Lundy#North lighthouse

File:The Jetty, Lundy.jpg

Lundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel. It lies {{convert|19|km|nmi|0|order=flip}} off the coast of Devon, England,{{cite web |url= https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-conservation-zone-2013-designation-lundy |title=Marine conservation zone 2013 designation: Lundy |website=Government UK |publisher=Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Natural England |access-date=3 March 2015}} about a third of the distance across the channel from Devon to Pembrokeshire in Wales. Lundy gives its name to a British sea area.Collyer, Peter (1998) Rain Later, Good: illustrating the Shipping Forecast. Bradford on Avon: Thomas Reed {{ISBN|0-901281-33-6}} Lundy is included in the district of Torridge in Devon. In 2007, it had a resident population of 28 people. These include a warden, a ranger, an island manager, a farmer, bar and housekeeping staff, and volunteers. Most live in and around the village at the south of the island. Visitors include day-trippers and holiday makers staying overnight in rental properties or camping.{{Cite web |title=Lundy Island |url= https://www.visitdevon.co.uk/northdevon/explore/villages-towns/lundy-island/ |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=Visit North Devon & Exmoor}}

In a 2005 opinion poll of Radio Times readers, Lundy was named as Britain's tenth greatest natural wonder.{{Cite news |date=2 August 2005 |title=Caves win 'natural wonder' vote |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/4735935.stm |access-date=25 January 2024 |publisher=BBC}} The island has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest{{cite web |title=Lundy SSSI citation sheet |work=Natural England |url= http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1001042.pdf |access-date=5 September 2007}} and it was England's first statutory Marine Nature reserve, and the first Marine Conservation Zone,{{cite web |title=Lundy Marine Conservation Zone |url= http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/marine/mpa/lundy.aspx |publisher=Natural England |access-date=28 May 2014}} because of its unique flora and fauna. It is managed by the Landmark Trust on behalf of the National Trust.{{Cite news |last=Stratton |first=Mark |date=18 September 2023 |title=The tiny British island still stuck in a wonderful, bygone era |work=The Daily Telegraph |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/lundy-is-a-tiny-british-island-stuck-in-a-bygone-era/ |access-date=25 January 2024 |issn=0307-1235}}

File:Lundy by Henry Mangles Denham 1804.jpg (1832)]]

The place-name Lundy is first attested in 1189 in the Records of the Templars in England, where it appears as {{lang|la|[Insula de] Lundeia}}. It appears in the Charter Rolls as Lundeia again in 1199, and as Lunday in 1281. The name is Scandinavian and means 'puffin island', from the Old Norse {{lang|non|lundi}} meaning 'puffin' (compare Lundey in Iceland); it appears in the 12th-century Orkneyinga saga as {{lang|non|Lundey}}.Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.307.

Lundy is known in Welsh as {{lang|cy|Ynys Wair}}, 'Gwair's Island', in reference to an alternative name for the wizard Gwydion.{{Cite book |last=Bromwich |first=Rachel |title=Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain |isbn=9781783161461 |date=15 November 2014 |publisher=University of Wales Press |page=147 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=K2euBwAAQBAJ&q=%22Ynys+Wair%22&pg=PA147}}{{Cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore |isbn=9781438110370 |last1=Monaghan |first1=Patricia |date=14 May 2014 |publisher=Infobase |page=477 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nd9R6GQBB_0C&q=%22Ynys+Wair%22&pg=PA477}}

Lundy has evidence of visitation or occupation from the Mesolithic period onward, with Neolithic flintwork, Bronze Age burial mounds, four inscribed gravestones from the early medieval period,See the discussion and bibliography in Elisabeth Okasha, Corpus of early Christian inscribed stones of South-west Britain (Leicester: University Press, 1993), pp. 154–66.Lundy Field Society 40th Annual Report for 1989. pp. 34–47. and an early medieval monastery (possibly dedicated to St Elen or St Helen).

File:Beacon hill sketch.svg

Beacon Hill Cemetery was excavated by Charles Thomas in 1969.Charles Thomas, And Shall These Mute Stones Speak? (1994) Cardiff: University of Wales Press The cemetery contains four inscribed stones, dated to the 5th or 6th century AD.{{Cite web |title=CISP - Site: Beacon Hill, Lundy |url= https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/site/lundy.html |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=UCL.ac.uk}} The site was originally enclosed by a curvilinear bank and ditch, which is still visible in the southwest corner, however, the other walls were moved when the Old Light was constructed in 1819.{{Historic England|num=1016040|desc=Chapel remains, cemetery and prehistoric settlement on Beacon Hill, Lundy|access-date=9 February 2024}} Celtic Christian enclosures of this type were common in Western Britain and are known as {{lang|cy|Llans}} in Welsh and {{lang|kw|Lanns}} in Cornish. There are surviving examples in Luxulyan, in Cornwall; Mathry, Meidrim and Clydau in the south of Wales; and Stowford, Jacobstowe, Lydford and Instow, in Devon.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

Thomas proposed the following sequence of site usage:{{Cite web |title=CISP - Site: Beacon Hill, Lundy |url= https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/site/lundy.html |access-date=25 January 2024 |website=UCL.ac.uk}}

1. An area of round huts and fields. These huts may have fallen into disuse before the construction of the cemetery.
2. The construction of the focal grave, an {{convert|11|by|8|ft|m|abbr=on}} rectangular stone enclosure containing a single cist grave. The interior of the enclosure was filled with small granite pieces. Two more cist graves located to the west of the enclosure may also date from this time.
3. Perhaps 100 years later, the focal grave was opened and the infill removed. The body may have been moved to a church at this time.
4. Two further stages of cist grave construction around the focal grave.

Twenty-three cist graves were found during this excavation. Considering that the excavation only uncovered a small area of the cemetery, there may be as many as 100 graves.

File:Lundy inscribed stones.jpg

Four Celtic inscribed stones have been found in Beacon Hill Cemetery:

• 1400 OPTIMI, or TIMI;Elisabeth Okasha, (1993) Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-west Britain. Leicester: University Press the name (or perhaps epithet) Optimus is Latin and male. Discovered in 1962 by D. B. Hague.{{cite web |url= http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/ |title=Celtic Inscribed Stones Project history |access-date=6 January 2008}}
• 1401 RESTEVTAE, or RESGEVT[A], Latin, female i.e. Resteuta or Resgeuta. Discovered in 1962 by D. B. Hague.
• 1402 POTIT[I], or [PO]TIT, Latin, male. Discovered in 1961 by K. S. Gardener and A. Langham.
• 1403 --]IGERNI [FIL]I TIGERNI, or—I]GERNI [FILI] [T]I[G]ERNI, Brittonic, male i.e. Tigernus son of Tigernus. Discovered in 1905.

