Bardsey Island

Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island)
Bardsey as seen from Mynydd Mawr
Waters	Irish Sea
Geographical location	52 ° 45 '36 "  N , 4 ° 47' 24"  W Coordinates: 52 ° 45 '36 "  N , 4 ° 47' 24"  W.
length	1.6 km
width	1 km
surface	1.79 km²
Highest elevation	Mynydd Enlli 167  meters ASL
Residents	4th 2.2 inhabitants / km²

Bardsey Island ( Welsh : Ynys Enlli [ ɘnɨs ɛnɫɪ ] "Island of the tides"), also Island of 20,000 saints "Island of the 20,000 saints", is located 3.1 km from the coast of the Lleyn Peninsula in the Welsh County Gwynedd . While the Welsh name refers to the tides, the English emphasizes the connection to the bards , or possibly the story of the Viking guide "Barda".

geography

Bardsey is about 3 km away from the headland Uwchmynydd [ ɨʊχmɘnɨð ], is 1 km wide, 1.6 km long and has an area of ​​179 ha. The northeast rises steeply from the sea to 167 m, with the summit Mynydd Enlli [ mɘnɨð ɛnɫɪ ], a Marilyn . The west is flat, is lower and is relatively flat farmland. In the south the island narrows to an isthmus , which is the connection with the peninsula on which the lighthouse stands. Since 1974 the area has belonged to the Welsh community (cymuned) Aberdaron . It is the fourth largest island in Wales .

Today, Bardsey Island is best known for its wildlife and dramatic scenery. A bird observation station was built in 1953. The island lies on an important bird migration route.

geology

Like the western and northern formations of the nearby Lleyn Peninsula, the island was formed from rocks of the Precambrian Gwna group , a tectonic mélange . The rocks are an extraordinary mixture of different types of rock with sizes up to 100 m in diameter. They contain metamorphic remains of oceanic crust with ophiolites, sediments of the deep sea and rocks of the continental slope and the shelf. Blocks of broken granite in this mix are visible in the northwestern cliffs on the coast. In other places there are chunks of quartzite , limestone , sandstone , mudstone , jasper and basalt . It is believed that this deposit formed as the Olistho Current , a gigantic underwater landslide, about 614 million years ago.

A dyke from diabase from the Ordovician pushes itself into this mixture at Trwyn y Gorlech in the north and at Cafn Enlli a dyke from the Oliving group from the Tertiary comes to light. More dykes can be found in the cliffs at Ogof y Gaseg and Ogof Hir.

A thin blanket of glacial till stretches across the center of the island, a relic of the Irish Sea Glacier of the Last Cold Age . At Porth Solfach on the west coast there is a small area with drifting sand and a landslide at Briw Cerrig at the foot of the cliffs on the east coast.

traffic

Passenger ferries to Bardsey Island depart from Porth Meudwy and Pwllheli . They are operated by the shipping companies Bardsey Boat Trips and Enlli Charters .

At times, wind and strong currents make traffic between the island and the mainland impossible. This can even last for several weeks. In 2000, 17 visitors had to endure on the island for weeks because strong winds prevented the boat that was supposed to pick them up from landing.

Bardsey Lighthouse

Lighthouse on Bardsey Island

Bardsey Lighthouse stands on the southern tip of the island and directs ships that sail through St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea . It is the only rectangular lighthouse managed by Trinity House .

A device for a signal at this point was first established in 1816 by Lt. Thomas Evans RN built. Several other beacons were set up in 1820 and finally the Trinity House lighthouse was built in 1821 at a cost of £ 5,470 12s 6d plus an additional £ 2,950 16s 7d for lighting .

Joseph Nelson was the engineer and builder. But the heavily weathered rope walkway near the base around the block-shaped, hat-studded directional light shows the influence of Daniel Alexander, who succeeded Samuel Wyatt as an architect at Trinity House and worked under Nelson. Joseph Nelson is associated with the design of at least fifteen lighthouses, mostly in the Bristol Channel area .

