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The Great Whin Sill is a seam of igneous rock that stretches from High Force and Cauldron Snout in Teesdale for around 80 miles through County Durham and Northumberland to its most easterly point, the Farne Islands. Formed 295 million years ago, the Earth's crust stretched causing magma at over 1000°C to rise up and form a huge sheet of rock up to 80 metres thick. A hard, dark, crystalline rock called dolerite makes up the vast majority of the Sill yet it is thought that most of the magma never even reached the surface and was instead injected between layers of limestone, shale and sandstone. Of course thousands of years of erosion have caused parts of the Whin Sill to be partly exposed.

The name is more recent however and came from quarrymen who referred to the dolerite as whin-stone and the sill described the flat-lying nature of the rock. During the 19th century geologists recognised the molten origins and the term 'sill' were adopted for all similar igneous rock. Perhaps surprisingly the names of many of the Farne Islands themselves outdate the naming of the Sill. Dating almost as far back as the dark ages are names such as Swedman, Glororum and Wamses and the name 'Farnes' is likely to have derived from the ancient Celtic word 'Ferann', meaning land.

The exposure of the Sill has created many beautiful natural wonders and aided in some man-made ones too, such as Basalt Hill on which a section of Hadrian’s Wall sits. However, perhaps some of the most spectacular aspects of the Sill lie at the heart of the Farnes. The Pinnacles, the Stack and the cliffs of the Inner Farne are remarkably beautiful reminder of nature’s immense power, the abundance of flora, fauna and birdlife on the islands a reminder of its sublime versatility.

In the 7th Century (635) the islands received their first known inhabitant, St Aiden who founded the monastery and became the first Bishop of Lindisfarne. The panel in the eastern window of St Cuthberts chapel shows a legendary scene of St Aiden praying 'in earnest' about the 'Evil' that Penda (Pagan king of Mercia) was performing to the 'fortress' of Bamburgh. His prayers answered, the wind changed direction resulting in the huge fires set by Penda and his men turning against them and causing them to flee. St Aiden died in 651, presumably on the Inner Farne where he had built a cell and retired to pray.

Parts of the cell were said to remain in 676 when St Cuthbert arrived at the Inner Farne. He remained there until March 685 when he was consecrated the Bishop of Lindisfarne. He resigned from this position at the end of the following year and returned to the Inner Farne and died only a few months later in March 687. The next inhabitant of the Inner Farne was a monk from Ripon called Ethelwald who spent his final 12 years on the island.

The next few centuries saw the first invasions of the islands by the Danes and the consequent deaths and fleeing of some monks, as well as the first recorded published names of the islands (9th Century Manuscript). There is little known about the islands inhabitants during the latter part of the period and the next mention of any inhabitant after this was in 1093 when according to the chronicler Geoffrey of Coldingham, Edulf, came to Inner Farne as a hermit, although it is again unclear on his length of stay. At roughly the same time it is also believed that Bishop William of St Carilef gifted the Farnes to the priory at Durham.

The monk Aelwin was living on the Inner Farne during the 12th Century when the islands were sacked by the Norwegians and another known inhabitant of the islands was St. Bartholomew, who was born early in the 12th century near Whitby. When Bartholomew first arrived Aelwin was already living on the Inner Farne and finding the newcomer unbearable, tried to get him to leave. Bartholomew weathered this, and it was Aelwin who left and for the next 12 years Bartholomew was alone on the Island until the arrival of Thomas; the previous prior of Durham. Initially they too did not get on but they eventually became friends and Bartholomew nursed Thomas through his last illness and death. When Bartholomew died in 1193, he had lived on the island for some 42 years.

The last true sole inhabitant (or hermit) on the Inner Farne was Thomas de Melsonby who was the Prior of Durham from 1233 until 1244 when he resigned and moved to the island until his death just 2 years later. After this in a regular cell of Monks on Inner Farne was established called the House of Farne of the Benedictine Order. This was under the direct control of the Prior of Durham and consisted of two monks, a Master (Magister) and an associate (Socius) as well as some servants. Two years later still, the then king, Henry III granted the monks a plot of land on the mainland to build a storehouse. This is what is known today as Monkshouse, and sits between Seahouses, Bamburgh and Shoreston.