Lundy was granted to the Knights Templar by Henry II in 1160. The Templars were a major international maritime force at this time, with interests in North Devon, and almost certainly an important port at Bideford or on the River Taw in Barnstaple. This was probably because of the increasing threat posed by the Norse sea raiders; however, it is unclear whether they ever took possession of the island. Ownership was disputed by the Marisco family who may have already been on the island during King Stephen's reign. The Mariscos were fined, and the island was cut off from necessary supplies.{{cite web |url= http://www.fairyjo.info/News/2006/07/26/ |title=Lundy Island Pirates — William de Marisco |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=FairyJo}} Evidence of the Templars' weak hold on the island came when King John, on his accession in 1199, confirmed the earlier grant.{{cite web |last=Robson |first=Pete |title=History |date=2012 |work=LundyPete.com |url= http://www.lundypete.com/history.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180820005651/http://www.lundypete.com/history.html |archive-date=20 August 2018}}

File:Mariscocastle.jpg

In 1235, William de Marisco was implicated in the murder of Henry Clement, a messenger of Henry III.{{Cite journal |last=Maitland |first=F. W. |date=April 1895 |title=The Murder of Henry Clement |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=10 |issue=38 |pages=294–297 |doi=10.1093/ehr/X.XXXVIII.294 |jstor=547790 |url= https://zenodo.org/record/1860451}} Three years later, an attempt was made to kill Henry III by a man who later confessed to being an agent of the Marisco family. William de Marisco fled to Lundy where he lived as a virtual king. He built a stronghold in the area now known as Bulls' Paradise with walls {{convert|9|ft|m|0|abbr=off}} thick.

In 1242, Henry III sent troops to the island. They scaled the island's cliff and captured William de Marisco and 16 of his "subjects". Henry III built the castle (sometimes referred to as the Marisco Castle) in an attempt to establish the rule of law on the island and its surrounding waters.{{NHLE |num=1104957 |desc=Marisco Castle, Keep and Bailey |access-date=5 September 2007}} In 1275, the island is recorded as being in the Lordship of King Edward ICalendarium Inquisitionum Post Mortem Edward I, Anno. 3 (1275), entry 54, p.56, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/27355-redirection but by 1322 it was in the possession of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and was among the large number of lands seized by Edward II following Lancaster's execution for rebelling against the King.Inquisitions Post Mortem Edward II, (1322), No. 49, p.307, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/27355-redirection At some point in the 13th century the monks of the Cistercian order at Cleeve Abbey held the rectory of the island.{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Stuart A. |title=Cleeve Abbey |publisher=English Heritage |date=2000 |isbn=978-1-85074-760-4 |page=26}}

Over the next few centuries, the island was hard to govern. Trouble followed as both English and foreign pirates and privateers – including other members of the Marisco family – took control of the island for short periods. Ships were forced to navigate close to Lundy because of the dangerous shingle banks in the fast flowing River Severn and Bristol Channel, with its tidal range of {{convert|27|ft|m|1|abbr=off}},

{{cite book |title=Sailing Directions for the West Coast of England from the Scilly Islands to the Mull of Galloway, including the Isle of Man |publisher=Admiralty Hydrographic Department |date=1891 |location=London |page=54}}{{cite web |title=Tides and Currents |publisher=Lundy Marine Protection Zone |url= http://www.lundymcz.org.uk/weather/tide-and-currents |access-date=17 December 2013}} one of the greatest in the world.{{cite web |url= http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/severnpositionmay2006_1508223.pd |work=UK Environment Agency |title=Severn Estuary Barrage |date=31 May 2006 |access-date=3 September 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155720/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/severnpositionmay2006_1508223.pd |archive-date=30 September 2007}}{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/07/04/bristolchannel_feature.shtml |title=Coast: Bristol Channel |work=BBC |access-date=27 August 2007}} This made the island a profitable location from which to prey on passing Bristol-bound merchant ships bringing back valuable goods from overseas.{{cite web |url= http://pages.prodigy.net/rodney.broome/pirlundy.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080108121448/http://pages.prodigy.net/rodney.broome/pirlundy.htm |archive-date=8 January 2008 |title=Pirate Island |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=Rodney Broome}}

In 1627, a group known as the Salé Rovers, from the Republic of Salé (now Salé in Morocco) occupied Lundy for five years. These Barbary pirates, under the command of a Dutch renegade named Jan Janszoon, flew a Moorish flag over the island. Slaving raids were made embarking from Lundy by the Barbary Pirates, and captured Europeans were held on Lundy before being sent to Salé and Algiers to be sold as slave to slavery on the Barbary coast.{{cite book |last=Milton |first=Giles |title=White Gold: The Forgotten Story of North Africa's One Million European Slaves |date=2005 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=978-0340895092}}{{Cite news |last=de Bruxelles |first=Simon |date=28 February 2007 |title=Pirates who got away with it by sailing closer to the wind |work=The Times |location=London |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article1449736.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070302095231/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article1449736.ece |archive-date=2 March 2007 |quote=The pirates ceased to be a problem after the French conquered their raiding base, Algiers, in 1830 — and the secret of their crucial advantage was lost. ... Barbary pirates raided villages along the Devon and Cornwall coast, setting up a base on Lundy Island .... Those taken were sold in Algiers slave markets or worked to death as galley slaves.}}{{Cite book |last=Konstam |first=Angus |title=Piracy: The Complete History |date=2008 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=USiyy1ZA-BsC&pg=PA91 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-84603-240-0 |page=91}}{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |title=Europe: A History |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-820171-7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC&pg=PA561 |page=561}}

From 1628 to 1634, in addition to the Barbary Pirates, the island was plagued by privateers of French, Basque, English and Spanish origin targeting the lucrative shipping routes passing through the Bristol Channel. These incursions were eventually ended by John Penington, but in the 1660s and as late as the 1700s the island still fell prey to French privateers.{{cite book |last=Chanter |first=John Roberts |title=Lundy Island: A Monograph, Descriptive and Historical |date=1877 |publisher=Cassell, Petter & Galpin |pages=78–89 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CfkGAAAAQAAJ}}

In the English Civil War, Thomas Bushell held Lundy for King Charles I, rebuilding Marisco Castle and garrisoning the island at his own expense. He was a friend of Francis Bacon, a strong supporter of the Royalist cause and an expert on mining and coining. It was the last Royalist territory held between the first and second civil wars. After receiving permission from Charles I, Bushell surrendered the island on 24 February 1647 to Richard Fiennes, representing General Fairfax.{{Cite book |last=Boundy |first=Wyndham Sydney |title=Bushell and Harman of Lundy |date=1961 |publisher=Gazette Printing Service |location=Bideford}} In 1656, the island was acquired by Lord Saye and Sele.{{cite web |url= http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/110578/1.html |title=Lundy Community Page |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=Devon County Libraries |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070908001850/http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/110578/1.html |archive-date=8 September 2007}}

File:Millcombehouse.jpg

File:Interior of St Helena's church, Lundy.jpg

File:St._Helen's_Church.jpg

File:Government_House_on_Lundy_Island.jpg

The late 18th and early 19th centuries were years of lawlessness on Lundy, particularly during the ownership of Thomas Benson (1708–1772), a Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1747 and Sheriff of Devon, who notoriously used the island for housing convicts whom he was supposed to be deporting. Benson leased Lundy from its owner, John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower (1694–1754) (who was an heir of the Grenville family of Bideford and of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall), at a rent of £60 per annum and contracted with the Government to transport a shipload of convicts to Virginia, but diverted the ship to Lundy to use the convicts as his personal slaves. Later Benson was involved in an insurance swindle. He purchased and insured the ship Nightingale and loaded it with a valuable cargo of pewter and linen. Having cleared the port on the mainland, the ship put into Lundy, where the cargo was removed and stored in a cave built by the convicts, before setting sail again. Some days afterwards, when a homeward-bound vessel was sighted, the Nightingale was set on fire and scuttled. The crew were taken off the stricken ship by the other ship, which landed them safely at Clovelly.{{cite web |url= http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/history/lundy.htm |title=Lundy, the Mariscos and Benson |work=Lerwill-Life.org.uk |access-date=6 September 2007}}

Sir Vere Hunt, 1st Baronet of Curragh, a rather eccentric Irish politician and landowner, and unsuccessful man of business, purchased the island from John Cleveland in 1802 for £5,270. Hunt planted in the island a small, self-contained Irish colony with its own constitution and divorce laws, coinage, and stamps. The tenants came from Hunt's Irish estate and they experienced agricultural difficulties while on the island. This led Hunt to seek someone who would take the island off his hands, failing in his attempt to sell the island to the British government as a base for troops.