The lighthouse was manufactured stone from limestone built. It is bare but painted with red and white ribbons. The tower is 30 m (98 ft) high and, unusual for lighthouses of this period, has a square footprint. In contrast to other lighthouses, the original iron grating of the walkway has been preserved. The bars have a special bulbous shape. Fortunately, unlike other lighthouses, these grids were not dismantled when the signal lamp was replaced.

The base of the tower is 4 m (13 ft) high and ornate. At the base it has a square footprint with a side length of 7.6 m (25 ft) tapering to 6.1 m (20 ft) towards the top. This tapering continues up to the top of the tower, so that the tower has a width of 4.6 m (15 ft) at its top, below the cornice . The cornice protrudes slightly and reaches a width of 5.5 m (18 ft). The walls are 1.2 m (4 ft) thick at the base. Its thickness decreases to 0.9 m (3 ft) towards the tip. Originally, the light was directed with reflectors. In 1838 a dioptric (refracting) mechanism was installed; what the original lantern looked like is not known. The current lantern is from 1856. It is a 4.27 m (14 ft) beveled octagon and the light stops. The current return and identifier consists of five flashes. The rotating mechanism was installed in 1873 and the original oil vapor lamp was replaced with an electric lamp in 1973.

Also unusual for a lighthouse is the fact that there are no landing possibilities in the vicinity. It is on an important migration route for migratory birds and has recorded a large number of bird accidents. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Trinity House made several efforts to improve it by adding perches and floodlights to the tower.

In 1987 the lighthouse was switched to automatic operation and controlled by the Trinity House Area Control Station at Holyhead until 1995 . Since then it has been controlled from Trinity House Depot near Harwich . There is a part-time employee on site who does the maintenance.

Y Storws , also known as The Boathouse , was built a few years before the lighthouse was built, near the Y Cafn landing site .

history

The island is considered a sacred island by the Welsh. It has been an important religious place since Saint Cadfan built a monastery there in 516. It is said that 20,000 saints were buried there. In the Middle Ages it was an important place of pilgrimage and by 1212 at the latest it belonged to the regular canons . The pilgrimage ensured a livelihood for the people in the port of Aberdaron. The monastery was dissolved and destroyed by Henry VIII in 1537 , but the island remains an important place for pilgrims to this day.

The island has been inhabited since the Neolithic and there are traces of hut circles (hut foundations) to this day . In the 5th century the island became a retreat for Christians and a small hermitage (Welsh .: clas ) existed. Around 516, Einion Frenin , the king of Llyn , invited the Breton Cadfan to settle on the island. St Mary's Abbey was built under Cadfan's guidance . For centuries the island was considered "the sacred place of burial for the bravest and best in the country". Bards called them "the land of indulgence, absolution and forgiveness, the road to heaven and the gateway to paradise". In the Middle Ages, three pilgrimages to Bardsey were considered the equivalent of one pilgrimage to Rome . In 1188 the monastery was still an independent order, but as early as 1212 it was attached to the Augustinians . Even today there are many people who make the trip to Aberdaron and Uwchmynydd each year on foot to walk in the footsteps of the saints. Today, however, only the ruins of the monastery’s old bell tower from the 13th century remain. A Celtic cross in the ruins commemorates the 20,000 saints who are believed to be buried on the island.

It is claimed that Einion Frenin also joined the monastic community on the island. However, his relics are claimed by Llanengan on the mainland. Saint Deiniol , the bishop of Bangor , was buried on the island in 584. Saint Dyfrig was also buried at Bardsey, but his remains were transferred to Llandaff in 1120 .

Ruins of St Mary's Abbey

By the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act of 1536, St Mary's Abbey was dissolved and its buildings destroyed in 1537. The choir stalls, two windows and the bells were brought to Llanengan , where the Parish Church was being built at the time.

