Crim Rocks

The Crim Rocks, in Cornish Kribyn, “little reef”, are a small group of rocks at the far western edge of the Isles of Scilly. The most westerly of the Western Rocks, they are the westernmost point of England, about a mile and a half north of the Bishop Rock.

Landscape

The Crims are low granite ledges, the most conspicuous of them called Peaked Rock, with Zantman’s Rock a quarter of a mile to the north-east. The Western Rocks are the scatter of granite islets and reefs at the south-western end of the Isles of Scilly, beyond St Agnes and Annet, in the full path of the Atlantic swell. They have wrecked more ships than almost any other stretch of the British coast, and the Bishop Rock lighthouse was built at their outer edge to warn ships away.

History

At least thirty ships are known to have been wrecked on the Crims. The name may share its root with the Middle Welsh crimp, “shin, ridge or ledge”, a good description of rocks that lie just below the surface at high water.

Visiting

There is no landing on the Western Rocks. Seabird and seal-watching trips from St Mary’s and St Agnes run out among them in calm summer weather, and trips to the Bishop Rock pass close by. You can collect the Crim Rocks as a sighting in your Island Passport.

Wildlife and area

The rocks hold breeding shags, storm petrels and great black-backed gulls, and grey seals haul out and pup on the ledges in autumn. Nearby islands include Zantman’s Rock, Bishop Rock and Rosevear.