After the 1st Baronet's death his son, Sir Aubrey (Hunt) de Vere, 2nd Baronet, also had great difficulty in securing any profit from the property. In the 1820s, John Benison agreed to purchase the island for £4,500 but then refused to complete the sale, as he felt that de Vere could not make out a good title in respect of the sale terms, namely that the island was free from tithes and taxes.{{cite web |url= http://www.limerickcity.ie/Tools/Search/?cx=011573740689929430170%3Abzoybyvdyy0&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=de+vere&sa=Go&siteurl=www.limerick.ie%252FCollectionLists%252FCollectionListsinPDF%252F |title= Limerick City Archives, P22, De Vere Papers |access-date= 25 June 2010 |archive-date= 22 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110722045600/http://www.limerickcity.ie/Tools/Search/?cx=011573740689929430170:bzoybyvdyy0&cof=FORID:9&ie=UTF-8&q=de+vere&sa=Go&siteurl=www.limerick.ie%2FCollectionLists%2FCollectionListsinPDF%2F |url-status= dead }}

William Hudson Heaven purchased Lundy in 1834, as a summer retreat and for hunting, at a cost of 9,400 guineas (£9,870). He claimed it to be a "free island", and successfully resisted the jurisdiction of the mainland magistrates. Lundy was in consequence sometimes referred to as "the kingdom of Heaven". It belonged in law to the county of Devon, and had long been part of the hundred of Braunton. Many of the buildings on the island, including St. Helen's Church, designed by the architect John Norton, and Millcombe House (originally known simply as "the Villa"), date from the Heaven period. The Georgian-style villa was built in 1836.{{NHLE |num=1326626 |desc=Millcombe House |access-date=5 September 2007}} However, the expense of building the road from the beach (no financial assistance being provided by Trinity House, despite their frequent use of the road following the construction of the lighthouses), maintaining the villa, and the general cost of running the island had a ruinous effect on the family's finances, which had been diminished by reduced profits from their sugar plantations, rum production, and livestock rearing in Jamaica.{{Cite web |last=Gambrill |first=Anthony |date=26 May 2019 |title=Kingdom of Heaven |url= https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/focus/20190526/anthony-gambrill-kingdom-heaven |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=The Gleaner}}

In 1957, a message in a bottle from one of the seamen of {{HMS|Caledonia|1808|6}} was washed ashore between Babbacombe and Peppercombe in Devon. The letter, dated 15 August 1843, read: "Dear Brother, Please e God i be with y against Michaelmas. Prepare y search Lundy for y Jenny ivories. Adiue William, Odessa". The bottle and letter are on display at the Portledge Hotel at Fairy Cross, in Devon, England. {{ship||Jenny|1783 ship|2}} was a three-masted full-rigged ship reputed to be carrying ivory and gold dust that was wrecked on Lundy on 20 January 1797 at a place thereafter called Jenny's Cove. Some ivory was apparently recovered some years later but the leather bags supposed to contain gold dust were never found.{{cite book |last=Page |first=John Lloyd Warden |title=The Coasts of Devon and Lundy Island: Their Towns, Villages, Scenery, Antiquities and Legends |location=London |publisher=Horace Cox |date=1895 |page=227}}{{cite book |last=Langham |first=A. F. |date=1994 |title=The Island of Lundy |location=Stroud |publisher=Sutton Publishing |page=142 |isbn=978-0-7509-0661-6}}

William Heaven was succeeded by his son the Reverend Hudson Grosset Heaven who, thanks to a legacy from Sarah Langworthy (née Heaven), was able to fulfill his life's ambition of building a stone church on the island. St Helen's was completed in 1896, and stands today as a lasting memorial to the Heaven period. It has been designated by English Heritage a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE |num=1104955 |desc=Church of St Helen |access-date=5 September 2007}} He is said to have been able to afford either a church or a new harbour. His choice of the church was not however in the best financial interests of the island. The unavailability of the money for re-establishing the family's financial soundness, coupled with disastrous investment and speculation in the early 20th century, caused severe financial hardship.{{cite news |last=Heaven |first=Will |title=Lundy: My family and the Kingdom of Heaven |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=5 November 2011 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/familyhistory/8866830/Lundy-My-family-and-the-Kingdom-of-Heaven.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=7 July 2016 |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/familyhistory/8866830/Lundy-My-family-and-the-Kingdom-of-Heaven.html |archive-date=12 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}

File:1puffin1929.JPG

Hudson Heaven died in 1916, and was succeeded by his nephew, Walter Charles Hudson Heaven.{{cite web |url= https://www.fotw.info/Flags/gb-en-lu.html |title=Lundy Island |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=Flags of the World |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050124161206/https://www.fotw.info/Flags/gb-en-lu.html |archive-date=24 January 2005}} With the outbreak of the First World War, matters deteriorated seriously, and in 1918 the family sold Lundy to Augustus Langham Christie. In 1924, the Christie family sold the island along with the mail contract and the MV Lerina to Martin Coles Harman. Harman issued two coins of Half Puffin and One Puffin denominations in 1929, nominally equivalent to the British halfpenny and penny, resulting in his prosecution under the United Kingdom's Coinage Act of 1870. His case was heard by Devon magistrates in April 1930, and he was fined £5 and ordered to pay £15 15 shillings (£15.75 in decimal currency) costs.{{cite news |title=Lundy Island Coinage |work=The Times |date=17 April 1930 |page=16}} He appealed to the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in 1931, but the appeal was dismissed.{{cite news |title=High Court of Justice |work=The Times |date=14 January 1931 |page=5}} The coins were withdrawn and became collectors' items. In 1965, a "fantasy" restrike four-coin set, a few in gold, was issued to commemorate 40 years since Harman purchased the island.{{Cite book |last=Bruce |first=Colin R. |title=Unusual World Coins |edition=2nd |date=1988 |publisher=KP Books |isbn=978-0-87341-116-5}} Harman's son, John Pennington Harman was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross during the Battle of Kohima, India in 1944. There is a memorial to him at the VC Quarry on Lundy.{{Cite web |title=MNA100302 {{!}} National Trust Heritage Records |url= https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA100302 |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk}} Martin Coles Harman died in 1954.{{Cite news |date=7 December 1954 |title='King of Lundy Island' Is Dead at 69 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1954/12/07/archives/king-of-lundy-island-is-dead-at-69-m-c-harman-bought-vestpocket.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220610180933/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/12/07/archives/king-of-lundy-island-is-dead-at-69-m-c-harman-bought-vestpocket.html |archive-date=10 June 2022 |access-date=1 February 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Residents did not pay taxes to the United Kingdom and had to pass through customs when they travelled to and from Lundy Island.{{cite book |last=Fogle |first=Ben |title=Offshore: In Search of an Island of My Own |date=2007 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9780141930435 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BNNwCPfPFrAC&q=Lundy+travel+customs+tax&pg=PT67}} Although the island was ruled as a virtual fiefdom, its owner never claimed to be independent of the United Kingdom, in contrast to later territorial "micronations".

