A Day Trip Guide to Visiting Lundy Island

A 2-hour long ferry crossing from the coast of Devon leads to Lundy Island, a jewel in the Atlantic Ocean. This dramatic 3-mile long, ½-mile wide granite outcrop has a long, surprising history and is also home to a fascinating array of wildlife. A full day’s trip out to this pristine island gives visitors a varied itinerary of things to do and see.

Lundy Island came into our trip-planning radar when we were searching for locations that puffins frequent. Our mild obsession with this funny little bird began in 2016, when we visited the island of Skellig Michael off the coast of Ireland. Once we discovered that Lundy Island is host to a large puffin colony, it went on our Cornwall-Wales 2018 Itinerary.

History of Lundy Island

Lundy’s history dates back to the Bronze Age. It’s believed a farming community existed on the island from the archeological evidence of pottery shards and grassy traces of prehistoric huts and field systems.

Not much is known between those times until the latter half of the first millennium AD. 4 Christian memorial stones were excavated in 1969. They date back to 500-700 AD and can now be seen in the Beacon Hill cemetery.

It’s thought that around the 8th century, Lundy Island was used as a base for Viking raiders. In fact, the name “Lund-ey” is Norse for “Puffin Island” however no evidence has been found to indicate Viking activity… but come on. Where didn’t they pillage?!?

Documented history began in 1150 when the de Marisco family took ownership of the island. Unfortunately for them, when King Henry II acceded the throne, he decided to give the island to the Knights Templar. The de Marisco family wasn’t having that and refused to surrender the land. After all, for them it was profitable to use the island as a pirate base for raiding passing ships. This didn’t last though –in 1242 King Henry III conducted a raid and the family head, along with their accomplices, were captured, taken to London, found guilty of treason, hung, drawn, and quartered. Fun stuff. King Henry III then proceeded to build a castle on the island to prevent future misuse of the island. Or so he thought. Over the next few centuries, Lundy Island would pass through the control over several piratical groups, from Barbary to French, Basque, English and Spanish pirates. This didn’t end until the 1700s. In the 1750s, Thomas Benson, a Member of Parliament used Lundy Island to secretly house convicts that were supposed to be deported. The convicts were used for slave labour. Thomas Benson eventually fled to Portugal. From there, Lundy Island passed through private ownership until 1969 when a British millionaire purchased the island and donated it to the National Trust/Landmark Trust.

How to Get There

From April to the end of October, day trippers are ferried by Lundy’s own ship, the MS Oldenburg. This ship leaves from either the Bideford or Ilfracombe harbour. A current ferry timetable can be found on the official website. MS Oldenburg sails at least 3 times a week and the crossing takes about 2 hours each way. We sailed out of Ilfracombe Harbour.

Tips for sailing out of the Ilfracombe:

• There are plenty of parking spots available right at the harbour however there is a meter fee.
• Arrive early to beat the queue at the Lundy Booking Office. Even if you book ahead of time, you will still need to go to the Lundy Booking Office for your tickets. You cannot get onto the ferry without these tickets and they will not give you your ferry pass when you try to board.

The Ferry Crossing

Sailing takes approximately 2-hours from harbour to harbour. Small snacks and drinks are available in the ship’s bar area. There are also 2 bathrooms should you imbibe too much from the bar.

Our 2-hour crossing was (thankfully) uneventful. Since we weren’t able to secure seating outside, the remaining booth seats were in the back and inside the boat. My mother experienced motion sickness but she was at least able to rest her head on the table for a snooze. We made sure to get in line early for the ferry ride back so we were easily able to secure outside seating. She did not experience motion sickness on the ride back.

On the ride to Lundy, it took nearly half an hour to disembark since we were near the back and inside the ferry. Keep that in mind as you are planning your Lundy Island itinerary.

Also keep in mind the long trek from the ferry to the top of the island. We weren’t tracking distance but I believe the trail ascends about 400 feet for about ¼ – ½ mile. You’ll have to do this with your own legs as the Land Rover lift is only for disabled visitors.

The views along the trail up the island are beautiful and we were able to enjoy them when we stopped for a break.

Once at the top, it seemed most visitors stopped at the island’s pub but we continued on to explore the island.

Our Itinerary

While the Lundy Island experience took a full day, we actually only had about 3 hours to explore the island as day trippers. Here is a breakdown of our schedule:

• 8:00am Park car, wait for Lundy Island Office to open, check in.
• 10am Depart Ilfracombe
• 10am – 12pm Ferry travel
• 12pm – 12:30pm Disembark
• 12:30pm – 1pm Trail from landing point to top of Lundy Island
• 1pm – 4pm Explore
• 4:30pm Depart Lundy Island
• 6:30pm Arrive Ilfracombe Harbour

Day Trip Highlights of Lundy Island

Following the main trail will lead visitors to many of the highlights on the island but as day trippers, it is important to prioritize what to see first. Here are our recommendations in no particular order. Not listed below but considered a highlight in my book, the cute Heilan Coos!

• WWII Heinkel Plane crash site
• Manx Shearwater and Puffin colonies
• St. Helen’s Church
• Marisco Castle

Along the trail we were able to see the remains of the quarry hospital ruins. This building also served as a former administration block and managers accommodations.

