Qualla: Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly

Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kernow Skies, CC BY-SA 3.0. A lighthouse keeper on Round Island in the 1880s could not work out where the small black feathers were coming from. He kept finding them in the living quarters at night. Eventually he saved a few, identified the bird, and the cat was banished. The feathers belonged to European storm-petrels, the smallest seabird in the northern hemisphere, breeding silently in the crevices of the granite tower they shared with him. Today, a century and a half later, Round Island holds the second-largest storm-petrel colony in the Isles of Scilly, and the keepers and their cats are long gone. The light still flashes white every ten seconds.

Image: Kernow Skies | CC BY-SA 3.0

Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly: The Hump Lighthouse

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alvaro, CC BY-SA 3.0. Round Island is a 35-metre hump of Hercynian granite rising at the northern edge of the Scilly archipelago, three miles from St Mary's and just north of St Helen's. The Cornish name for it translates as the hump lighthouse, and that is exactly what was built on top in 1887. Willi...

Image: Alvaro | CC BY-SA 3.0

Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly: Building on a Crag

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rib, CC BY-SA 2.0. Getting men and stone onto Round Island was its own engineering problem. There is no harbour, no beach, nothing but vertical granite walls dropping into deep water. Workers cut a flight of steps up the south face of the rock, and supplies were hauled up the cliff by an aerial cab...

Image: Rib | CC BY-SA 2.0

Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly: The Keepers Leave, the Birds Stay

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Burmesedays, CC BY-SA 3.0. The light was electrified in 1966 and a helicopter pad was built on the rock in 1969, ending the cliff climb forever. Trinity House automated the lighthouse in 1987, and the last keeper turned off the kettle for good. Most of what they had brought with them - cats, rats, vegetabl...

Image: Burmesedays | CC BY-SA 3.0

Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly: Still Flashing

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The original uploader was Benjaminevans82 at English Wikipedia., Public domain. The original red flash was replaced long ago. The current lamp is a 360-millimetre revolving drum optic, upgraded to LED in 2025, throwing one white flash every ten seconds with an intensity of 42,945 candela and a range of 18 nautical miles. The tower itself is Grade II listed, ...

Image: The original uploader was Benjaminevans82 at English Wikipedia. | Public domain