Following the death of Harman's son Albion in 1968,"Island owner dies after air lift" (source unknown). 24 June 1968 Lundy was put up for sale in 1969. Jack Hayward, a British millionaire, purchased the island for £150,000 (£{{Inflation|UK|150000|1969|r=-3|fmt=c}} today) and gave it to the National Trust, who leased it to the Landmark Trust. The Landmark Trust has managed the island since then, deriving its income from arranging day trips, letting out holiday cottages and from donations. In May 2015 a sculpture by Antony Gormley was erected on Lundy. It is one of five life-sized sculptures, Land, placed near the centre and at four compass points of the UK in a commission by the Landmark Trust, to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The others are at Lowsonford (Warwickshire), Saddell Bay (Scotland), the Martello Tower (Aldeburgh, Suffolk), and Clavell Tower (Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset).{{cite web |url= http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news-and-events/50th-anniversary/land/ |title=Land – An art installation for all to mark Landmark's 50th year |work=Landmark Trust |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150702142330/http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news-and-events/50th-anniversary/land |archive-date=2 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32702277 |title=Sir Antony Gormley sculptures placed at five UK beauty spots |work=BBC |date=12 May 2015 |access-date=8 July 2015}}

The island is visited by over 20,000 day trippers a year, but during September 2007 had to be closed for several weeks owing to an outbreak of norovirus.{{Cite news |last=de Bruxelles |first=Simon |title=Island closes down after stomach bug |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2500379.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090516053533/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2500379.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= 16 May 2009 |work=Times Online |date=21 September 2007 |access-date=29 September 2007 |location=London}}

An inaugural Lundy Island half-marathon took place on 8 July 2018 with 267 competitors.{{Cite web |url= http://www.puretrail.uk/lundy/ |title=The Lundy Island Race – Sunday 8th July 2018 |publisher=Pure Trail Running |access-date=12 July 2018}}

Near the end of a voyage from Africa to Bristol, the British merchant ship {{ship||Jenny|1783 ship|2}} was wrecked on the coast of Lundy on 20 January 1797.{{Cite journal |title=The Marine List |journal=Lloyd's List |issue=2893 |orig-date=27 January 1797 |date=1969 |location=Westmead, Hampshire |publisher=Gregg International Publishers |pages=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105233100&seq=23&q1=%22The+Jenny%22&start=1 1] |via=HathiTrust}} Only the first mate survived.{{cite news |title=Report of the wrecking of the Jenny |url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bath-journal/131775288/ |access-date=14 September 2023 |work=The Bath Journal |date=30 January 1797}} The site of the tragedy ({{coord|51|10.87|N|4|40.48|W}}) has since been known as Jenny's Cove.{{cite news |title=Jenny's Cove |url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-north-devon-herald/131775385/ |access-date=14 September 2023 |work=The North Devon Herald |date=17 June 1897}}

File:HMS Montagu (1901) Aground Lundy Island 1906.jpg aground on Lundy in 1906]]

Steaming in heavy fog, the Royal Navy battleship {{HMS|Montagu|1901|6}} ran hard aground near Shutter Rock on Lundy's southwest corner at about 2:00 a.m. on 30 May 1906.{{Cite book |last=Burt |first=R. A. |title=British Battleships 1889–1904 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |date=1988 |pages=205–206 |isbn=978-0-87021-061-7}} Thinking they were aground at Hartland Point on the English mainland, a landing party went ashore for help, only finding out where they were after encountering the lighthouse keeper at the island's north light.{{Cite web |last=Coutanche |first=André |title=History 1836–1925 – the Heaven era |url= https://www.lundy.org.uk/about-lundy/history/1836-1925 |access-date=31 January 2024 |website=The Lundy Field Society}}

File:HMS Montagu (1901) Heavy Fittings Removed 1906.jpgStrenuous efforts by the Royal Navy to salvage the badly damaged battleship during the summer of 1906 failed, and in 1907 it was decided to give up and sell her for scrap.{{Cite journal |last=Shepstone |first=Harold J. |date=21 September 1907 |title=Breaking Up the Ill-fated British Battleship Montagu |url= https://zenodo.org/records/2138490 |journal=Scientific American |page=211 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican09211907-211 |via=Zenodo |volume=97 |issue=12}} Montagu was scrapped at the scene over the next fifteen years. Diving clubs still visit the site, where armour plating remains among the rocks and kelp.{{Cite book |last=Booth |first=Tony |url= http://archive.org/details/admiraltysalvage0000boot |title=Admiralty Salvage: In Peace & War 1906–2006 |date=2007 |publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime |isbn=978-1-84415-565-1 |location=Barnsley, S. Yorkshire |page=14}}

File:Remains of a German Heinkel 111H bomber.JPG

During the Second World War two German Heinkel He 111 bombers crash landed on the island in 1941. The first was on 3 March, when all the crew survived and were taken prisoner.{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Howard |date=21 March 2021 |title=German bombers crash-landing on Lundy Island provoked angry mob |url= https://www.devonlive.com/news/history/month-two-german-bombers-incredibly-5202121 |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=Devon Live}}

The second was on 1 April when the pilot was killed and the other crew members were taken prisoner.{{cite book |last1=Gade |first1=Mary |last2=Michael |first2=Harman |title=Lundy's War |date=1995 |publisher=Mary Gade |location=Appledore |isbn=978-0-9525602-0-3}} This plane had bombed a British ship and one engine was damaged by anti aircraft fire, forcing it to crash land. Most of the metal was salvaged, although a few remains can be found at the crash site to date. Reportedly, to avoid reprisals, the crew concocted the story that they were on a reconnaissance mission.{{cite web |title=Heinkel He-111 3911 - Lundy |url= http://members.multimania.co.uk/daveswrecks/photoalbum16.html |publisher=AIRCRAFT WRECKS in the UK & Ireland |access-date=3 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100620055821/http://members.multimania.co.uk/daveswrecks/photoalbum16.html |archive-date=20 June 2010}}

File:Jointed Granite on Lundy in England.jpgs]]

The island of Lundy is {{convert|5|km|mi|0|order=flip}} long from north to south by a little over {{convert|1|km|mi|frac=8|abbr=off|order=flip}} wide, with an area of {{convert|1100|acre|ha|abbr=off}}. The highest point on Lundy is Beacon Hill, {{convert|469|ft|m|0|abbr=off}} above sea level.{{cite web |url= http://www.channel4.com/learning/main/netnotes/sectionid100663472.htm |title=Geography Place and People: On the Map |author= |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=26 February 2015}} A few yards off the northeastern coast is Seal's Rock which is so called after the seals which rest on and inhabit the islet.[http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/LundyIsland/LundyMurray1879.html "LUNDY ISLAND"] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110509132414/http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/LundyIsland/LundyMurray1879.html |date=9 May 2011}} in A Handbook for Travellers in Devonshire (9th ed.), London, J. Murray, (1879).{{cite web |url= http://www.lundy.org.uk/dive/ |title=Diving |publisher=Lundy Field Society |access-date=28 May 2014}} It is less than {{convert|55|yd|m|abbr=off}} wide. Near the jetty is a small pocket beach. One of the Meteorological Office's 31 sea areas announced on the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast is named Lundy.{{Cite web |title=Shipping forecast key |url= https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/guides/coast-and-sea/shipping-forecast |access-date=25 January 2024 |website=Met Office}}{{Cite news |date=23 August 2017 |title=150 years of the Shipping Forecast |url= https://www.bbc.com/weather/weather-watcher/41025017 |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=BBC Weather}}