St Cuthberts and St Mary’s chapels were built as well as a host of other buildings including fish houses and over the years there have been many ship wrecks on the islands. Records show that the monastery used to salvage some to increase the revenue, as well as farm the land (growing barley, keeping chickens, cows and sheep) and seas (seal oil porpoises and birds were sold). An inventory from 1394 showed that the chapel owned 12 books including 'The Life of Bartholomew' and a book on the life of St. Cuthbert. In 1406 however, 'John of Ripon' (John de Rypon) became master and only a year later was dismissed for bringing debt to the house.

By the early 1400s the priory at Durham had grown and with around 40 monks, 2 infirmaries, and approximately 300 mouths to feed each day and they desperately sought a Bursar. Between 1419 and 1432 there were 3 monks who filled the position. One of them, Brother Thomas Lawson in a manuscript note lists the names of the various Farne islands, many of which can be recognised today such as Knokys (Knoxes), Southwalms and Northwalms (Walmses), Langstane, (Longstone) and Knyfestane (Knivestone), to name a few.

The early 16th century saw the completion of Prior Castell's tower, a 4 storey tower house, which afforded protection, not only from the elements but also from the Scottish Raids. 1536 saw the dissolution of the monasteries and the islands passed to the Dean and Chapter of Durham who began to lease them to suitable tenants and the tower was later used as a coastal fortification from 1559 to 1637.

The mid 17th century saw correspondence between a Francis Liddell and Trinity House regarding the building of lighthouses on the Farne Islands and in 1669, King Charles II issued a patent for four lighthouses to be built on the east coast, including one on the Inner Farne. The financial arrangements however were flawed, and the Farne Island light was never lit. In 1673 King Charles II granted a license to erect a beacon allowing the tower to become a lighthouse. Around this time (although 1650-1715), it is said, an armed Dutch Vessel came to grief on one of the rocks, spilling a cargo of cannons into the water. The rocks, now known as Gun Rocks probably derived their name from this incident; and it is thought that at least one of the cannons was relocated to Bamburgh Castle where it was used to alert local fisherman, sailors and villagers of incidents or wrecks at sea.

1727 saw the next attempt for the erection of a lighthouse, although nothing came of it and a further request was made by Captain John Blackett to Trinity House in 1755. This time it was suggested that a lighthouse be built on Staple Island and again it was refused. Over the following years the wrecking of vessels kept happening and eventually on the 6th July 1776 an agreement was made between Trinity House and John Blackett (lessee of the Islands) to build two lighthouses on the Farne Islands at his own expense. Somewhat surprisingly the building of the 2 lighthouses (Beacons on the Inner Farne and Staple Island) caused some dissatisfaction and a letter was sent at the time saying the building of the lighthouses was subject to the 'attorney general’s permission' which hadn't been granted.

Five years later in the winter of 1783, a 'Great Storm' saw ships try to utilise the islands for shelter and many were wrecked. The storm was also the likely cause for the loss of the Staple Island Beacon, and perhaps the origin of the 'broken branch' at the Pinnacles. Another lighthouse was built, this time on Brownsman, and in 1795, Robert Darling became the principle lighthouse keeper.

The turn of the 19th Century saw several complaints regarding the visibility of both the lighthouses. The Blacketts were asked to convert them to use Argand reflectors and lamps which burnt paraffin oil but they refused. It wasn't until 1807 when Trinity House conducted a survey of the towers on the Inner Farne and Brownsman that any more progress was made. It was decided to build new two lighthouses and the survey and plans are still available to view in the Northumberland County Record Office at Woodhorn. Wasting little time, a round tower lighthouse and cottage was built on the inner Farne and a similar smaller lighthouse built on Brownsman in 1809 and 1810 respectively. On the 11th November 1810, a ship struck a rock and was wrecked just to the west of Longstone Island, and the 'Humber Packet' gave the rock the name it is still known by today, 'Humber Rock'.

On the 25th September 1815, Robert Darling passed away and his son, William became the principle keeper on the outer group of islands. Less than a month later, William's daughter, Grace Darling was born on the main-land. The following year attempts to erect a beacon on Knivestone were thwarted when the heavy oak beacon was washed away as was the cast iron replacement in 1819. In March 1825, a survey took place in preparation for the building of the Longstone lighthouse, and the foundation stone was laid less than three 3 months later on the 8th June and building work was completed by mid December. Mid February 1826 saw the Brownsman light extinguished and the Longstone light illuminated with William Darling as the first lighthouse keeper.