Animals of Lundy Island

Lundy’s Marine Protected Area is home to a diverse array of wildlife. With clear waters and 200 shipwrecks around the island, it’s a prime diving and snorkeling spot. We stayed dry but even from the clifftops, we were able to spot dolphins and Atalantic grey seals playing close to the island. The most common animals non-diving visitors will see on the island: sheep!

The Lundy Pony was bred here on the island in 1928. The poor vegetation & severe weather of the island turned this breed into a sturdy lot. We spotted this semi-feral herd roaming freely on the island.

Surprisingly, Lundy Island is home to several Heilan Coos! 6 steers were introduced in 2012 and they adapted well to Lundy’s harsh environment. Heilan Coos, or Highland Cows, are hardy Scots bred to withstand the conditions of the Scottish Highlands. The Lundy Heilan Coos are generally found between the Quarter and Halfway Walls, or often found standing in the ponds, which apparently is a favorite past time for them.

The rocky shoreline of Lundy Island supports the largest seabird colony in southern England. Up to 35 species nest on the island, including Manx Shearwaters and Puffins! Jenny’s Cove and St. Phillip’s Stone are the 2 best locations for viewing these birds from land. We recommend a good pair of binoculars or zoom lens. The photos below were taken with the Canon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS attached to the Canon EF 1.4X III Telephoto Extender & the birds were still hard to view.

Primitive Soay Sheep, often mistaken for the feral goats of Lundy.

During WWII, two German Heinkel 111 H-5 bombers crash landed on Lundy Island. The 1st crash occurred on March 3rd, 1941. The 2nd on April 1st. In the 1st crash, all 5 of the crew survived and immediately set the airplane on fire before surrendering to the island locals. They were taken as prisoners of war.

Below is an account of the crash from the German navigator of the plane, Uffz Elmar Botcher:

Below is another account from George T. Morley & Friedrich Braun from a webpage that is now defunct (http://members.multimania.co.uk/daveswrecks/photoalbum16.html):

Heinkel 3911 coded IG+AL was returning to the French airfield of Tours,home to 1/KG27 (27th Bomb Wing) following a mission to the British Isles, when engine trouble, sustained by AA fire from a RN vessel hastened the pilot into finding the nearest safe haven to put the aircraft down. Crossing the Bristol Channel off the SW English coast, the Island of Lundy presented itself to the stricken bomber crew, and at around 15.30 hours the pilot made a wheels up crash-landing on the flattest part of this tiny isle.

The bomber had crossed Pondbury Lake, over Quarter Wall, and had slid along the heather moor eventually coming to rest as it nosed into a dry stone wall, all the crew who were unhurt, very quickly vacated the Heinkel for fear of fire, but no fire occurred and the bomber was relatively intact.

Just as all this was going on, the local lighthouse keeper was on his way to the Isles hotel to collect the mail, thinking it was a British plane he hurried across to the scene, where he saw 5 men standing around the bomber talking, he then noticed the German crosses and the swastika on the tail, and at this point was noticed by a German airman who drew his pistol and waived it in the air, this was in fact a gesture by the crew to surrender themselves, but before things went any further, the lighthouse keeper sped off in search of the local Home Guardsman Felix Gade.

Mr. Gade had already been warned of events by his daughter who also saw the bomber crash, and he quickly grabbed his rifle and went off to the scene, meanwhile, given more time the German airmen, still confused by the actions of the lighthouse keeper, set fire to the plane to destroy any evidence of their mission, or equipment on board, and when Mr. Gade arrived it was a blazing wreck.

Fortunately when Mr. Gade arrived one of the crew could speak English and Gade asked him if he had dropped any bombs, to which the German replied that they were just on a reconnaissance flight when they had engine trouble, they spotted the tiny Island and thought it was part of the Scilly Isles. Mr. Gade then marched the 5 airmen off back to the hotel, where he informed a detachment of Naval ratings who were at the lighthouse, the prisoners were later conveyed by HMS Leima to Devon, where they were interrogated and then dispatched to a camp in Canada, where they would spend 4 long years, but at least for these lucky airmen, the war would be over.

Crew: fw H. Scharrschurch, Uffz E. Botcher, fw H. Bongers, fw H. Ludwig, Gefr P. Timmerman

The Navigator Uffz. Elmar Botcher passed away in 1994.

After making our way to the Halfway Wall, we headed back to the island’s main buildings for a quick rest and refreshments from the island shop.

We also stopped to send several postcards. 🙂

St. Helen’s Church was built in the 1890s by Reverend Hudson Grosset Heaven. The island was owned by the Heaven family from 1834 to 1918.no There is currently no resident priest on the island and the church is irregularly used to hold services.

Marisco Castle, built by King Henry III in 1243. During the English Civil War in 1643, the castle was refortified and much of what stands today is from that period. It is now used as a vacation cottage for overnight visitors to Lundy.

The castle grounds offers a breathtaking, panoramic view of the South Lighthouse, Landing Beach, and Rat Island.

After 3 hours of exploring, lots of walking under the hot sun with very little shade, we were ready to head back to mainland.