The island is primarily composed of granite of 59.8 ± 0.4 – 58.4 ± 0.4 million years{{cite journal |last1=Charles |first1=J. H. |last2=Whitehouse |first2=M. J. |last3=Andersen |first3=J. C. Ø. |last4=Shail |first4=R. K. |last5=Searle |first5=M. P. |title=Age and petrogenesis of the Lundy granite: Paleocene intraplate peraluminous magmatism in the Bristol Channel, UK |date=4 October 2017 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |volume=175 |issue=1 |pages=44–59 |url= https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/10871/29676/1/Charles%20et%20al%20%28JGSL%29%20Lundy.pdf |bibcode=2018JGSoc.175...44C |doi=10.1144/jgs2017-023 |hdl=10871/29676 |s2cid=56117113 |hdl-access=free}} (from the Palaeocene epoch), with slate at the southern end; the plateau soil is mainly loam, with some peat.{{cite web |url= http://www.english-nature.org.uk/virtualtours/Lundy/Lundy_geology.htm |title=Lundy island, virtual tour — geology |access-date=5 September 2007 |work=Natural England}} Among the igneous dykes cutting the granite are a small number composed of a unique orthophyre. This was given the name Lundyite in 1914, although the term – never precisely defined – has since fallen into disuse.{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=T. C. F. |date=1915 |chapter=Summer Programme of the Geological Survey |title=Monographs of the United States Geological Survey |volume=53 |issue=56}}{{full citation needed|date=July 2024|reason=Either this is missing the journal name, or it has the journal name wrongly in "title=" and is missing the article title, or this is not a journal article but something else that should be in another template.}}

It is possible, based on emplacement of magmas of the basalt, trachyte and rhyolite types at a high levels in Earth's crust, that a volcano system existed above Lundy.{{cite web |title=The Geology of Lundy |url= https://lfs-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/is/LFS_Island_Studies_Smith_Roberts-Geology.pdf |access-date=11 June 2021}}

Lundy lies on the line where the North Atlantic Ocean and the Bristol Channel meet, so it has quite a mild climate. The island has cool, wet winters and mild, wet summers. It is often windy and fog is frequently experienced.{{Cite web |title=Climate in Lundy Island, Temperature of Lundy Island, Weather in Lundy Island |website=TravelTill.com |url= https://www.traveltill.com/destination/United-Kingdom/Lundy-Island/climate.php |access-date=5 October 2020}} The record high temperature is {{cvt|28.8|C|F}} on 2 August 1990,{{Cite web |title=Climate Lundy ISL (LGT-H) (August 1990) - Climate data (37020) |website=TuTiempo.net |publisher=Tutiempo Network |url= https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/08-1990/ws-37020.html |access-date=5 October 2020}} and the record low temperature is {{cvt|-4.5|C|F}} recorded just six months later on 7 February 1991.{{Cite web |title=Climate Lundy ISL (LGT-H) (February 1991) – Climate data (37020) |website=TuTiempo.net |publisher=TuTiempo Network |url= https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/02-1991/ws-37020.html |access-date=5 October 2020}} Lundy is in the USDA 9a plant hardiness zone.{{Cite web |title=Plant Cold Hardiness Zone Map of the British Isles |website=TreBrown.com |url= http://www.trebrown.com/hrdzone.html |access-date=5 October 2020}}

{{Weather box

|location = Lundy (1973–1994)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C= 12.0

|Feb record high C= 12.9

|Mar record high C= 15.4

|Apr record high C= 18.0

|May record high C= 21.7

|Jun record high C= 25.0

|Jul record high C= 27.0

|Aug record high C= 28.8

|Sep record high C= 21.0

|Oct record high C= 19.4

|Nov record high C= 18.0

|Dec record high C= 14.6

|year record high C=

| Jan avg record high C = 10.2

| Feb avg record high C = 10.2

| Mar avg record high C = 11.3

| Apr avg record high C = 14.3

| May avg record high C = 17.4

| Jun avg record high C = 20.2

| Jul avg record high C = 21.2

| Aug avg record high C = 21.5

| Sep avg record high C = 19.1

| Oct avg record high C = 16.6

| Nov avg record high C = 14.5

| Dec avg record high C = 11.6

| year avg record high C = 23.0

|Jan high C = 8.3

|Feb high C = 7.4

|Mar high C = 8.6

|Apr high C = 10.1

|May high C = 12.8

|Jun high C = 15.3

|Jul high C = 17.3

|Aug high C = 17.5

|Sep high C = 15.9

|Oct high C = 13.5

|Nov high C = 11.1

|Dec high C = 9.1

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 7.2

|Feb mean C = 6.3

|Mar mean C = 7.4

|Apr mean C = 8.6

|May mean C = 11.0

|Jun mean C = 13.0

|Jul mean C = 15.7

|Aug mean C = 16.0

|Sep mean C = 14.6

|Oct mean C = 12.4

|Nov mean C = 9.6

|Dec mean C = 8.1

|year mean C =

|Jan low C = 6.0

|Feb low C = 5.2

|Mar low C = 6.3

|Apr low C = 7.1

|May low C = 9.1

|Jun low C = 12.7

|Jul low C = 14.3

|Aug low C = 14.7

|Sep low C = 13.4

|Oct low C = 11.3

|Nov low C = 8.9

|Dec low C = 7.0

|year low C =

| Jan avg record low C = 1.7

| Feb avg record low C = 1.1

| Mar avg record low C = 2.5

| Apr avg record low C = 3.5

| May avg record low C = 6.8

| Jun avg record low C = 9.6

| Jul avg record low C = 12.0

| Aug avg record low C = 12.3

| Sep avg record low C = 10.6

| Oct avg record low C = 8.3

| Nov avg record low C = 5.2

| Dec avg record low C = 3.2

| year avg record low C = -0.4

|Jan record low C= -4.2

|Feb record low C= -4.5

|Mar record low C= -0.8

|Apr record low C= -0.9

|May record low C= 3.0

|Jun record low C= 8.0

|Jul record low C= 10.4

|Aug record low C= 8.0

|Sep record low C= 8.0

|Oct record low C= 6.8

|Nov record low C= 2.2

|Dec record low C= 1.0

|year record low C=

|Jan rain days = 19.2

|Feb rain days = 14.5

|Mar rain days = 17.4

|Apr rain days = 13.0

|May rain days = 13.0

|Jun rain days = 12.7

|Jul rain days = 13.2

|Aug rain days = 13.1

|Sep rain days = 16.5

|Oct rain days = 18.5

|Nov rain days = 18.8

|Dec rain days = 19.5

|year rain days=

|Jan humidity= 84.4

|Feb humidity= 85.6

|Mar humidity= 86.1

|Apr humidity= 85.6

|May humidity= 83.4

|Jun humidity= 84.9

|Jul humidity= 84.9

|Aug humidity= 80.2

|Sep humidity= 82.5

|Oct humidity= 81.7

|Nov humidity= 82.0

|Dec humidity= 80.3

|year humidity=

|Jan snow days = 0.8

|Feb snow days = 1.3

|Mar snow days = 0.5

|Apr snow days = 0.2

|May snow days = 0.0

|Jun snow days = 0.0

|Jul snow days = 0.0

|Aug snow days = 0.0

|Sep snow days = 0.0

|Oct snow days = 0.0

|Nov snow days = 0.0

|Dec snow days = 0.1

|year snow days=

|source 1 = En.tutiempo{{cite web |url= https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/ws-37020.html |title=Lundy Climate Period: 1973-1994 |publisher=En.tutiempo |access-date=27 October 2017}}

|date=October 2017}}

File:Lundy Cabbage.JPG)]]