Prior to the S.S. FORFARSHIRE departing Hull on the 5th September 1838, with approximately 60 souls on board, and various cargo (including hardware and 'super fine clothing') she had some repairs to her 3 boilers. At the time of her build, iron boiler plates were still being used in preference to steel plates. As she headed north, her troubles began as the water pumps that supplied the boilers began to fail. Near Flamborough Head, two of her fires were extinguished while emergency repairs were made; and she slowly continued her journey throughout the night.

On the morning of the 6th September, the weather began to turn. High seas, and a strong North, North Easterly wind coupled with emergent Boiler leaks did not overly concern the Captain, even though the bilges were filling with boiling water. As she was also a sailing ship, he ordered the sails to be raised fore and aft. By now the increasing weather conditions had become a storm, and not long after the sails were raised the wind turned to a gale and its direction turned northerly, whilst the tide set to the South. The ship began to be forced backwards from just beyond St. Abbs, and to make matters worse still, heavy fog began to settle all around.

The Captain order for the ship to put about and they run before the wind, aiming to seek shelter in the lee of the Farne Islands. At 3am, on the 7th September, the ship had reached the Farnes, but had become almost uncontrollable. FORFARSHIRE struck the Western point of Big Harcar with tremendous power. The strike, abaft of paddle boxes weakened the structure enough for the ship to break in two, and with the for'd section firmly on the rocks, the stern aft of the fwd mast (including the cabins), was carried into the crashing waves into the sea. The Captain and his wife perished in each others arms, along with the majority of the embarked passengers.

The flag at Bamburgh Castle was lowered to half mast (an indication at the time of distress), and alarm guns sounded down the coast; alerting local fishermen to man the lifeboat. The weather however made this in-effective. One of the ships lifeboats managed to get away, carrying approx. 8 crew and a cabin passenger called Mr Ritchie. Mr Ritchie reported that he felt the first hit, and rushed to the upperdeck, where he witnessed the second strike of the ship. He noticed that 8 of the crew were launching a lifeboat, and using a rope, swung into it too. Whilst there, he witnessed his aunt and uncle reach the deck, recognise him and agonisingly jump for the lifeboat and miss.

The cries of the passengers, along with possibly the sounding of the alarm guns drew the attention of Grace Darling, daughter of the Longstone Lighthouse keeper, William Darling. She awakened him and they prepared for a rescue, realising that souls were still clinging to the now wrecked FORFARSHIRE, the weather un-abating in its force. The coble was launched and Grace and her father made their way to Pipers Gut, rowing through treacherous conditions throughout. Upon arrival, William jumped onto the rocks, whilst Grace took the coble back to open water to avoid it also being damaged by the rocks. 9 survivors were there, 1 woman and 8 men, but the coble only had enough room for 5 and so heroically 2 trips were made and by 9am all were safely back at the Longstone Lighthouse.

In 1839 the Longstone lighthouse received its first paint job, carried out by William Thompson and around about the same time Archdeacon Charles Thorp became the lessee of the Farne Islands and started to restore St Cuthbert’s Chapel and Prior Castell’s tower, which was redesigned and 'modified' with Gothic windows and made into three storeys. Most of the improvements, including the building of the Inner Farne cottages were completed by 1842 just as Andrew Gordon was starting William Brooks Darling’s house on Longstone. October that same year also saw the death of Grace Darling.

1881 saw Mrs C. Thorpe of Ryton become the lessee of the Islands as well as the founding of The Farne Islands Association who were becoming concerned about the seabird colonies on the islands. This is probably to do with the recently passed Wild Bird Protection Act. Although the noting and recording of various species of birds had been going on for many years, a visit by B Hook in June 1882 recorded Guillemots and Kittiwakes on the Pinnacles, Lesser Black-backed Gulls on Staple Island and Puffins at South Wamses. He also concluded that the Farnes was the chief breeding place for both Eider Ducks and Sandwich Terns in England. Within a year various other species including 'a large swift' (poss. Alpine), sparrows, great tits, blue tits, a hoopoe, a hawk, a corncrake, an owl, crows and a cuckoo were all sighted an documented on the islands.

