Auskerry (Scots: Soond; Old Norse: Austrsker, east skerry) is a small island in eastern Orkney, Scotland. It lies in the North Sea south of Stronsay and has a lighthouse, completed in 1866.
Description
Auskerry is a small, flat, red sandstone islet, 3 miles (5 km) south of Stronsay.[10][11] A standing stone and mediaeval chapel are signs of early settlement.[10] The island was uninhabited for a time after the automation of the lighthouse in the 1960s. It was previously a popular location for hunting seals.[10]
Auskerry has been inhabited for nearly 50 years by a family (of the reporter Hamish Auskerry) who keep a flock of rare North Ronaldsay sheep.[12] There are three small wind turbines and four solar panels on the island, which provide most of the power. After a series of expansions and renovations, the single roomed stone bothy is now a modern house with four bedrooms, kitchen, shower room and living room. The chemical toilet is outdoors due to the complication of installing septic tanks. Mail is delivered from Stronsay, once a month, by a fishing boat.[13]
Lighthouse
The lighthouse lights the north entrance to the Stronsay Firth.[14] It was built in 1866 by engineers David and Thomas Stevenson.[15] It is attached to two flats; the lower one is used all year as a store and the top one is used mainly in summer.
The Hastings County, a 116-metre Norwegian cargo ship, ran ashore on north west of Auskerry in 1926 during thick fog.[16] The vessel broke in half and wreckage is spread over a wide area, with the engine on the beach.
^Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN0-901824-25-9
^Pedersen, Roy (January 1992) Orkneyjar ok Katanes (map, Inverness, Nevis Print)
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