The vegetation on the plateau is mainly dry heath, with an area of waved Calluna heath; the northern end of the island is largely bare rock.{{cite web |last=Hubbard |first=Elizabeth |title=Botanical studies |publisher=Lundy Field Society |url= https://lfs-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/is/LFS_Island_Studies_Hubbard-Botany.pdf |date=1997 |access-date=9 February 2024}} This area is also rich in lichens, such as Teloschistes flavicans and several species of Cladonia and Parmelia.{{cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=Anne |title=Lichen Specialities of Lundy: An Overview |date=2008 |journal=Journal of the Lundy Field Society |url= https://lfs-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/j1/LFS_Journal_Vol_1_Part_4.pdf |access-date=9 February 2024}}

Other areas are either a dry heath/acidic grassland mosaic, characterised by heaths and western gorse (Ulex gallii), or semi-improved acidic grassland in which Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus) is abundant. Tussocky (Thrift) (Holcus/Armeria) communities occur mainly on the western side, and some patches of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) on the eastern side.

There is one endemic plant species, the Lundy cabbage (Coincya wrightii), a species of primitive brassica.{{cite web |url= http://www.lundy.org.uk/island/cabbage.html |title=The Lundy Cabbage |publisher=Lundy Field Society |access-date=28 May 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140529051524/http://www.lundy.org.uk/island/cabbage.html |archive-date=29 May 2014 |url-status=dead}}

By the 1980s, the eastern side of the island had become overgrown by rhododendrons (Rhododendron ponticum) which had spread from a few specimens planted in the garden of Millcombe House in Victorian times, but in recent years significant efforts have been made to eradicate this non-native plant.{{Cite journal |last1=Crompton |first1=Stephen G. |last2=Key |first2=Roger S. |last3=Pratt |first3=Steve |date=2016 |title=Progress Towards Eradication of Rhododendrum ponticum on Lundy |url= https://lfs-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/j5/LFS_Journal_Vol_5_Part_3.pdf |journal=Journal of the Lundy Field Society |volume=5 |access-date=25 January 2024}}

Two invertebrate taxa are endemic to Lundy, with both feeding on the endemic Lundy cabbage (Coincya wrightii). These are the Lundy cabbage flea beetle (Psylliodes luridipennis), a species of leaf beetle (family Chrysomelidae) and the Lundy cabbage weevil (Ceutorhynchus contractus var. pallipes), a variety of true weevil (family Curculionidae).{{cite web |url= http://www.english-nature.org.uk/virtualtours/Lundy/Lundy_wildlife.htm |title=Lundy island, virtual tour — wildlife |access-date=5 September 2007 |work=Natural England |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081120062103/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/virtualtours/Lundy/Lundy_wildlife.htm |archive-date=20 November 2008}} In addition, the Lundy cabbage is the main host of a flightless form of Psylliodes napi (another species of flea beetle) and a wide variety of other invertebrate species which are not endemic to the island.{{Cite journal |last1=Compton |first1=S. G. |last2=Key |first2=R. S. |title=Coincya wrightii (O. E. Schulz) Stace (Rhynchosinapis wrightii (O. E. Schulz) Dandy ex A. R. Clapham) |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=88 |issue=3 |pages=535–547 |date=2000 |bibcode=2000JEcol..88..535C |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00477.x |doi-access=free}} Another resident invertebrate of note is Atypus affinis, the only British species of purseweb spider.{{cite web |title=Lundy: A Wildlife Haven |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2005/11/11/lundy_island_feature.shtml |date=15 August 2010 |access-date=19 August 2014 |publisher=BBC}}

The population of puffins (Fratercula arctica) on the island declined in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as a consequence of depredations by brown and black rats (Rattus rattus) and possibly also as a result of commercial fishing for sand eels, the puffins' principal prey. Since the elimination of rats in 2006, seabird numbers have increased. By 2023 the number of puffins had risen to 1,355 and the number of Manx shearwater to 25,000, representing 95% of England's breeding population of this seabird. The island has since 2014 become colonised by European storm petrel.{{Cite web |title='Shear' success for Lundy's seabirds thanks to decades of conservation effort |date=12 October 2023 |website=Inside Ecology |url= https://insideecology.com/2023/10/12/shear-success-for-lundys-seabirds-thanks-to-decades-of-conservation-effort/ |access-date=25 January 2024}}

File:Atlantic Puffin Lundy.jpg on Lundy, June 2008]]

As an isolated island on major migration routes, Lundy has a rich bird life and is a popular site for birdwatching. Large numbers of black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) nest on the cliffs, as do razorbill (Alca torda), common guillemot (Uria aalge), European herring gull (Larus argentatus), lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis), meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis), common blackbird (Turdus merula), European robin (Erithacus rubecula), and linnet (Carduelis cannabina). There are also smaller populations of peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and raven (Corvus corax).{{Cite web |last=Lymbery |first=Philip |date=21 March 2017 |title=Plight of the falcon: Why the birds are under threat |url= https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/peregrine-falcon-lundy-island-philip-lymbery-54030 |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=inews.co.uk}}{{Cite web |title=Birds |url= https://www.lundy.org.uk/about-lundy/wildlife-on-the-island/birds |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=Lundy.org.uk |publisher=Lundy Field Society}}

Lundy has attracted many vagrant birds, in particular species from North America. As of 2007, the island's bird list totals 317 species.{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Tim |last2=Jones |first2=Tim |date=2007 |title=The Birds of Lundy |others=Langman, Mike (ill.) |location=Berrynarbor |publisher=Devon Bird Watching & Preservation Society / Lundy Field Society |isbn=978-0-9540088-7-1}} This has included the following species, each of which represents the sole British record: Ancient murrelet, eastern phoebe, and eastern towhee. Records of bimaculated lark, American robin, and common yellowthroat were also firsts for Britain (American robin has also occurred two further times on Lundy). Veerys in 1987 and 1997 were Britain's second and fourth records, a Rüppell's warbler in 1979 was Britain's second, an eastern Bonelli's warbler in 2004 was Britain's fourth, and a black-faced bunting in 2001 Britain's third.

Other British Birds rarities that have been sighted (single records unless otherwise indicated) are: little bittern; gyrfalcon (3 records); little and Baillon's crakes; collared pratincole; semipalmated (5 records), least (2 records), white-rumped, and Baird's (2 records) sandpipers; Wilson's phalarope; laughing gull; bridled tern; Pallas's sandgrouse; great spotted, black-billed, and yellow-billed (3 records) cuckoos; European roller; olive-backed pipit; citrine wagtail; Alpine accentor; thrush nightingale; red-flanked bluetail; western black-eared (2 records) and desert wheatears; White's, Swainson's (3 records), and grey-cheeked (2 records) thrushes; Sardinian (2 records), Arctic (3 records), Radde's, and western Bonelli's warblers; Isabelline and lesser grey shrikes; red-eyed vireo (7 records); two-barred crossbill; yellow-rumped and blackpoll warblers; yellow-breasted (2 records) and black-headed buntings (3 records); rose-breasted grosbeak (2 records); bobolink; and Baltimore oriole (2 records).

