Denny Island

For the small island in Chew Valley Lake, Somerset, see that page. For the island in British Columbia, see Denny Island (Canada).

Denny Island
Map
Geography
LocationSevern Estuary
Coordinates51°31′33″N 2°46′51″W / 51.52578°N 2.78091°W / 51.52578; -2.78091
Area2,400 m2 (26,000 sq ft)
Administration
Wales
County CouncilMonmouthshire
Demographics
Population0

Denny Island (Welsh: Ynys Denny; grid reference ST459810) is a small uninhabited rocky island of 0.24 hectares (0.6 acres), with scrub vegetation, in the Severn Estuary. Its rocky southern foreshore marks the boundary between England and Wales. Above high water mark, the island is reckoned administratively to Monmouthshire, South Wales. The island also marks the north-western limit of the City of Bristol's water boundary in the Severn estuary.[1]

It is located approximately three miles north of Portishead, midway between Redwick in Wales and Avonmouth in England. It is surrounded by sandbanks known as the Welsh Grounds. Its foreshore area changes dramatically according to the state of the tide, because tides in the estuary and Bristol Channel are amongst the highest in the world, reaching 13.7 m (45 ft) at the spring equinox. It is known as a nesting-place for gulls, cormorants and other seabirds, which are regularly seen and ringed there.

History

Denny Island appears in the historical record for the first time as Dunye, in the charter recording the creation of the county of Bristol in 1373.[2] This suggests that the name means, in Old English, 'island shaped like a down (i.e. a hill with a rounded profile)'. It gives its name to the Denny Island Fault Zone, a part of the Avon-Solent Fracture zone.[3]

On the 21st of September 1995, Neil Carter from Portishead spent 3 nights on Denny Island to raise money for the RNLI. 23 years later, on the 21st of September 2018, he slept overnight on the island to raise money for the maintenance of the Black Nore Lighthouse by the Black Nore Lighthouse Trust.[4][5]

In 2004, the island was subject to an unsuccessful appeal under Section 6(1) of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 against it appearing on a map of registered common land.[6]

On the 13th of November 2017, Lave net fishermen from Wales claimed to have discovered a large amount of plastic, some of which was used as nesting material by seabirds, a bomb from WW2, and several cannon balls after visiting Denny Island.[7]

Denny Island and a sailboat as seen from the North Somerset coast

References

  1. ^ "Bristol City Council - Beating Bristol's water boundary". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  2. ^ Harding, N. Dermott (1930). Bristol charters, 1155-1373 p 154-5. Bristol Record Society.
  3. ^ Kellaway, G.A. (1996). "Discovery of the Avon-Solent Fracture Zone and its relationship to Bath hot springs". Environmental Geology. 28 (1): 34–9. doi:10.1007/s002540050076.
  4. ^ "About Denny Island". VisitPortishead.net. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  5. ^ Jones, Liam (19 September 2018). "Portishead man to spend night alone on island for lighthouse". NorthSomersetTimes.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Appeal Decision" (PDF). Planning Inspectorate. November 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  7. ^ Chown, Jake (22 November 2017). "Explosive discovery at Denny Island". Monmouthshire Beacon. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
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