# Rosevear > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rosevear > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rosevear.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosevear > Source revision: 1311745027 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Island in the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom}} {{Use British English|date=January 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{for|the surname|Rosevear (surname)}} {{Infobox islands | name = Rosevear | local_name = {{lang|kw|Ros Veur}} | image_name = Rosevear - Scillies - geograph.org.uk - 34736.jpg | image_caption = Northern tip of Rosevear | image_alt = | map = United Kingdom Isles of Scilly | coordinates = {{coord|49.87|-6.40|region:GB-IOS|display=inline,title}} | grid_reference = SV839059 | etymology = | archipelago = [Isles of Scilly](/source/Isles_of_Scilly) | area_sqmi = | population = 0 | country = United Kingdom | country_admin_divisions_title = [Civil parish](/source/Civil_parishes_in_England) | country_admin_divisions = [St Agnes](/source/St_Agnes%2C_Isles_of_Scilly) }} '''Rosevear''' ({{langx|kw|Ros Veur}} "great promontory"){{cite web|title=Akademi Kernewek - Henwyn Tyller|url=https://www.akademikernewek.org.uk/place-names}} is the largest ({{convert|0.63|ha}}) of the group of rocks known as the [Western Rocks](/source/Western_Rocks%2C_Isles_of_Scilly), [Isles of Scilly](/source/Isles_of_Scilly). The islands are on the eastern side of the [Atlantic Ocean](/source/Atlantic_Ocean) on the south-west approaches to the island of [Great Britain](/source/Great_Britain) and are renowned for the numerous [shipwrecks](/source/shipwrecks) in the area and the nearby [Bishop Rock lighthouse](/source/Bishop_Rock%2C_Isles_of_Scilly). All the uninhabited islands are owned by the [Duchy of Cornwall](/source/Duchy_of_Cornwall) and are managed by the [Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust](/source/Isles_of_Scilly_Wildlife_Trust), which looks after the archaeological and historical remains on the islands, as well as the flora and fauna. Landing is not allowed on the island.{{cite web |title=Land Management |url=http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/node/3209 |website=Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust |accessdate=13 April 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424055524/http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/node/3209 |archivedate=24 April 2016 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Uninhabited Islands |url=http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/node/3087 |website=Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust |accessdate=13 April 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424065304/http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/node/3087 |archivedate=24 April 2016 |url-status=live}} ==Geography== Rosevear is the largest of the Western Rocks and has a relatively flat top to {{convert|5|m}}. The island is situated within a {{convert|3|km|mile|adj=mid|-long}} group of rocks which stretches from the Round Rock of Crebawethan in the north to [Pednathise Head](/source/Pednathise_Head) in the south. ==History== The island was used as a base camp, during 1709 and 1710, for the Herbert salvage expedition, which worked the wrecks of the [''Association''](/source/HMS_Association_(1697)) and the other naval vessels in [1707](/source/Scilly_naval_disaster_of_1707).{{cite book|last=Larn|first=Richard|title=The Shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly|year=1992|publisher=Thomas & Lochar|location=[Nairn](/source/Nairn)|isbn=0-946537-84-4}} The ghost of opera singer and actress [Ann Cargill](/source/Ann_Cargill), who died when the British [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company) [packet ship](/source/packet_ship) ['' Nancy''](/source/Nancy_(1774_EIC_ship)) sank near Rosevear on 24 February 1784, is said to haunt the island. Her body, still clutching her 18-month-old son, was originally buried on Rosevear, although she was later moved to [Old Town Church](/source/St_Mary's_Old_Church%2C_St_Mary's) on [St Mary's](/source/St_Mary's%2C_Isles_of_Scilly), along with her child and Halden, the captain.{{cite magazine|title=Ghosts of Rosevear|journal=The Islander|date=Spring 2009|pages=22–25|issn=1756-7459}}{{cite web|title=Pictured: The legendary shipwreck that claimed life of 18th-century's 'Marilyn Monroe' and £200,000 worth of jewels|url=http://forums.canadiancontent.net/history/77180-legendary-shipwreck-claimed-life-18th.html|website=Canadian Content|date=17 September 2008 |accessdate=13 April 2016}} In the 1840s and 1850s the island was again inhabited by workmen, this time building the Bishop Rock lighthouse. It was said that they heard mysterious music and were troubled by ghosts. Following a decision to build a lighthouse on the Bishop Rock in April 1847, [Trinity House](/source/Trinity_House) decided to make Rosevear the base because it was the nearest island (3.2 km) with a relatively flat area. The island was used as a base from 1847 to 1850, for the unsuccessful first attempt and for the successful construction from 1851 to 1858. Four main elements of the base remain. Two buildings, one a workers' lodge and mess and the other a workshop, are to the north-west of the complex, a slab-built platform by the east coast and a [smiths hearth](/source/Forge) between the lodgings and workshop. Another building can be seen further south on the east coast. The surviving walls are from 0.4 m to 0.7 m high, with the best preserved are up to 3.0 m.