (''

Chenopodium rubrum ''Oxybasis rubra''Susy Fuentes-Bazan, Pertti Uotila, Thomas Borsch: ''A novel phylogeny-based generic classification for Chenopodium sensu lato, and a tribal rearrangement of Chenopodioideae (Chenopodiaceae).'' In: ''Willdenowia.'' Vol. 42, No. ...

''). A visit by John Hunt in the 1980s found a ″healthy″ growth of bracken. The fern soft shield-fern (''

Polystichum setiferum ''Polystichum setiferum'', the soft shield fern, is an evergreen or semi-evergreen fern native to southern and western Europe. The stalks and most midribs are coated with attractive cinnamon-brown scales. The Latin specific epithet ''setiferum'' ...

'') once thought to be very rare on the islands has now been found on all the inhabited islands (except Bryher) and curiously also on Northwethel.

Round Island

Round Island () is a island to the north of St Helen's with an unmanned

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on the summit. It is part of the ''Pentle Bay, Merrick and Round Islands Site of Special Scientific Interest'' (SSSI).

Teän

Teän () is a island between St Helen's, to the north-west and St Martin's to the east. The island has a long history of habitation and was designated as the ''Teän Site of Special Scientific Interest'' (SSSI) in 1971. It is included in the Isles of Scilly

Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological a ...

for the linking of islands by a sandy bar or

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island become ...

References

External links

The Isles of Scilly Wildlife TrustThe Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding BeautyIsles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project
{{SSSIs Cornwall biological Uninhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the Isles of Scilly Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971