Bardsey chapel around 1885

For many years Bardsey Island was part of Newborough Estate . Between 1870 and 1875, the island's homesteads were rebuilt. A small limestone quarry was started and a lime kiln was built. Carreg and Plas Bach are single houses, but the remaining eight were built as semi-detached houses, each with extensions around a common courtyard. The buildings are listed and in 2008 Cadw provided £ 15,000 to pay for the first phase of the restoration. Only one of the original Croglofft cottages, Carreg Bach , has survived. In 1875 the residents were given the choice of building a port or a church. The residents decided on a church and so a Methodist chapel was built.

In 1881, 132 people lived on the island, in 1961 there were only 17. The small island school, which was established in the former church in 1919, had to close again in 1953; and in 2003 only 4 people lived on the island.

The Bardsey Island Trust (Welsh: Ymddiriedolaeth Ynys Enlli ) acquired the island in 1979 after an appeal supported by the Church in Wales and many Welsh celebrities. The trust is funded through membership fees, grants and donations and aims to protect wildlife, buildings and archaeological sites on the island. In addition, it promotes the artistic and cultural life on the island and attracts visitors to this place of impressive natural wonders and spiritual contemplation. When the Trust published a tender in 2000 for a tenant of the 180-hectare sheep farm, 1,100 applicants registered. Eventually the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds became the tenant. Since then, the land has been cultivated to preserve the natural habitat. Oats , turnips and turnips are grown; Goats, ducks, geese and chickens are kept. There is also a mixed herd of sheep and Welsh Black cattle.

nature

The island has European status as a nesting place for Atlantic shearwaters and Alpine crows . There are some rare plant species and habitats that have not been touched by modern farming methods. The island is also one of the best places in Gwynedd to spot gray seals and the waters around the island are home to dolphins and porpoises .

In 1986 the island was declared a National Nature Reserve . it belongs to the Glannau Aberdaron ac Ynys Enlli Special Protection Area (Welsh: Ardal Gwarchodaeth Arbennig Glannau Aberdaron ac Ynys Enlli ). It is popular as a bird watching spot on the migration route of thousands of birds. The Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory (Welsh: Gwylfa Maes ac Adar Ynys Enlli ) catches and rings 3000–5000 birds annually and researches their migration behavior.

16,000 breeding pairs of Atlantic shearwaters come to the island every year.

Due to the local marine communities, internationally threatened lichens and mosses, as well as higher plants and bird species, the island has been declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest . National important types of plants include Juncus acutus , rock sea lavender , Ophioglossum azoricum (small adder's tongue) and Western Clover and the Ordinary loosestrife . Two lichens grow on the slopes of Mynydd Enlli , which are very rare nationally: Heterodermia (ciliate strap lichen) and Teloschistes (golden hair lichen); in total there are more than 350 species of lichen. The Leafcutter Bee , which cuts round pieces of rose petals to seal the entrance to their nest, is one of the island's notable insects.

Thousands of birds pass through every year. Usually first appear Zilpzalp (Chiffchaff), Goldcrest (Goldcrest) and wheatear (Wheatear), then pull Sedge Warbler (Sedge Warbler) and Willow Warbler (Willow Warbler), Whitethroat (Whitethroat) and Spotted Flycatcher (Spotted Flycatcher) by.

Bardsey Island is a great place to spot gray seals .