{{cite web|title=Monument No 303317|url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=303317|website=PastScape|publisher=English Heritage|accessdate=13 April 2016}} The remains were designated as a [scheduled monument](/source/scheduled_monument) in 1997.{{Cite web |title=Lighthouse-builders' operational base on Rosevear, St. Agnes - 1016175 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1016175 |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} A ship's funnel lies amongst the rocks of Rosevear; this comes from the ''Cité de Verdun'', which was wrecked on Rosevear in 1925.Glynis Cooper, ''Rosevear: A Desert Island Story'', Historic Occasions, 2002. p4. {{ISBN|1-900006-00-6}}. ==Natural history== Landing on the uninhabited islands is both difficult and discouraged, and there are few published records of visits by naturalists.{{cite book|last=Parslow|first=Rosemary|title=The Isles of Scilly|year=2007|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=978-0-00-220150-6}} In 1971, the rocks and islands were designated a [Site of Special Scientific Interest](/source/Site_of_Special_Scientific_Interest) for their breeding sea birds.{{cite web|title=Western Rocks|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002074.pdf|publisher=[Natural England](/source/Natural_England)|accessdate=13 April 2016|date=5 December 1986}} A visit by [Geoffrey Grigson](/source/Geoffrey_Grigson), in or around 1947, found a few [Atlantic puffin](/source/Atlantic_puffin) (''Fratercula arctica''), scores of [razorbill](/source/razorbill) (''Alca torda''), [European shag](/source/European_shag) (''Phalacrocorax aristotelis'') and [great black-backed gull](/source/great_black-backed_gull) (''Larus marinus''). A heavy fall of migrants was seen on a visit by Rosemary Parslow in October 1990 with dozens of European robin (''[Erithacus rubecula](/source/Erithacus_rubecula)'') and goldcrest (''[Regulus regulus](/source/Regulus_regulus)''), and several yellow–browed warbler (''[Phylloscopus inornatus](/source/Phylloscopus_inornatus)''); all feeding amongst the vegetation. The island has replaced [Melledgan](/source/Western_Rocks%2C_Isles_of_Scilly) as the site of the third largest colony of [European storm petrel](/source/European_storm_petrel) (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') in England with fifty-seven occupied sites recorded during the Seabird 2000 survey, increasing to 129 occupied sites in the repeat survey in 2006. The colony of shag on Rosevear and the rest of the Western Rocks is of national importance. During storms the sea can wash over the island, and there is a shingle community of plants with [tree mallow](/source/Lavatera_arborea) (''Lavatera arborea''), sea curled dock (''[Rumex crispus littoreus](/source/Rumex_crispus)'') and ''[Atriplex](/source/Atriplex)'' sp. The only other species recorded are sea beet (''[Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''maritima](/source/Sea_Beet)''), [common scurvygrass](/source/Cochlearia_officinalis) (''Cochlearia officinalis''), ''[orache](/source/orache)'' sp, and [rock sea-spurry](/source/Spergularia) (''Spergularia rupicola'').{{cite book|last=Sneddon|first=P E|title=Coastal vegetated shingle structures of Great Britain: Appendix 3. Shingle sites in England|year=1994|publisher=JNCC|location=Cambridge|isbn=1873701187|pages=82–87|url=http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/pub94_Sneddon_Randall_Appendix3_England.pdf|author2=Randall R E}} == References == {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Portal|Cornwall}} {{Commons category|Rosevear, Isles of Scilly|Rosevear}} * [https://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/western-rocks Western Rocks] including Rosevear on the [Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust](/source/Isles_of_Scilly_Wildlife_Trust) site == Further reading == * Cooper, Glynis, 2002, ''Rosevear: A Desert Island Story'', Historic Occasions, {{ISBN|1900006006}} {{Isles of Scilly}} Category:Uninhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the Isles of Scilly Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971 Category:Former populated places in Cornwall --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rosevear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosevear) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosevear?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.