Sully Island

Sully Island is a small island of 14.5 acres (c. 6 ha) 450m off the coast of Glamorgan, mid way between Penarth and Barry, near the village of Sully. It is linked by a natural rocky causeway to the mainland, which comes ashore near the Captain’s Wife pub in the hamlet of Swanbridge. The island has a long association with smuggling, but evidence of Bronze Age burial mounds, Viking remains and a defended Saxon homestead indicate it has been used, if not always inhabited, for thousands of years. Notorious pirate Nighthawk buccaneer Alfredo de Marisco is reputed to have established a base on Sully Island in the 13^th century. Earlier in 2011 the island was put for a sale: the asking price was £95,000, and a group of local people were trying to buy it to retain public access. During much of the historical era, it has been used on and off by smugglers: the coves at Swanbridge and nearby St Mary’s Well Bay, sheltered by the island, formed a minor port and fishing village until the 19^th century, and the island was used to hide contraband goods rather than declare them: records indicate both goods and illegal immigrants were seized in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. The island was also the site of several wrecks, most notably the Antarctic Survey vessel the SY Scotia in 1916 (although the vessel had by that stage been sold into commercial cargo service). The island is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and has an unusual flora and fauna, with rare plants including the bee orchid, the marine spleenwort and the adder’s tongue fern, and (as Peter Caton points out) interesting rock formations. Finally, I would reiterate the warning about the dangers of crossing to the island. The causeway is uncovered for about only 3 hours at low tide, and the tides rise rapidly. The causeway has appropriate warning signs at the landward end. A school-​friend of my mother’s was drowned here before World Way II attempting to swim back to the mainland.

This little grassy island is on the north coast of the Bristol Channel, not far from Penarth. It is reached from the village of Swanbridge and the car park of the Captain’s Wife pub at low tide. At these times it is possible to walk over the natural causeway onto the ‘island’ but great care must be taken not to be cut off when the tide comes in again! There have been many accidents as the result of carelessness (and stupidity) and there is now a sign at the north end which states, You are Risking your Life by Visiting this Island! It is probably best just to view it from the mainland.