As some of you may be aware, I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Exeter and had an absolutely fabulous time. I fell in love with Devon, completely. However, one of the places that we never got the chance to visit was Lundy so, on a recent trip to Cornwall, we took the opportunity to rectify that.
History of Lundy
Lundy is an island off the north coast of Devon, where the Bristol Channel meets the Atlantic Ocean. It’s currently owned and maintained by the National Trust in partnership with The Landmark Trust and has been since 1969. The name is thought to come from the Viking era with Lundey meaning Puffin Island. For most of it’s history, the island was a place for piracy and smuggling until it was sold to William Hudson Heaven, a slave master from Gloucestershire. When slavery was abolished in the the UK, the government compensated the slave masters and Hudson Heaven used the money to purchase the island for just under £10,000. Not a bad price for an entire island! Though admittedly, a lot of money for 1834.
Ownership was next past to Martin Coles Harman in 1925 who paid £25,000, more than double what William Hudson Heaven did just under 100 years before. It was Martin Coles Harman that introduced wildlife onto the island as well as the postal system which I’ll go into more detail about later. When Coles Harman passed away, the island was left to his wife and two sisters. They put it up for sale with the request that “Whoever takes over Lundy must love it as we do”. The National Trust put out an appeal to try and raise enough money to purchase the island and the Landmark Trust offered to underwrite it. Shortly afterwards, businessman Jack Hayward essentially bought the island for them. The Landmark Trust have a sixty year lease on the island and pledged to maintain and restore it.
Getting there
To get to Lundy, there is a passenger ferry which runs from either Bideford and Ilfracome depending on the tides. Part of our issue in Exeter was that we didn’t have a car and getting from coast-to-coast wasn’t possible for the early morning ferry. They leave the ports at anytime between 7:30am and 10am and you have to be there around an hour before the ferry departs. On this occasion, we actually traveled from Padstow, Cornwall so it was still an early start to the day. It’s made much easier by having a car but, if you’re nearby to Bideford or Ilfracombe it may be possible to arrive my public transport.
MS Oldenberg, the boat that you travel on, actually stayed its life as a ferry between mainland Germany and Friesian Island of Wangerooge and to Helgoland after it was built in 1958. In 1985, the boat was bought by the Landmark Trust to be the Lundy ferry. It was an ideal size for carrying both day trippers as well as post and supplies to and from the island. The ferry costs £59 per adult for a return ticket (2026) though you do get a discount as a National Trust member or for concessions. That might seem quite expensive but, it is a two hour journey and well worth it for the experience, in my opinion. It carries up to 267 passengers and has a bar and shop on board for souvenirs, snacks, and tea and coffee. We booked well in advance and I would recommend doing so to ensure you get a spot.
Our time on Lundy
As I mentioned above, this trip to Lundy was part of a larger week away in Padstow, Cornwall and so, our first task was getting to Bideford. To that, we had to wake up pretty early but it was well worth it! We drove 1hr 40 minutes to Bideford and, for once, we were actually on time. If you read my Northumberland Travel Guide, you’ll know that our track record for arriving on time for ferries is not great. We had a run across Seahouses to make our trip to the Faro Islands! Despite that though, there was still plenty already in the queue for boarding the ferry. We had hoped to get breakfast in Bideford but, decided that we didn’t really have the time so just joined the ferry queue instead. Luckily, there is a cafe on board so we got some bacon sandwiches for the journey. It was a real classic bacon sandwich – homemade style, nothing fancy! The ferry itself takes two hours but, with a 5:30am alarm, I wasn’t particularly awake enough to do anything with the time. Be sure to bring a book, though or something to occupy yourself.
MS Oldenberg soon approached Lundy and we headed onto the top deck to watch the island approach. From where the ferry docks, it’s a short uphill walk to the main area of the island where the trip really begins. This is a gravel path that’s suitable for most but, there are a few stairs and as I said, it’s uphill. For those less able there is a Land Rover which takes people up and down the hill.
The path brings you out right in the centre of things. There is a small ‘hub’ area – too small to be called a village or anything of the sort – where you can find a pub, shop and museum about the island. Our first stop was the church. Not only does St Helen’s Church make for an impressive view on the approach to the island, it also acts a bit like a visitors centre. Inside you can learn more about the history of the island, which I briefly covered above, as well as all the wildlife you can see during a visit. It was particularly interesting to hear about what it was like to live on the island and the introduction of things like the postal system. The present church was built in 1897 when around 60 people lived on the island. Later, when the Landmarks Trust and National Trust took over Lundy, the church was resorted and adapted for educational purposes, as well as worship. As there is currently no priest on the island, the religious uses are infrequent and many visitors here are now tourists looking at the information boards provided. It’s a great starting point before you head out to explore more of the island.
