Tour the eerie Scottish island of Swona - abandoned for over 40 years
Swona, in the Orkney Isles, was last inhabited more than 40 years ago. Since at least the early 1930s, just one family - the Rosies - called it home with the last brother and sister sailing off for the final time in 1974.
By Group Reporter
Published 28th Feb 2019, 14:03 GMT
Updated 14th May 2019, 15:00 GMT
Geograph.org.uk
Today, only a herd of feral cattle can be found on the island in the Pentland Firth, which sits around seven miles north of John o’ Groats. Swona was one described by a newspaper - the Press and Journal - as “surely one of the queerest places of residence” in the British Isles given the isolation of its residents.
A derelict cottage on the island of Swona whose last residents left in 1974.
The east of the island has a number of caves.
It is thought this is what's left of the Pennsylvania. The shipwreck is located on the rocks near The Brook on Swona.
Chambered Cairn on the Tarf on Swona, Orkney Islands.
When the island went on the market in 1936, it was touted as the perfect safe haven from the dangers of war.
Seals follow a rare visitor to the island of Swona.
Humans lived on Swona since around 500BC with the Vikings among those who settled here. By the mid-18th Century it was home to nine families. In the 1880s, 47 residents lived on the island, which had its own school until 1920.
Today, only a herd of feral cattle can be found on the island in the Peatland Firth.
Frequently cut off by the swift tides of the Pentland Firth, the coastline claimed the lives of multiple mariners over the years. A bank of reef to its west side was a notorious danger spot.
Its human abandonment has led to many natural riches, however, with the island a Site of Special Scientific Interest where a number of rare plants can be found.