File:Sikadeerlundy.jpg]]

Lundy is home to an unusual range of introduced mammals, including a distinct breed of wild pony, the Lundy pony, as well as Soay sheep (Ovis aries), sika deer (Cervus nippon), feral goats (Capra aegagrus hircus), and European rabbit, some of which are melanistic.{{cite journal |last1=Timmermans |first1=Martijn |last2=Elmi |first2=Hanna |last3=Kett |first3=Stephen |title=Black rabbits on Lundy: Tudor treaures or post-war phonies? |date=2018 |journal=Journal of the Lundy Field Society |url= https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/download/fec81ca0e7ad1530523bc12b035f00ed1a2c474f093087a6b8ca99f75ec9e603/4959725/LFSJournal2018-Rabbits.pdf |issue=6 |access-date=9 February 2024}}

Other mammals which have made the island their home include the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and the Eurasian pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus). Until their elimination in 2006, in order to protect the nesting seabirds, Lundy was one of the few places in the UK where the black rat (Rattus rattus) could be found regularly.{{cite web |url= http://www.hows.org.uk/inter/birds/exotics/gbm.htm |title=British Isles Exotic and Introduced Mammals |publisher=World of European Exotic and Introduced Species |access-date=15 September 2012}}

In 1971, a proposal was made by the Lundy Field Society to establish a marine reserve, and the survey was led by Dr Keith Hiscock, supported by a team of students from Bangor University. Provision for the establishment of statutory Marine Nature Reserves was included in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and on 21 November 1986 the Secretary of State for the Environment announced the designation of a statutory reserve at Lundy.{{cite web |url= http://www.lundy.org.uk/island/mnr.html |title=Lundy Island Marine Nature Reserve |access-date=28 May 2014 |publisher=Lundy Field Society |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052009/http://www.lundy.org.uk/island/mnr.html |archive-date=29 May 2014 |url-status=dead}}

There is an outstanding variety of marine habitats and wildlife, and a large number of rare and unusual species in the waters around Lundy, including some species of seaweed, branching sponges, sea fans, and cup corals.

In 2003, the first statutory No Take Zone (NTZ) for marine nature conservation in the UK was set up in the waters to the east of Lundy island.{{cite web |url= http://www.english-nature.org.uk/news/story.asp?ID=444 |title=Protection for Lundy Island's sea life boosted: The First No Take Zone in UK confirmed by Government |work=Press Release |publisher=Natural England |access-date=16 July 2008}} In 2008, this was declared as having been successful in several ways including the increasing size and number of lobsters within the reserve, and potential benefits for other marine wildlife.{{cite web |url= http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/0/4E6632DE31F71CBF802573D90053BC51 |title=Natural England says it's time to sink or swim to save our seas |type=press release |publisher=Natural England |via=Wired-Gov.net |access-date=28 May 2014}} However, the no take zone has received a mixed reaction from local fishermen.{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7508216.stm |title=Fishing ban brings seas to life |work=BBC News |access-date=16 July 2008 |date=16 July 2008}}

On 12 January 2010 the island became Britain's first Marine Conservation Zone designated under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, designed to help to preserve important habitats and species.{{cite web |url= http://www.lundymcz.org.uk/ |title=Lundy Marine Conservation Zone |publisher=Lundy Marine Conservation Zone |access-date=18 December 2011 |archive-date=29 December 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111229193004/http://www.lundymcz.org.uk/ |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8453202.stm |title=Lundy sea is England's first Maritime Conservation Zone |date=12 January 2010 |publisher=BBC |access-date=12 January 2010}}{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jan/12/lundy-island-marine-conservation-zone |title=Lundy Island becomes England's first marine conservation zone |date=12 January 2010 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=12 January 2010 |location=London}}

File:Phocoena phocoena.2.jpg is probably the most common cetacean in the waters around Lundy.]]

Three species of cetacean are regularly seen from the island; them being the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatrus), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), and harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). Other cetacean species that are sighted from Lundy, albeit more rarely, are the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), and long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas). Basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus), ocean sunfish (Mola mola), and leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are also seen around Lundy, especially off the more sheltered eastern coast and only during the warmer months. Furthermore, there is a grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) colony consisting of roughly 60 animals that live around the island.{{Cite web |url= https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/lundyisland/discovering-lundy/wildlife/below-the-waves/marine-life/ |title=Marine life |website=LandmarkTrust.org.uk}}{{Cite web |url= http://www.lundy.org.uk/about-lundy/wildlife-in-the-sea/mammals |title=Mammals |website=Lundy.org.uk |publisher=Lundy Field Society |access-date=7 August 2023}}

File:Lundy.ferry.arp.750pix.jpg Oldenburg sails into Ilfracombe Harbour, North Devon, past inflatable ThunderCat powerboats waiting to begin an offshore race.]]

There are two ways to get to Lundy, depending on the time of year. In the summer months (April to October) visitors are carried on the Landmark Trust's own vessel, MS Oldenburg, which sails from both Bideford and Ilfracombe. Sailings are usually three days a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with additional sailings on Wednesdays during July and August. The voyage takes on average two hours, depending on ports, tides and weather. The Oldenburg was first registered in Bremen, Germany, in 1958 and has been sailing to Lundy since being bought by the Lundy Company Ltd in 1985.{{cite web |title=MS Oldenburg |work=CaptainsVoyage |url= http://captainsvoyage.7.forumer.com/a/ms-oldenburg_post2232.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090615043933/http://captainsvoyage.7.forumer.com/a/ms-oldenburg_post2232.html |archive-date=15 June 2009}}

In the winter months (November to March) the island is served by a scheduled helicopter service from Hartland Point. The helicopter operates on Mondays and Fridays.{{Cite web |title=Visiting Lundy |website=LundyBirdObs.org.uk |publisher=Lundy Bird Observatory |url= https://lundybirdobs.org.uk/index.php/visiting-lundy |access-date=1 February 2024}}

A grass runway of {{convert|435|by|30|yd|m|0|abbr=on}} is available, allowing access to small STOL aircraft.UK VFR flight guide, 2003 edition, {{ISBN|1-874783-62-4}}

In 2007, Derek Green, Lundy's general manager, launched an appeal to raise £250,000 to save the {{convert|1|mi|km|adj=mid|-long|round=0.5|abbr=off}} Beach Road, which had been damaged by heavy rain and high seas. The road was built in the first half of the 19th century to provide people and goods with safe access to the top of the island, {{convert|120|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above the only jetty.{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Steven |title=£250,000 plea to save remote island's lifeline |work=The Guardian |date=5 September 2007 |location=London |url= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/sep/05/3 |access-date=5 September 2007}} The fund-raising was completed on 10 March 2009.{{cite web |url= http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news/index.htm#Lundyappealcomplete |title=Lundy road appeal completed |publisher=Landmark Trust |access-date=17 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080706095430/http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news/index.htm#Lundyappealcomplete |archive-date=6 July 2008}}

{{Main|Lighthouses on Lundy}}

The island has a pair of active lights built in 1897 and an older lighthouse no longer in service.{{Cite web |title=Lundy North Lighthouse, Lundy, Devon |url= https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/education/educational-images/lundy-north-lighthouse-lundy-7008 |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=historicengland.org.uk}}{{Historic England|num=1016039|desc=The Old Lighthouse, Lundy|access-date=1 February 2024}}