Next, we wandered over to Mariso Castle which was built in 1243 by order of King Henry III. William de Marisco was a nobleman who was found guilty of an attempt to assassinate King Henry III. He was also involved in piracy and owned Lundy Island at the time. And so, in 1242, the island was passed to the Crown and Henry III ordered the fortress to be built to protect it against any further unwanted pirate activity. Throughout the following centuries, the castle was passed between Crown and nobleman until it fell into disrepair and was used for agricultural purposes. The Landmark Trust repaired the castle in the 1970s and it is now a holiday cottage which can be used by visitors to the island. It’s somewhat a shame that it has been converted into accommodation and no longer has many signs of it’s historical usage. However, it’s still worth a visit for the views down to the lighthouse and helipad below.
Our next stop was the Old Lighthouse which was our final ‘monument’ or building before heading off around the island to look at the wildlife. This lighthouse was the one primarily used on the island, until the north and south lighthouses were built in 1897. Because of it’s location at the top of Beacon Hill, Old Lighthouse has the highest base of any lighthouse in Britain which means that the top was often obscured in fog. Fog Signal Batteries are fitted around the west of the highland with guns which sounded every fifteen minutes during fog as a warning system. However, around 1857, despite many attempts to improve the light to avoid or break through the fog, there was talk that two lighthouses at either end of the island would better serve the sailors. Even then, it wasn’t until 1897 that the Old Lighthouse was decommissioned and the new ones put into action. Like most of the sights here, the lighthouse and the buildings nearby that would have housed workers, are now accommodation which you can stay in.
From there, we headed to the north end of the island following the coastline. The ferry had handy leaflets with maps of the island that also showed you the best place to see wildlife. Right off the bat we saw Sika deer around the Old Lighthouse and the Lundy ponies before we headed onwards. It was around Jenny’s Cove that was the real highlight of the trip for seabirds. We saw a huge number of Guillemots and potentially Razorbills too, it’s hard to say for sure. And, puffins are also usually found among these birds, too! We took our binoculars but even then, the illusive puffins were hard to spot amongst the huge swaths of birds along the cliffs. It was a chorus of sound and you could have spent hours here, scouring the cliffs. For an avid birdwatcher, Lundy Island is a must visit. We didn’t spot an orange beak but I am certain that we did see a puffin at least once during the trip. Even if we didn’t spot them, they were certainly there.
The island is handily split into four quarters separated by dry stone walls. At Jenny’s Cove, you’re pretty much at the half way point. Over the stile, we were greeted by a kind of sheep I had never seen before. They certainly looked nothing like Herdwicks! Soay sheep originate from the island of Soay on the St Kilda peninsula in Scotland. These are much smaller than the farmland sheep we’re used to seeing in the UK and they’re also brown with small horns. They’re at at risk breed meaning there are only 900 to 1500 registered Stoay sheep across the world. They were introduced on Lundy by Martin Coles Harman after he bought the island in 1942 and a small herd have been present on the island since. The sheep are a much hardier breed than others common to Britain and so are able to survive the islands harsh climate.
We headed onwards towards the Third-quarter wall before opting to turn around as we wanted to have a late lunch at the pub before boarding the ferry at 5pm. We had hoped to visit the Widow’s Tenement but we must have missed it, or overshot it, or even not gone far enough down the island! Anyway, we headed back to the main area of the island taking the gravel track that runs right through the centre. On the way back, we passed the Highland cattle that are on the island. These were brought to Lundy in 2012 as part of the island’s conservation. As with the Soay sheep, these are an ideal breed for the island as their thick coats allow them to keep warm during the harsh island winters. Most of the other domestic animals on the island, including a small number of pigs and sheep are kept on the island to help with their sustainability and provide for the Pub’s menu. The pigs eat all the vegetable waste from the pub, too.
Finally, we arrived back at the Marisco Tavern for lunch. To say that this is the only place to eat on the island it was very reasonably priced. We all went for the Lundy venison burger which was delicious and enjoyed a pint in the sunshine. I highly recommend having your lunch, here and the money goes back to supporting the community here and maintaining the island. By the time we’d had a couple of drinks, visited the shop for some souvenirs, it was almost time to go back to the ferry. We walked back down and, despite the ferry being at anchor off the shore, most people were lined up, ready to get on. Instead of joining the queue, we spent our final half an hour or so on the island, skimming stones before boarding the ferry alongside everyone else when it docked at the island.
Then, it was two hours back to Bideford and another hour and a half drive back to Padstow. It was well worth it and a real highlight of the week in Cornwall overall. As I said, this is something we’d been wanting to do for a long time and I’m very glad that we finally got the chance!
You can follow our route around the island here.
Are you planning to visit Lundy?
Amie x
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