Looe Island

Looe Island, in Cornish Enys Lann-Managh, “island of the monks’ enclosure”, and also known as St George’s Island, is a small wooded island about a mile off the town of Looe in south-east Cornwall. Once the home of two remarkable sisters, it is now a nature reserve owned by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Landscape

The island covers about 22 acres, rising to a grassy summit with woodland, meadows and a rocky shore. The waters around it are a marine nature reserve within the Whitsand and Looe Bay Marine Conservation Area, first set up in 1995.

History

People have lived on Looe Island since the Iron Age, and Roman amphorae, coins and stone anchors have been found; a large bronze ingot found nearby has led some to suggest it was Ictis, the ancient tin-trading island. A legend says Joseph of Arimathea landed here with the young Jesus. In the Middle Ages there was a small Benedictine chapel on the island, linked to Lammana Priory on the mainland. In 1965 the island was bought by two sisters from Surrey, Evelyn and Babs Atkins, who lived there for the rest of their lives and wrote about it in their books; after Babs died in 2004 the island was left to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

In the Middle Ages there was a small Benedictine chapel on the island, linked to Lammana Priory on the mainland.

Visiting

Landing is carefully managed for the wildlife, and is only possible on the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s authorised boat trips from Looe in summer, weather and tides permitting. You can collect Looe Island as a landing or a sighting in your Island Passport.

Wildlife and area

The island has a large colony of great black-backed gulls, with cormorants, shags and oystercatchers, and grey seals haul out on its rocks; bottlenose dolphins are sometimes seen in the bay. Nearby islands include Drake’s Island and Eddystone Rocks.