The islands were a readily available source of fresh eggs when Norfolk banker Mr Hugh Barclay and his cousin Mr John Henry Gurney (an ornithologist) visited the islands in early 1887. They were so horrified to see what was happening to the breeding birds that they sought to hire the islands and offer a form of protection to them. In mid June of the same year Mr Barclay became the lessee of the inner group of islands and installed 4 paid bird watchers, a move that saw an increase in the young bird population the following season. In 1889 John Henry Guerney returned to the islands and reported that the numbers of Eider, Guillemots and Puffins had increased and that things were very different to his last visit, commending Barclay for stopping the indiscriminate egg collecting.

In 1909, Mrs Thorp, owner of the inner group of islands advertised them for sale, and a letter from the time showed that the Abbot of Caldey wished to 'buy the island containing St Cuthbert's Tower so that it could become the home of a Religious House'. The same year also saw an extension to an existing outbuilding at the highlight on Inner Farne which was also converted to a generator house. The oil room adjoining the lighthouse become the carbide store and the doorway to the lobby between the house and the lighthouse was blocked up. A proposal the following year was made to alter the Inner Farne lights and by the end of the year the Low Light on the Inner Farne was discontinued and an automatic light system was installed in the High Light tower. The keepers were withdrawn and the remaining two cottages demolished. The Inner Farne Lighthouse was the earliest lighthouses to be automated and was run on acetylene gas. The white stain on the cliff is calcium hydroxide produced as a waste product from making the gas and the light was controlled by a ‘sun valve', similar to a modern day Thyristor, which when heated (by the sun) expanded and cut off the gas supply and when it cooled and retracted at sunset reopened the system.

During the First World War, active U-boat patrols near the islands saw an increase in wrecked shipping and this included the loss of HMS Ascot, a paddle class minesweeper in 1918, indicating that the presence of enemy mines may also have been suspected. The total amount of shipping lost at the Islands not just during WW1 but throughout their history is vastly unknown, but records from various sources including the journals of Lighthouse keepers, harbour masters, newspapers and government agencies to name a few allow an interesting insight into this dangerous area of coastline. Upon conducting research for this website many wrecks and incidents were scrutinised and a lot discounted as having 'unsubstantial evidence' to back them up, yet we are still able to list over 240 wrecks and grounding incidents in a relatively small area of coastline.

A meeting was held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne at the Hancock Museum about buying both groups of the Farne Islands by public subscription and then to vest them to the National Trust. The item was passed and a year later in 1924 the outer group was bought for £800 and a year later still in August of 1925 the Farne Islands were officially vested in the National Trust, as they remain so today. The National Trust undertook a major survey of all the buildings on the islands in 1926 and it concluded that considerable repairs were necessary to both the Tower on Inner Farne, and cottage on Brownsman to make them habitable for the watchers.
In 1935, perhaps a result of increasing tourism and interest in both the religious and ornalogical aspects of the islands, three jetties were built on the inner Farne. Indeed the 'Shiel' family had been taking boat trips to the Farne Islands since 1918, and the late Billy Shiel MBE joined his father at the age of 14 years in the late 1930s to establish the famous Farne Island Boat Trips.

The start of World War Two in 1939 saw the light on the Inner Farne light extinguished, and during the war the Farne Islands were under the control of the Admiralty. Collingwood Thorp, the secretary of the Farne Islands Association was able to obtain permission to visit the Farnes on a number of occasions from the local commander in Newcastle, Captain E W Swann and although the watchers were present in the 1940 season, no further permission was given until June 1944 and then only two watchers on Brownsman were allowed.

 

During the Battle of Britain there was an attack by the Luftwaffe which was intercepted over the Farne Islands by 72 Squadron, and again German mines were suspected to have been laid in the area. On the first of August 1941 Longstone Island was bombed with two direct hits on the engine room and turret and from that time the light was only lit when a convoy was passing through the areas. It was quickly established that German mining had probably not taken place and so a move was made to establish a British minefield to protect the waters stretching from the Humber to the areas east of the Longstone, and subsequently damage to buildings on the islands, breeding birds and egg stealing were blamed partly on mine sweeper/ mine laying crews.

