Steep Holm (grid reference ST228607) is an English island lying in the Bristol Channel. The island covers 48.87 acres (19.78 ha) at high tide, expanding to 63.26 acres (25.60 ha) at mean low water. At its highest point it is 78 metres (256 ft) above mean sea level. It lies within the historic boundaries of Somerset and administratively, it forms part of North Somerset. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996 it was administered as part of Avon.
The island serves as a wind and wave break, sheltering the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel. The island is formed of Carboniferous Limestone and is geologically a continuation of the Mendip Hills at Brean Down. The island is now uninhabited, with the exception of the wardens, and protected as a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), notification having taken place in 1952. Nearby is Flat Holm island, part of Wales.
According to legend in the 6th century Saint Gildas lived on Steep Holm visiting his friend Saint Cadoc, who lived on Flat Holm as a hermit. Gildas supposedly left the island to become Abbot of Glastonbury.
Read more about Steep Holm: Former Military Uses, Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust
Famous quotes containing the word steep:
“The shore is composed of a belt of smooth rounded white stones like paving-stones, excepting one or two short sand beaches, and is so steep that in many places a single leap will carry you into water over your head; and were it not for its remarkable transparency, that would be the last to be seen of its bottom till it rose on the opposite side. Some think it is bottomless.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)