About thirty species of birds regularly nest on the island. These include Raven , Owl , oystercatcher and the rare chough (Red-billed Chough). Hundreds of sea birds, including razorbill (Razorbill), guillemot (Guillemot), Fulmar (Fulmar) and Kittiwake (Kittiwake) spend the summer on the cliffs of the island and raise their boys big. The numbers reflect the fact that there are no land predators such as rats or foxes on the island. On dark moonless nights you can hear an eerie cackling on the island when 16,000 pairs of Atlantic shearers come ashore to lay their nests in old rabbit burrows or self-dug caves. This corresponds to 5% of the UK population

A bottlenose dolphin in the sunset at Porth Neigwl (Hell's Mouth) Bay

Bardsey Island is one of the best places in Gwynedd to spot gray seals . In summer, more than two hundred come to the beach or frolic in the surf. 25–30 young are born here every autumn. Their teeth and strong jaws are well suited to cracking the shells of the lobsters and crabs , which are abundant here. You also often see porpoises and Risso's dolphins and porpoises . The currents around the island wash up nutrient-rich water and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has been conducting research since 1999 to determine which areas are particularly important for rearing whale calves.

On the coast there are whole Tang woods are and live in the stone cliffs sea anemones different crabs and fish species; in the deeper water the rocks are covered with sponges and tunicates . The yellow star anemone is actually common in the Mediterranean .

Bardsey apple

A knotty, twisted apple tree growing near Plas Bach is seen as the remnant of a tree garden that the monks planted a thousand years ago. In 1998, experts from the National Fruit Collection in Brogdale confirmed that they consider this variety to be a cultivar that had not been cataloged until then , the Bardsey Apple (Welsh: Afal Enlli ). This variety has since been cultivated through plant grafting and is available in nurseries.

Culture

The island's spirituality and sanctity, as well as its relative remoteness, make it a special place of cultural life in Wales. In some Welsh myths, the island is seen as the mysterious place of Avallun . Thus it is also claimed that the island was the tomb of King Arthur . Artists, writers and musicians felt attracted again and again. Award-winning literature and internationally successful singers were inspired here. It was part of the island's tradition to elect the King of Bardsey (Welsh: Brenin Enlli ). From 1826 he was crowned by Baron Newborough or his representative. The crown is now kept at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool . However, there are efforts to bring them back to Gwynedd. The first known bearer of the title was John Williams; his son, John Williams II, the third of the kings listed, was deposed in 1900 and asked to leave the island because he had become an alcoholic. When the First World War broke out, the last king, Love Pritchard, offered to go to war with the men of Bardsey Island himself. However, he was rejected because at 71 he was considered too old. Pritchard was offended and declared the island a neutral power. In 1925 Pritchard left the island to lead a less strenuous lifestyle but died the following year.

Famous residents

Several artists were successful at the National Eisteddfod because of their inspiration from their time on Bardsey Island. Fflur Dafydd won the prose medal in 2006 for her novel Atyniad (Attraction).

Dilys Cadwaladr , the former school teacher of the island, won in 1953 the first woman to Crown in the National Eisteddfod for her long poem Y Llen ; the artist Brenda Chamberlain won the Gold Medal for Art twice at the Eisteddfod; 1951 for Girl with Siamese Cat (The girl with the Siamese cat) and 1953 with The Christin Children (The Christin children). Some of her murals can still be seen in her Carreg home , where she lived between 1947 and 1962. Nature painter Kim Atkinson, whose work has been featured in Wales and England , spent her childhood on the island and returned in the 1980s.

The Yorkshire poet Christine Evans lives on Bardsey Island for six months and spends the winters in Uwchmynydd. She came to Pwllheli as a teacher and married into a family of Bardsey farmers. During her maternity leave in 1976, she began writing poetry. Her first book was published seven years later. Cometary Phrases was Welsh Book of the Year 1989 and she won the newly created Roland Mathias Prize in 2005.

The Bardsey Island Trust has named an artist in residence since 1999 . The scholarship will bring artists to the island for several weeks to create works that will be exhibited later. A Welsh writer's apartment was created in 2002; singer-songwriter Fflur Dafydd spent six weeks on the island working on a collection of poetry and prose. Her play Hugo was inspired by her stay and she has written two novels: Atyniad and Twenty Thousand Saints , for which she won the Oxfam Hay Prize . The novel tells how the women of the island, starved by the men, turn to each other.

