- The Farne Islands are a group of uninhabited islands which lie 7.5 miles (121km) to the southeast of Lindisfarne, opposite Bamburgh Castle in Northumbria, England. They belong to the National Trust.
- There are 15-20 islands lying in two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group, separated by the Staple Sound. The highest point is on Inner Farne at 62 feet (19m) above mean sea level.
Lighthouses
- There are currently two automatic Lighthouses operated by Trinity House, the Longstone Lighthouse and the Farne Lighthouse.
Grace Darling
- At 0300 hrs on the 7th September 1838 the Paddle Steamer ‘Forfarshire’ was wrecked on a rock called Big Harcar. It broke in two and the stern half sank. At dawn, the Longstone Lighthouse keeper’s 22 year old daughter, Grace Darling, spotted the survivors on Big Harcar from the lighthouse, but her father insisted it was too dangerous to rescue them.
- She convinced her father that they should give it a try and he rowed them both out to the rock in the storm, by keeping to the lee of the islands. She then kept the boat stable whilst he clambered onto the rock and rescued 4 of the survivors. After they had returned to the lighthouse, they made a second journey and rescued the remaining passengers, a total of 9.
- William and Grace Darling received the Silver Medal from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the Gold Medallion from the Royal Humane Society. Grace received two additional Silver Medals from the Glasgow Humane Society and the Edinburgh and Leith Humane Society.
- Grace Darling’s bravery made her a heroine throughout Victorian Britain and £700 in donations was raised for her including £50 from Queen Victoria. William Wordsworth wrote a poem about her titled ‘Grace Darling’ in 1843.
Farne Islands