Thursday, 24 April 2025

Island 533 - Hangman Island, Bryher, Isles of Scilly

Hangman Island is an uninhabited rocky tidal island located 150 metres to the north east of Kitchen Porth on the east coast of Bryher.  The island's name may comes from a time in the past when mutinous sailors were hanged on it, possibly by Admiral Blake during the English Civil War.  Alternatively, the name may be derived from the Cornish an-men, meaning the rock.  The current gibbet on top of the island is modern.

Hangman Island can be accessed on foot at low tide from Bryher.  You have to cross a sandy beach and then about 50 metres of seaweed covered boulders, followed by a short scramble up the rocks onto the island.  The island is covered in grass, bracken, Escallonia rubra, scurvy grass and agapanthus.  The exposed rocks are covered in grey-green, black and gold lichens.

Hangman Island

Hangman Island

Looking south east towards New Grimsby on Tresco

Hangman Island

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