Popular culture

Movie

• Edgar Ewart Pritchard, an amateur filmmaker from Brownhills , produced The Island in the Current , a color film about Bardsey Island , in 1953 . A copy of the film is kept in the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales .

literature

In the sixth of the Sigma Force novels by James Rollins , The Doomsday Key (2009), Father Rye and historian Wallace Boyd tell the hunters of Doomsday Key that Bardsey Island was the home of the Fomori kings and that Merlin , a famous one Druid is buried along with other famous druids on the island. In the epilogue, Rollins Bardsey claims that the truth is Avalon .

music

• Opera singer Bryn Terfel , a patron of the Bardsey Island Trust , has performed in the island's chapel.

• The harpist Llio Rhydderch released the album Enlli (2002), a work which is inspired by the spiritual impressions on a pilgrimage. He plays the Welsh triple harp .

• In 2009 the Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog played as the first electric rock group on the island. Her appearance was part of the "Bandit" series on the Welsh broadcaster S4C .

Web links

Commons : Bardsey Island  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bardsey Island Trust
• Geographer: Photographs of Bardsey Island

Individual evidence

1. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica: Bardsey Island
2. ^ Samuel Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of Wales . S. Lewis and Co, London 1849.
3. ↑ Ynys Enlli. Natural Resources Wales, archived from the original on December 9, 2014 ; accessed on May 27, 2014 . 
4. ↑ 548 ft above sea level, cf. Cycling North Wales: Cycle Ride from Aberdaron. Retrieved August 16, 2009 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Gwynedd Archaeological Trust: Bardsey ( Memento of the original dated February 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ^ Ordnance Survey: Election Maps: Gwynedd
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Wildlife Haven. BBC, archived from the original on December 18, 2007 ; Retrieved August 16, 2009 . 
8. ↑ British Geological Survey 1: 50,000 scale geological map sheet 133 (England and Wales) Aberdaron and Bardsey Island (BGS, Keyworth, Notts) (with 1: 10,00 inset map of Bardsey)
9. ^ MF Howells: British Regional Geology: Wales. 2007 (BGS, Keyworth, Notts) pp. 15-20.
10. ^ Bardsey Boat Trips
11. ^ Enlli Charters: Day Trips to Bardsey Island.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Island of 20,000 Saints. BBC, 2006, archived from the original on December 24, 2004 ; Retrieved August 16, 2009 . 
13. ↑ GENUKI: A Topographical Dictionary of Wales in 1833 by Samuel Lewis
14. ↑ ^{a b c d} Bardsey Island Trust: Landmarks
15. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Douglas Bland Hague: Lighthouses of Wales Their Architecture and Archeology. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales , Aberystwyth 1994, ISBN 1-871184-08-8 .
16. ↑ Trinity House: Bardsey Lighthouse ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. ^ ^{A b c} University College London Institute of Archeology: Bardsey Island
18. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Bardsey Island Trust: The Island: History
19. ^ Mysterious Britain and Ireland: Bardsey Island
20. ↑ ^{a b} Sabine Baring-Gould et al: The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain . Vol. II. Chas. Clark, London 1908, p. 422 ff ( online [accessed November 18, 2014]).
21. ^ "The holy place of burial for all the bravest and best in the land"
22. ↑ "the land of indulgences, absolution and pardon, the road to Heaven, and the gate to Paradise"
23. ↑ Aberdaron and District Tourist Link: Places to Visit
24. ↑ Aberdaron and District Tourist Link: Aberdaron ( Memento of January 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
25. ^ Edge of Wales Walk: History ( Memento April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
