White Island is one of the larger unpopulated islands of the Isles of Scilly

Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...

, part of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and lies off the coast of the northernmost populated island of the group, St Martin's

St Martin's, Isles of Scilly

St Martin's is the northernmost populated island of the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom. It has an area of .-Description:There are three main settlements on the island - Higher Town, Middle Town and Lower Town - in addition to a number of scattered farms and cottages, with a total population of...

, to which it is joined by a tidal

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

 causeway

Causeway

In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

, or isthmus

Isthmus

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...

. The island is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 (SSSI), a Geological Conservation Review

Geological Conservation Review

The Geological Conservation Review 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 and geomorphological features of Britain...

 site and is managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust

Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust

The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall, England, UK.The trust works in conjunction with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, and jointly produces a thrice yearly magazine called Wild Cornwall & Wild Scilly.It is dedicated to ensuring...

 on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall

Duchy of Cornwall

The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...

.

It should not be confused with a much smaller island also called White Island, off the coast of Samson

Samson, Isles of Scilly

Samson is the largest uninhabited island of the Isles of Scilly. It is in size. The island consists of two hills, North Hill and South Hill, which are connected by an isthmus on which the former inhabitants built many of their sturdy stone cottages...

.

History

The uninhabited island lies off the north coast of St Martin's. It is about 15.25 hectares (37.7 acre) and until comparatively recently was part of St Martin’s. In common with the larger island the place names are mostly English with the exception of Camper on the south-east coast (meaning tide race or roost) and Porthmoren. Moren is a girl or maiden and Porth is a landing place on the west of the shingle and boulder bar that separates the two islands. The north-west of the island rises to 21 metres (68.9 ft) and is topped by a ruined entrance grave. To the south, and sheltered by the hill, are six small mounds or cairns. An examination of one in 1975 showed that it was about 3 metres (9.8 ft) across, possibly double walled on the north side and probably too small to be a hut circle. Two walls indicating a bank and ditch field system are also present. Only part is scheduled as an Ancient Monument and a recommendation has been made that the whole island should be scheduled.

External links

• Photograph of the causeway at geograph.org.uk
• White Island, St Martin's at karenible.com
• 'The Scilly Islands', in Magna Britannia
  Magna Britannia
  Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain was an ambitious topographical and historical survey published by the antiquarians Daniel Lysons and his brother Samuel Lysons in several volumes between 1806 and 1822...
  
  : volume 3, Cornwall (1814), pp. 330-337
• White Island at The Megalithic Portal