Editing Lundy (section)

==History==
Lundy has evidence of visitation or occupation from the [[Mesolithic]] period onward, with [[Neolithic]] flintwork, [[Bronze Age]] [[tumulus|burial mounds]], four inscribed gravestones from the early medieval period,<ref>See the discussion and bibliography in [[Elisabeth Okasha]], ''Corpus of early Christian inscribed stones of South-west Britain'' (Leicester: University Press, 1993), pp. 154–66.</ref><ref name="Lundy Field Society">Lundy Field Society 40th Annual Report for 1989. pp. 34&ndash;47.</ref> and an early medieval monastery (possibly dedicated to St Elen or [[Helena (Empress)|St Helen]]).

===Beacon Hill Cemetery===
[[File:Beacon hill sketch.svg|thumb|left|Sketch of Beacon Hill Cemetery]]

Beacon Hill Cemetery was excavated by [[Charles Thomas (historian)|Charles Thomas]] in 1969.<ref name="thomas1994">Charles Thomas, ''And Shall These Mute Stones Speak?'' (1994) Cardiff: University of Wales Press</ref> The cemetery contains four inscribed stones, dated to the 5th or 6th century AD.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CISP - Site: Beacon Hill, Lundy |url= https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/site/lundy.html |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=UCL.ac.uk}}</ref> The site was originally enclosed by a curvilinear bank and ditch, which is still visible in the southwest corner, however, the other walls were moved when the Old Light was constructed in 1819.<ref>{{Historic England|num=1016040|desc=Chapel remains, cemetery and prehistoric settlement on Beacon Hill, Lundy|access-date=9 February 2024}}</ref> [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic Christian]] enclosures of this type were common in Western Britain and are known as {{lang|cy|[[Llan (placename element)|Llans]]}} in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and {{lang|kw|Lanns}} in [[Cornish language|Cornish]]. There are surviving examples in [[Luxulyan]], in Cornwall; [[Mathry]], [[Meidrim]] and [[Clydau]] in the south of Wales; and [[Stowford]], [[Jacobstowe]], [[Lydford]] and [[Instow]], in Devon.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

Thomas proposed the following sequence of site usage:<ref>{{Cite web |title=CISP - Site: Beacon Hill, Lundy |url= https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/site/lundy.html |access-date=25 January 2024 |website=UCL.ac.uk}}</ref>
# An area of [[Roundhouse (dwelling)|round huts]] and fields. These huts may have fallen into disuse before the construction of the cemetery.
# The construction of the focal grave, an {{convert|11|by|8|ft|m|abbr=on}} rectangular stone enclosure containing a single [[cist]] grave. The interior of the enclosure was filled with small granite pieces. Two more cist graves located to the west of the enclosure may also date from this time.
# Perhaps 100 years later, the focal grave was opened and the infill removed. The body may have been moved to a church at this time.
# Two further stages of cist grave construction around the focal grave.

Twenty-three cist graves were found during this excavation. Considering that the excavation only uncovered a small area of the cemetery, there may be as many as 100 graves.

====Inscribed stones====
[[File:Lundy inscribed stones.jpg|thumb|Inscribed stones]]
Four [[Celtic inscribed stone]]s have been found in Beacon Hill Cemetery:
* 1400 OPTIMI,<ref name="thomas1994" /> or TIMI;<ref name="okasha1993">[[Elisabeth Okasha]], (1993) ''Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-west Britain''. Leicester: University Press</ref> the name (or perhaps epithet) Optimus is Latin and male. Discovered in 1962 by D. B. Hague.<ref name="CISP">{{cite web |url= http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/ |title=Celtic Inscribed Stones Project history |access-date=6 January 2008}}</ref>
* 1401 RESTEVTAE,<ref name="thomas1994" /> or RESGEVT[A],<ref name="okasha1993" /> [[Latin]], female i.e. Resteuta or Resgeuta. Discovered in 1962 by D. B. Hague.<ref name="CISP" />
* 1402 POTIT[I],<ref name="thomas1994" /> or [PO]TIT,<ref name="okasha1993" /> Latin, male. Discovered in 1961 by K. S. Gardener and A. Langham.<ref name="CISP" />
* 1403 --]IGERNI [FIL]I TIGERNI,<ref name="thomas1994" /> or—I]GERNI [FILI] [T]I[G]ERNI,<ref name="okasha1993" /> [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]], male i.e. Tigernus son of Tigernus. Discovered in 1905.<ref name="CISP" />

===Knights Templar===
Lundy was granted to the [[Knights Templar]] by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in 1160. The Templars were a major international maritime force at this time, with interests in North Devon, and almost certainly an important port at [[Bideford]] or on the [[River Taw]] in [[Barnstaple]]. This was probably because of the increasing threat posed by the [[North Germanic peoples|Norse]] sea raiders; however, it is unclear whether they ever took possession of the island. Ownership was disputed by the Marisco family who may have already been on the island during [[Stephen, King of England|King Stephen's]] reign. The Mariscos were fined, and the island was cut off from necessary supplies.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.fairyjo.info/News/2006/07/26/ |title=Lundy Island Pirates&nbsp;— William de Marisco |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=FairyJo}}</ref> Evidence of the Templars' weak hold on the island came when [[John, King of England|King John]], on his accession in 1199, confirmed the earlier grant.<ref name="Lundy history">{{cite web |last=Robson |first=Pete |title=History |date=2012 |work=LundyPete.com |url= http://www.lundypete.com/history.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180820005651/http://www.lundypete.com/history.html |archive-date=20 August 2018}}</ref>

