Holy Island, Northumberland, UK

Tourism Holy Island, Northumberland, UK
Tourism Holy Island, Northumberland, UK

Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne, lies off the coast of northeast England and is accessible only via a paved causeway at low tide. It’s a wild, remote place, fringed by miles of golden beaches with fascinating rock pools and rolling dunes.

The main beach is lined with upturned fishing vessels, which were once part of a 19th-century herring fleet and now serve as work sheds. Also on the island are the ruins of a 7th-century Benedictine priory and a 16th-century castle, built in defense of England against the Scots. Only 160 people live here, and the pace of life is slow.

The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Northumberland National Park and stretches from Teesdale northwards towards Berwick.

It is one of the key natural features of the North Pennines. A major outcrop is at the High Force waterfall in Teesdale. Bamburgh Castle, Dunstanburgh Castle, Lindisfarne Castle and stretches of Hadrian’s Wall all strategically take advantage of high, rocky cliff lines formed by the sill.

The Whin Sill complex is usually divided into three components: Holy Island Sill, Alnwick Sill and the Hadrian’s Wall-Pennines Sill, which were created by separate magma flows, but at about the same time. The Little Whin Sill is an associated formation to the south, in Weardale. Wikipedia

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