There is a small power station comprising three Cummins B and C series diesel engines, offering an approximately 150 kVA 3-phase supply to most of the island buildings. Waste heat from the engine jackets is used for a district heating pipe. There are also plans to collect the waste heat from the engine exhaust heat gases to feed into the district heat network to improve the efficiency further.{{cite web |last=Green |first=Derek |title=Lundy General Managers Report for 2005 |work=Lundy.org.uk |url= http://lundy.org.uk/download/ar55/LFS_Annual_Report_Vol_55_Part_11.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160806210753/http://lundy.org.uk/download/ar55/LFS_Annual_Report_Vol_55_Part_11.pdf |archive-date=6 August 2016 |page=14}} The power is normally switched off between 00:00 and 06:30.{{cite web |title=Lundy Island Before You Depart Guide 2016 |publisher=Landmark Trust |url= http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/Documents/lundy/Before%20you%20depart%20guide%20-%20sailing%202016.pdf |access-date=16 February 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160224155740/http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/Documents/lundy/Before%20you%20depart%20guide%20-%20sailing%202016.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2016}}

The island is an unparished area of Torridge district in the county of Devon.{{cite web |url= http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/core_strategy_evidence_base-2.pdf |title=North Devon District Council & Torridge District Council Core Strategy DPDs: Evidence Base |work=Community Appraisals and Parish Plans in Torridge |publisher=North Devon Council |pages=15–16 |access-date=27 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110927153833/http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/core_strategy_evidence_base-2.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2011}} It forms part of the ward of Clovelly Bay.{{cite web |url= http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/uksi_19992472_en.pdf |title=The District of Torridge (Electoral Changes) Order 1999 |access-date=5 September 2007 |work=UK Statutory Instruments}}[http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb Ordnance Survey] Election Maps It is part of the constituency electing the Member of Parliament for Torridge and Tavistock and was from 1999 to 2020 part of the South West England constituency for the European Parliament.

In 2013, the island became a separate Church of England ecclesiastical parish.{{cite web |url= https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2013/20-december/news/uk/lundy-island-becomes-parish |title=Lundy island becomes parish |last=Saxbee |first=Helen |date=20 December 2013 |website=Church Times |access-date=14 September 2018}}

Owing to a decline in population and lack of interest in the mail contract, the GPO ended its presence on Lundy at the end of 1927.{{cite web |url= http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/lundy-puffin-postage-stamps.php |title=Lundy Puffin Postage Stamps |access-date=20 September 2014 |work=Stamp Collecting Blog |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140824191539/http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/lundy-puffin-postage-stamps.php |archive-date=24 August 2014}} With images of "puffin" stamps. For the next two years Harman handled the mail to and from the island without charge.

On 1 November 1929, he decided to offset the expense by issuing two postage stamps ({{frac|2}} puffin in pink and 1 puffin in blue). One puffin is equivalent to one English penny. The printing of Puffin stamps continues to this day and they are available at face value from the Lundy Post Office. One used to have to stick Lundy stamps on the back of the envelope; but from 1962 Royal Mail allowed their use on the front of the envelope, but placed on the left side, with the right side reserved for the Royal Mail postage stamp or stamps. Lundy stamps are cancelled by a circular Lundy hand stamp. In 1974, the face value of the Lundy Island stamps was increased to include Royal Mail charges in addition to the charge for transporting mail to the mainland and so from that year it has not been necessary to affix a separate Royal Mail postage stamp.{{Cite web |title=Lundy Postal Service |url= https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/lundyisland/discovering-lundy/lundy-post/ |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=LandmarkTrust.org.uk}}

Lundy stamps are a type of postage stamp known to philatelists as "local carriage labels" or "local stamps". Issues of increasing value were made over the years, including air mail, featuring a variety of subjects. The market value of the early issues has risen substantially over the years. For the many thousands of annual visitors Lundy stamps have become part of the collection of the many British Local Posts collectors. The first catalogues of these stamps included Gerald Rosen's 1970 Catalogue of British Local Stamps. Later specialist catalogues include Stamps of Lundy Island by Stanley Newman, first published in 1984, Phillips Modern British Locals CD Catalogue, published since 2003, and Labbe's Specialised Guide to Lundy Island Stamps, published since 2005 and now in its 11th Edition. Labbe's Guide is considered the gold standard of Lundy catalogues owing to its extensive approach to varieties, errors, specialised items, and "fantasy" issues.{{cite web |url= http://www.localcollectorspost.org/id21.html |title=The Lundy Changeling? |publisher=Lost Post Collectors Society |access-date=7 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160522060125/http://www.localcollectorspost.org/id21.html |archive-date=22 May 2016}}

There is a comprehensive collection of these stamps in the Chinchen Collection, donated by Barry Chinchen{{Cite book |last=Chinchen |first=Barry N. D. |date=1969 |title=A Catalogue of Lundy Stamps |publisher=self-published |location=Eastleigh, Hampshire |oclc=558737398 |id={{BLCAT|X.512/621}}}} to the British Library Philatelic Collections in 1977 and now held by the British Library. This is also the home of the Landmark Trust Lundy Island Philatelic Archive which includes artwork, texts and essays as well as postmarking devices and issued stamps.[http://sherpa.bl.uk/42/01/philatelicresearchbl.pdf Philatelic Research at the British Library] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110722070224/http://sherpa.bl.uk/42/01/philatelicresearchbl.pdf |date=22 July 2011}} by David Beech

• Barbara Whitaker, former warden
• Coins of Lundy
• Puffin Island

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Powicke |first=F. M. |author-link=F. M. Powicke |date=1951 |chapter=The murder of Henry Clement and the pirates of Lundy Island |title=Ways of Medieval Life and Thought: Essays and Addresses |publisher=Biblo & Tannen |isbn=9780819601377 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1dvep-L_iTUC&pg=PA38 38]−[https://books.google.com/books?id=1dvep-L_iTUC&pg=PA68 38–68]}}
• {{cite book |last=Sack |first=John |author-link=John Sack |date=2000 |title=Report from Practically Nowhere |isbn=978-0-595-08918-5 |title-link=Report from Practically Nowhere |publisher=iUniverse}}

{{Commons category|Lundy}}

{{Wikivoyage|Lundy}}

• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Lundy |volume=17 |short=x}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20171226203934/http://www.protectplanetocean.org/collections/successandlessons/casestudy/lundy/caseStudy.html Lundy Marine Reserve at Protect Planet Ocean]
• {{British pathe|v=a-uZUnERN5U |d=Lundy Isle|year=1956}}

{{Coord|51|10|48|N|04|40|12|W|region:GB_type:isle|display=title}}

{{Pirates}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Islands of the Bristol Channel

Category:Islands of Devon

Category:National nature reserves in England

Category:National Trust properties in Devon

Category:Nature reserves in Devon

Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Devon

Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1987

Category:Special Areas of Conservation in England

Category:Tourist attractions in Devon

Category:Ports and harbours of the Bristol Channel

Category:Barbary piracy

Category:Invasions of England

Category:Marine reserves of the United Kingdom

Category:Philately of the United Kingdom

Category:Natural regions of England

Category:Shipwrecks of England

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England

Category:Island restoration

Category:Car-free islands of Europe

Category:Former civil parishes in Devon

Category:Unparished areas in Devon

Category:Torridge District

Category:Pirate dens and locations

Category:Barbary slave raids