The Inner Farne Island light was illuminated on the 12th May 1945 for the first time since the war had begun, and in 1946 the Newcastle Evening Chronicle published an account of the damage to the breeding birds by the war. Normal business was resumed although some restrictions were imposed on visitors, although subscribers to the Farne Islands Association could inspect the whole of the island and stay for a longer period if they obtained a permit from Thorp.

In 1951 the Farne Islands were designated as one of the first sites of ‘Special Scientific Interest’, Prior Castell's tower was again renovated and a visit by a Roman Catholic priest pointed out what he considered to be a well on Inner Farne. The following year work began to repair the war damage to the Longstone and it received its first siren and electric light. Diesel generators were installed to provide the power and a fog signal turret was added to the east side of the tower and the keepers took up residence in the new block across the yard. On the 31st January 1953 a massive tidal surge in the North Sea caused seas of over 40 ft above their normal height, part of the Knoxes was swept away and the Harcars, Bluecaps and Brownsman could not be seen at all from Longstone lighthouse. Later that year, The Farne Island study centre was opened in the tower on Inner Farne providing accommodation to enabled people to undertake long term research on the island; it remained in use until 1970.

The early sixties saw the further renovation of the Inner Farne Jetties, ready for the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1962 who travelled in the open top coble Glad Tidings (BK 10) with the aforementioned Billy Shiel at the helm. Despite being one of the worst summers on record, there were around 7,000 visitors to the islands that season increasing by a further thousand despite worse conditions in 1963 and a total of 9800 visits in 1964. In 1965, the Inner Farne saw its light altered to run off bottled acetylene gas reducing the re-fuelling periods, and the building of new lavatories. A strange turn of events happened around this time when an Egg Sanctuary Order that had taken effect in August 1964 had the unpredicted outcome that the watchers felt unable to collect the larger Gull eggs.

 

As a direct result their numbers increased considerably, and as licences were issued to some local Seahouses fishermen to collect the eggs in a bid to control the birds. 1964 was also the year when the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve was established. Later on in the decade, in 1968 the roof of St Cuthbert’s Chapel was replaced after being damaged during a gale.

The 1970s saw the accommodation in the tower on the Inner Farne now used to accommodate the season wardens whose tenure was longer than that of the watchers, and also the introduction of the Conservation of Seals Act making it illegal to kill seals during the breeding season despite seal culls in 1972 and 1975. A new jetty was built on the Inner Farne to assist landing at low tide and new landing regulations came into force with the aim of reducing the number of visitors landed during the breeding season.

1982 saw the windows in the chapel repaired and on the 30th December 1986 Grace Hickling MBE, author and leading authority on the Farne Islands passed away. Her ashes were scattered in St Cuthberts cove on the 28th March 1987, the 1300th anniversary of St Cuthberts death. 1988 marked the 150th anniversary of the now legendary Grace Darling rescue and a year later saw plans take shape into the automation of her former abode, the lighthouse on Longstone.
In September 1990 the modification of the lighthouse was finished, complete with radio beacon, fog detectors and fog horn. It is now monitored remotely from the Trinity House Operations and Planning Centre at Harwich. The whole island group were given status as a National Nature Reserve on the 12th May 1993, and the courtyard was repaired on Inner Farne later the same year and three years later, the Inner Farne light was converted to solar power and also converted to be controlled by a link to Harwich.
In 2005 the National Trust purchased the Inner Farne lighthouse and cottage for £132k and St Cuthbert's chapel had further repair work on its roof costing 40k. Solar panels were installed in the vegetable garden on the Inner Farne and on Brownsman in 2007 and later that year human bones were found on the Inner Farne. Investigations and carbon dating placed the bones of two persons to have come from between 1290 and 1400. In 2010 the National Trust started a major interior renovation of Prior Castell’s Tower on Inner Farne and an Etching was discovered on the ceiling of the dormitory in the Prior Castell’s Tower reading, ‘J Buchan Peterhead HMT Hildina 1940’. Mr J Buchan perhaps proving that the much of the damage caused during WW2 on the islands was sadly self inflicted by the minesweepers crews.

Today the Farne Islands are as popular as ever, and are thought by many to be the most exciting seabird colony in England with unparalleled views of 23 species of birds and also home to a large grey seal colony, with more than 1,000 pups born every autumn.

Farne.co.uk would like to express our grateful thanks go to Anne Wilson for the vast amount of information, references and guidance used to build this page.