Auskerry

Auskerry
Auskerry lighthouse
Waters	North Sea
Archipelago	Orkney Islands
Geographical location	59 ° 1 '59 "  N , 2 ° 34' 8"  W Coordinates: 59 ° 1 '59 "  N , 2 ° 34' 8"  W.
surface	85 ha
Highest elevation	18  m
Residents	4th (2011) 4.7 inhabitants / km²

Auskerry is part of the Orkney Islands in Scotland and is located in the east of the archipelago about five kilometers south of Stronsay . The island has an area of ​​85 ha with an extension of 1000 × 800 meters and is treeless and flat.

A 34-meter-high lighthouse with an outbuilding for the former lighthouse keepers stands on it, which was built between 1865 and 1867 . Since the tower was mechanized in the 1960s, the island was initially uninhabited. According to official information, a family of four lives on the island again, who make a living from sheep farming.

A burnt mound (monkshouses) and a medieval ruin with an enclosure bear witness to the early settlement of the island . An approximately 2.6 m high menhir in the form of a large, weathered slab of slate that tapers towards the top is wedged with a few small stones at the base. A pair of parallel upright slabs, 0.8 m apart and over 0.3 m high, stand eight feet to the east. These seem to be part of the package of a second menhir.

Web links

Commons : Auskerry  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information about the lighthouse
• Entry on Auskerry  in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland Menhir database
• Entry on Auskerry  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English) Burnt Mound

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2011 census data