Island 66 - Steep Holm, Somerset

Steep Holm has been owned by the Kenneth Allsop Trust since 1976.   It is situated in the Bristol Channel 5 miles west of Weston-super-Mare.  It is approximately 800 metres long by 300 metres wide and the highest point is 78 metres above sea level.   It is a nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.  It is made of the same carboniferous limestone as Brean Down and the Mendip Hills.  The island was called Ronech by the Celts, Steopanreolice by the Saxons and Steep Holm by the Vikings.  Holm is an Old Norse word meaning a small island, especially one in a river, estuary or lake or one close to the mainland.

I have visited Steep Holm three times for the day.  The first time was in July 2006, the 2nd was in August 2009 and the 3rd was in early July 2015.  On all 3 occasions we had beautifully sunny days.

Roman artefacts have been found on the island and there are remains of a Roman signal station above Rudder Rock.  There was an early Christian monastery on the island, which St Gildas and his fellow monks used as a place for prayer and meditation in the 6th Century.  In the 9th century the Vikings used the island as a base from which to raid the mainland.  There was a small Augustinian Priory on the island in the 12th Century but it had closed by 1260.  Volunteers are in the process of excavating this site. 

From c.1315 the island was owned by the Lords Berkeley, who set up a rabbit warren on the island to supply meat and fur.  Part of the chapel site was rebuilt as a cottage to house the warreners. The warren lasted for around 300 years despite several changes of ownership. 

From 1699-1830 the island was owned by the Freke Family from Bristol and rented out to tenants who fished and collected sea bird eggs.  In 1776 stones from the old priory were used to build a cottage.

In 1830 entrepreneur John Baker from Weston-super-Mare bought Steep Holm.  He built a harbour, inn and Cliff Cottage.  In 1833 he sold the island to Colonel Charles Kemeys-Tynte and it was owned by his descendants until 1976.  The island was let to a succession of tenants who lived by farming, fishing, boating, inn keeping and smuggling.  From c1846-1885 the Harris family were innkeepers on Steep Holm.  The inn was enlarged 1866-7 and a new farmhouse was built near the 1776 cottage.  The inn closed by 1891 due to damage caused by storms and lightning.

Steep Holm was fortified with six large batteries in the 1860s to protect against the threat of invasion by the French.  In 1867 the barrack building was completed but the garrison closed by 1901.  

Coastguards were stationed on Steep Holm during the First World War.  In 1940 the island was requisitioned by the Admiralty.  From 1941-1943 around 300 soldiers were stationed on the island and Nissen huts were built to house them.  There are remains all over the island of batteries, barracks and searchlight posts.  There was even a small railway line for hauling equipment up the steep slopes to the top of the island and the remains of this can be seen in various places. 

The island is home to thousands of gulls, so has a slightly fishy aroma, although judging by the number of chicken bones lying around on the island, the gulls prefer the remains of Weston-super-Mare's tourists' Kentucky Fried Chicken to fish!   The gulls are mainly herring gulls, although there are some lesser and great black backed gulls. Cormorants can be seen on the cliffs.  Slow worms and muntjac deer live on the island but are much harder to spot.  Steep Holm and Flat Holm are the only places in the UK where the wild peony has naturalised.

The old barracks have been turned into a visitor centre with an exhibition and a small café.  If the sun is shining the terrace outside the barracks is a fabulous place to sit in a deckchair.  

Regular day trips to Steep Holm run from Knightstone Harbour at Weston-super-Mare during the summer months, depending on the weather and the tides.  These are organised by the Kenneth Allsop Trust.  More information and a map of the island can be found on the trust’s official website: http://www.steepholm.org/  

Rudder Rock, west end of the island - looking north

One of the Batteries

Gull chick

Ruined Farmhouse near the chapel site

The Bristol Queen coming back to pick us up.  There is no landing jetty.  Landing is only possible at a particular state of the tide.  A gangplank is put down directly on the beach. 

South Landing and Calf Rock at low tide

- there was once a quay here.  Looking east towards Brent Knoll and Brean Down.  The water in this part of the Bristol Channel looks more like milky coffee than blue sea!

 South East tip of Steep Holm
  Calf Rock with searchlight post on the cliff above

 Landing Beach and Former Inn, east coast

 East coast of Steep Holm showing the 19th Century inn and the current Landing Beach.

 Steep Holm at sunset from the northern end of Sand Bay, December 2014

Trig Point on the highest point of the island

 Steps down to the searchlight post on the north side of the island

Gooseneck at the eastern end of the island at low tide

The journey home by RIB - not for the fainthearted!

Zig Zag Path to the summit of the island

You can see the tracks of the Second World War Railway

 Gull's nest on the path

Ruins of Cliff Cottage

 Kenneth Allsop Memorial Plaque on the wall of Cliff Cottage

Steep Holm from the end of the Gooseneck at low tide

The seaward side of the Inn

 Gulls

 Steep Path up from South Landing

Ruins of the Inn

Chapel site and gull nesting area

Cliffs and rocks at mid tide at South Landing looking east

 Cliffs at South Landing looking west

Gooseneck at low tide - looking east towards Brean Down and Weston-super-Mare

Several books have been written about the island.  I haven't read them all but I recommend Steep Holm's Pioneers by Stan and Joan Rendall (2003) and Steep Holm Diary 2001-6 by Howard and Rosie Smith (2006).

Further Reading:

Steep Holm: a case history in the study of evolution: edited by Kenneth Allsop Trust and John Fowles.  Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust / Dorset Publishing Co., 1978

Steep Holm: a survey: Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. SANHS, 1981

Steep Holm Wildlife: Rodney Legg. Wincanton Press, 1990

Steep Holm: Legends and History: Rodney Legg. Wincanton Press, 1993

Steep Holm at War: Rodney Legg. Wincanton Press, 1991

Steep Holm: Allsop Island: Rodney Legg.  Wincanton Press, 1992

Steep Holm's Pioneers: Stan & Joan Rendell.  Published by the authors, 2003

Steep Holm Diary, 2001-2006: Howard Smith and Smith, Rosie. Garret Press, 2006

Steep Holm: the story of a small island: Stan and Joan Rendell: foreword by John Fowles.  Alan Sutton, 1993

The Steep Holm Guide: the history of the island off Weston-super-Mare: Rodney Legg.  Wincanton Press, 2^nd revised edition 1995