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Bass Rock

Bass Rock is an island in the Firth of Forth that sits about two miles northeast of North Berwick. It is a 110m/360 ft high lump of volcanic rock that has a circumference of about 1 mile/1.5km; it is sometimes referred to as the Ailsa Craig of the east due to its similarity to the island in the Firth of Clyde. Its size and shape certainly make it the most easily recognised island in the Forth.

The Bass was a retreat for early Christians, including St. Baldred who is said to have died on the island in the mid 8th century. The site of his cell on the island was later used to build the now ruined St. Baldred’s Chapel; this was mentioned as noviter erecta in a Papal Bull of 1493. The lighthouse on the island was built by David Stevenson in 1902; this stands above the remains of a 16th century castle, although this might have been built on the site of an earlier Castell of the Bas. Prior to the lighthouse, the castle was rebuilt as a prison and used to hold Covenanters during the 17th century, including Alexander Peden and John Blackadder. In the late 17th century Jacobite prisoners seized the island and held it for three years in the name of King James VII; the prison was demolished at the beginning of the 18th century.

Today, like other islands in the Firth of Forth, the Bass Rock is now a sea bird sanctuary. It is the home of a large gannet colony, which can be watched from the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick; with a current estimate of over 150,000 gannets on the island, it is the world's biggest single rock gannetry and David Attenburgh once described the island as one of the Twelve Wildlife Wonders of the World.

North Berwick's Islands

To the west of Bass Rock, sitting to the north of North Berwick, is Craigleith; rock from the island is used to manufacture curling stones. Continuing west is Lamb, which sits between two rocks known as North and South Dog; collectively these rocks are known as Lamb’s sheep dogs. Further west is Craigleith, which is said to have been the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. The lighthouse on Fidra was built in 1885 by David and Thomas Stevenson, the uncle and father of Robert Louis; in 1970, this became the first fully automated lighthouse run by the Northern Lighthouse Service. Like the Bass Rock and the small island of Eyebroughy that sits to the west of Fidra, these islands are also noted for their bird colonies; these include puffins, cormorants, guillemot and herring gulls.

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