26. ↑ Bardsey Island Trust: The Early Saints ( Memento of the original of July 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Bardsey Office (Pwllheli), 2014.  
27. ^ St Deiniol's Library: St Deiniol: Abbot, Bishop and Confessor ( Memento from July 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
28. ↑ Cadw: 15 January 2008: Funding Announced in January to Restore Some of Wales's Historic Buildings ( Memento of June 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
29. ^ Bardsey Island Trust: Staying on Bardsey
30. ^ A Vision of Britain Through Time: Total Population: Bardsey Island Civil Parish
31. ↑ We Have a Lot of Quality Family Time. In: The Guardian. November 15, 2008, accessed September 16, 2015 . 
32. ^ Bardsey Island Trust: The Trust
33. ↑ Abigail Hole, Etain O'Carroll, John King: Lonely Planet: Wales . Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray 2007, ISBN 978-1-74104-538-3 .
34. ↑ News: Wildlife Wins on Bardsey Island. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, May 14, 2008, accessed September 16, 2015 . 
35. ^ Bardsey Island Trust: Agriculture
36. ↑ ^{a b c} Countryside Council for Wales: Core Management Plan Including Conservation Objectives for Clogwyni Pen Llŷn SAC ( Memento of December 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
37. ↑ British Broadcasting Corporation: Bardsey Island ( Memento from July 3, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
38. ^ Bardsey Lodge & Bird Observatory
39. ↑ National Biodiversity Network: Ynys Enlli SSSI ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
40. ↑ Celtlands: Ynys Enlli: Fauna ( Memento from February 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
41. ^ ^{A b} Bardsey Island Trust: Natural History
42. ↑ Y Cafn: Winter 2007: Leafcutter Bees (PDF, English)
43. ^ Richard Else: Manx Shearwater population Census and productivity monitoring . In: Bardsey Bird Observatory Report . tape 57 , 2010, p. 111-114 ( blogspot.co.uk ).
44. ↑ Joint Nature Conservation Committee: Manx Shearwater, Puffinus puffinus (PDF, English)
45. ↑ Malcolm Smith: The Sainted Apple. In: The Times. March 22, 2003, p. 12 , accessed February 16, 2014 . 
46. ↑ Jill Tunstall: The man who rescues trees. In: The Guardian. Retrieved June 22, 2015 . 
47. ^ Afan Ynys Enlli - Bardsey Island Apple. Retrieved June 22, 2015 . 
48. ^ Bardsey Island Apple. Ian Sturrock & Sons, accessed June 22, 2015 . 
49. ^ ^{A b c} Bardsey Island Trust: Enlli and the Arts
50. ^ ^{A b} Singer-songwriter Wins Book Prize. BBC, May 24, 2009, accessed September 16, 2015 . 
51. ^ ^{A b} Bryn Terfel: Why I Nearly Fled the Last Night. In: Daily Telegraph. September 11, 2008, accessed September 16, 2015 . 
52. ↑ ^{a b} Y Cafn: Winter 2007: Kings on Bardsey (PDF, English)
53. ↑ ^{a b} Cimwch: Kings of Bardsey
54. ↑ Islander's Call for Return of Welsh Crown. The Observer, October 5, 2008, accessed September 16, 2015 . 
55. ↑ Y Cafn: Spring 2007: Island Artist: Brenda Chamberlain (1912-71) (PDF, English)
56. ↑ Gwasg Gomer: Author Biographies: Christine Evans ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
57. ^ The National Library of Wales: Gathering the Jewels: Film: "The Island in the Current", 1953 ( Memento of February 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
58. ^ "Bardsey Island truly is Avalon. All the stories and mythologies of the island are accurate, including Merlin's tomb, Lord Newborough's Crypt, and the twenty thousand buried saints. Also, the Bardsey apple continues to grow, and cuttings can be purchased of this ancient tree. As to those nasty currents around the island, those are also real. "James Rollins: The Doomsday Key . 2009, p. Chapter 19 and Fact or Fiction .
59. ^ Llio Rhydderch: The Enlli Suite . ( lliorhydderch.com [accessed August 16, 2009]). The Enlli Suite ( Memento of the original from October 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.