LUNDY the only island of any size off the coast of Devon, lies 11 m. NNW. of Hartland Point, about 22 m. NW. of Instow with which there is a regular service by motor-boat, and in the entrance to the Bristol Channel. It is about 3 m. long, averages about t m. wide, and covers some 920 acres. It is composed mostly of granite, with slates at the S. end, and forms a tableland about 400 ft. above the sea. The highest point is at Beacon Hill (471 ft.), from which there are magnificent views of the Welsh coast one way, and the Devon and Cornish coasts the other. The name Lundy is derived from the Old Norse words lundi, "puffin," and ey, "island "; and puffins still nest on the island in large numbers. The island was well known to the Scandinavian pirates who harried the shores of Wales and Devon, and is indeed first mentioned by name in the Orkney ingasaga in 1139-48.

Lundy was occupied in prehistoric times, for flint flakes and pottery have come from the small barrows that dot the surface of the island. Lundy has evidence of visitation or occupation from the Neolithic period onward, with mesolithic flint work, bronze age burial mounds, inscribed Celtic gravestones, and an early medieval monastery dedicated to Saint Elen or Saint Helen.

Standing Stone to the north of Old Light is evidence that Lundy was home to a group of early Celtic peoples, who subsisted by fishing and basic agriculture. This is all that remains of one of their sacred sites

Evidence that the Knights Templar were given the island of Lundy is sparse but clearly documented. Exactly when the Templars were first given the island is uncertain but it would seem that as they were a major maritime force in the reign of Henry II (1154-1189), he gave them Lundy as an English port of refuge. Whether they actually took possession of the island then is questionable, though the Order did have economic interests in north Devon and may well have been given the island as an alternative to the Taw river landings leading to Barnstable. It has been speculated that one of the reasons for the king's generosity was that the Norseman were attackin Scotland and harassing the coastline and may have posed a threat to more southern waters.

It is known that William de Marisco was fined circa 1195 for retaining the island of Lundy against the wishes of King Henry and against the rights of the Knights Templar.

In 1235, William de Marisco, implicated in the plot to murder Henry II, fled to the island where he lived as a virtual king. He fortified the only real landing place on its coastline and defended it against all comers other than pirates and outlaws who flocked there for his protection. He built Marisco Castle with nine-foot (2.74 m) thick walls that safeguarded him and his 'subjects' for seventeen years. Eventually he and sixteen of his close followers were captured and tried. Lundy was seized by the Royal forces and Marisco was hanged , drawn and quartered.

There followed a period of relative anarchy on the island with English and foreign pirates and outlaws and privateers (including more members of the Marisco family) taking control of the island for short periods, causing shipping traffic to avoid the Bristol Channel whenever possible.

Further evidence of the Templars' weak hold on the island comes ten years after the death of Henry II in the year of the death of King Richard I, Henry's eldest son, who had succeeded him.

King John, Richard's youngest brother, began his reign in 1199, ignoring the claims of his young nephew, Prince Arthur. In an effort to ensure the Templars' rights on Lundy, John confirmed the earlier grant made by King Henry (II?) in the following form:

At this time, John also recompensated the Templars for the past lack of income from Lundy by granting them the revenues of the Marisco family in Somerset. It is uncertain whether the Templars used the island at all, because in 1213 the English treasury paid the Order £10 in respect of the island. Whether this was recompense for not being able to use it or a fee agreed for the Templars to nominally hold it in the name of the Order is unclear.

What is certain is that by the time of King Henry III, the son of King John (1216-1272) they were given 100 shillings by the king in lieu of and in full recompense for the island. The Order's connection with Lundy seems to have been severed at this time.

Thomas Bushell was a friend of Francis Bacon, and a strong supporter of the Royalist cause during the Civil War and an expert on mining and coining. It has even been argued that during his stay on Lundy he produced coinage for King Charles I, however definitive proof has not been found and it remains speculation. He held Lundy for King Charles I and significantly this was the last part of the king's lands to capitulate to the victorious Parliamentary after a siege lasting a year. Richard Fiennes, representing General Fairfax received the surrender. Bushell had rebuilt Marisco Castle and garrisoned the island at his own expense (Boundy 1961).

In the early 17th century the island again became the haunt of pirates, and was frequently attacked by the Spanish and French. Lord Say and Sele obtained Lundy in 1656. He is said to have retired there during the Protectorate, and to be buried under the W. window of the old St. Helen's chapel.

The late 18th and early 19th centuries were years of lawlessness on Lundy, particularly during the ownership of Benson, an MP who notoriously used the island for housing convicts who he was supposed to be deporting. Piracy was rife during this period.

A lighthouse was erected in 1819 on the highest point of the island but experience showed that the light was frequently obscured by fog at that height, and in 1897 the North Light and South Light, at either end of the island, were substituted for it. The only landing place among the towering cliffs is at the SE. end, in the shelter of Rat Island. Above the landing place are the few houses on the island, and the new St. Helen's church (1889) The old church, used until about 1747, stood near the Old Lighthouse where some foundations are to be seen. Also at the SE. end of the island is the square keep of Marisco Castle (probably 13th century) now converted into cottages. It was refortified during the Civil Wars.

In 1834, Lundy was bought for 9,400 guineas by W. H. Heaven, who claimed it to be a "free island" and successfully resisted the jurisdiction of the mainland magistrates. Lundy was in consequence sometimes referred to as "the kingdom of Heaven." It belongs in fact to the county of Devon, and has always been part of the hundred of Braunton. Many of the buildings on the island today, including St. Helena's Church and Millcombe House (originally known simply as The Villa) date from the Heaven period.

The Villa, a well-proportioned house in the Georgian style, was built in the late 1830s. However, the expense of building the road from the beach (no financial assistance being provided by Trinity House, despite their regular use of the road following its construction), the Villa, and the general cost of running the island had a ruinous effect on the family's finances. Coupled with the collapse in the sugar market (much of William Heaven's income came from his sugar plantations in Jamaica), the family was obliged the make the island its principal home from the early 1840s.

William Heaven retained some property on the mainland in order to continue to qualify to vote. Known as 'The Squire' he defended Lundy's extra-terratorial privileges vigorously, and this defence included the insistence that his qualification to vote did not rest on his ownership of the Lundy property, but of mainland property. Not surprisingly the island became known as the 'Kingdom of Heaven'.

His sister, Marion Cecilia Harley Heaven married her cousin Dr John Cookesley Heaven. She and her daughter Eileen Heaven retained a close interest in the Island throughout their lives, Eileen dying in 1983.

Her cousin, Richard John Gyde Heaven, and his children and grandchildren have also continued to be regular visitors to the Island.

The Christie family owned the island for just a few years before selling it in 1924 to Martin Coles Harman. The main residence was modeled on that of a Burmese Tea Plantation dwelling, with a partly convex roof to catch the rain as the water courses on the island are prone to contamination due to the stock grazing on the island.

Martin Coles Harmon bought the island of Lundy, the mail contract, as well as the MV Lerina, in October of 1924after which he proclaimed himself a "king. Harman also issued two coins of Half Puffin and One Puffin value in 1929, nominally equivalent to the British Halfpenny & Penny. It was this coinage that landed him in trouble. The House of Lords in 1931, found him in violation of the United Kingdom’s 1870 Coinage Act. He was fined five pounds and fifteen guineas expenses. The "coins" were withdrawn and became collectors' items. In 1965 a 'fantasy' restrike four coin set, a few in gold, was issued to commemorate 40 years since Harman purchased the island. He died in 1954. During the Harmon period, residents did not pay taxes to the United Kingdom and had to pass through customs when they travelled to and from Lundy Island. Although the island was ruled as a virtual fiefdom, Mr. Harmon never claimed the island was independent of the United Kingdom.

Following the death of Mr. Harmon's son in 1968, Lundy was sold in 1969to the National Trust and leased to the Landmark Trust, which maintains properties on the island that are rented to tourists. The income is used to maintain the properties and the island.

Lundy has long been notable for its multitude of rabbits and its colonies of puffins. It is also of particular interest to geologists and botanists. The cliff scenery is spectacularly wild. On the Shutter Rock, at the SW. point of the island, Charles Kingsley caused Don Guzman's great ship to be wrecked in Westward Ho! and in 1906 H.M.S. Montagu was in fact wrecked here. Rat Island is one of the few remaining homes of the aboriginal black rat, now almost exterminated by the brown rat. The granite of Lundy was used for the Thames Embankment, and was long used for parish churches on the Devon mainland.

Except in winter, there is a regular ferry service, from Bidegord or Ifracombe depending on the tides, using the island's own ship, the MS Oldenburg. There is also a helicopter service.

Tourism and the sale of postage stamps are the main parts of Lundy's economy. The Marisco Tavern, which used to brew its own beer, is in Lundy village. Lundy is also used as a site for scientific research, and the south end of the island is operated as a farm. There are two working lighthouses on the island (and one historic disused one).

An interesting legend, holds that the island was once home to the fabled Holy Grail. As the story goes, the Knights Templar hid it there for a time in their castle. That is why Lundy Island is soimetimes referred to as the Grail Island.n a 2005 opinion poll of readers of Radio Times, Lundy was named as the 10th greatest natural wonder in Britain. It has increasingly become a popular tourist destination. Day-tripping is most popular, although tourists can spend several nights on the island in holiday cottages, almost all at the south end of the island.

The Royal family even visited the island in the 1970s.