===Marisco family===
[[File:Mariscocastle.jpg|thumb|Marisco Castle]]
In 1235, William de Marisco was implicated in the murder of Henry Clement, a messenger of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maitland |first=F. W. |date=April 1895 |title=The Murder of Henry Clement |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=10 |issue=38 |pages=294–297 |doi=10.1093/ehr/X.XXXVIII.294 |jstor=547790 |url= https://zenodo.org/record/1860451}}</ref> Three years later, an attempt was made to kill Henry III by a man who later confessed to being an agent of the Marisco family. William de Marisco fled to Lundy where he lived as a virtual king. He built a stronghold in the area now known as Bulls' Paradise with walls {{convert|9|ft|m|0|abbr=off}} thick.<ref name="Lundy history" />

In 1242, Henry III sent troops to the island. They scaled the island's cliff and captured William de Marisco and 16 of his "subjects". Henry III built the castle (sometimes referred to as the Marisco Castle) in an attempt to establish the rule of law on the island and its surrounding waters.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1104957 |desc=Marisco Castle, Keep and Bailey |access-date=5 September 2007}}</ref> In 1275, the island is recorded as being in the Lordship of King Edward I<ref>Calendarium Inquisitionum Post Mortem Edward I, Anno. 3 (1275), entry 54, p.56, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/27355-redirection</ref> but by 1322 it was in the possession of [[Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster]] and was among the large number of lands seized by Edward II following Lancaster's execution for rebelling against the King.<ref>Inquisitions Post Mortem Edward II, (1322), No. 49, p.307, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/27355-redirection</ref> At some point in the 13th century the monks of the [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] order at [[Cleeve Abbey]] held the rectory of the island.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Stuart A. |title=Cleeve Abbey |publisher=English Heritage |date=2000 |isbn=978-1-85074-760-4 |page=26}}</ref>

===Piracy===
Over the next few centuries, the island was hard to govern. Trouble followed as both English and foreign pirates and [[privateer]]s&nbsp;– including other members of the Marisco family&nbsp;– took control of the island for short periods. Ships were forced to navigate close to Lundy because of the dangerous shingle banks in the fast flowing [[River Severn]] and [[Bristol Channel]], with its tidal range of {{convert|27|ft|m|1|abbr=off}},<ref>
{{cite book |title=Sailing Directions for the West Coast of England from the Scilly Islands to the Mull of Galloway, including the Isle of Man |publisher=Admiralty Hydrographic Department |date=1891 |location=London |page=54}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tides and Currents |publisher=Lundy Marine Protection Zone |url= http://www.lundymcz.org.uk/weather/tide-and-currents |access-date=17 December 2013}}</ref> one of the greatest in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/severnpositionmay2006_1508223.pd |work=UK Environment Agency |title=Severn Estuary Barrage |date=31 May 2006 |access-date=3 September 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155720/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/severnpositionmay2006_1508223.pd |archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/07/04/bristolchannel_feature.shtml |title=Coast: Bristol Channel |work=BBC |access-date=27 August 2007}}</ref> This made the island a profitable location from which to prey on passing [[Bristol]]-bound merchant ships bringing back valuable goods from overseas.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://pages.prodigy.net/rodney.broome/pirlundy.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080108121448/http://pages.prodigy.net/rodney.broome/pirlundy.htm |archive-date=8 January 2008 |title=Pirate Island |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=Rodney Broome}}</ref>

In 1627, a group known as the [[Salé Rovers]], from the [[Republic of Salé]] (now [[Salé]] in [[Morocco]]) occupied Lundy for five years. These [[Barbary corsairs|Barbary pirates]], under the command of a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] renegade named [[Jan Janszoon]], flew a [[Moorish]] flag over the island. Slaving raids were made embarking from Lundy by the Barbary Pirates, and captured Europeans were held on Lundy before being sent to  [[Salé]] and [[Algiers]] to be [[barbary slave trade|sold as slave]] to [[Slavery on the Barbary Coast|slavery on the Barbary coast]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Milton |first=Giles |title=White Gold: The Forgotten Story of North Africa's One Million European Slaves |date=2005 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=978-0340895092}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=de Bruxelles |first=Simon |date=28 February 2007 |title=Pirates who got away with it by sailing closer to the wind |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article1449736.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070302095231/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article1449736.ece |archive-date=2 March 2007 |quote=The pirates ceased to be a problem after the French conquered their raiding base, Algiers, in 1830 — and the secret of their crucial advantage was lost.&nbsp;... Barbary pirates raided villages along the Devon and Cornwall coast, setting up a base on Lundy Island&nbsp;.... Those taken were sold in Algiers slave markets or worked to death as galley slaves.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Konstam |first=Angus |title=Piracy: The Complete History |date=2008 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=USiyy1ZA-BsC&pg=PA91 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-84603-240-0 |page=91}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |title=Europe: A History |date=1996 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-820171-7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC&pg=PA561 |page=561}}</ref> 

From 1628 to 1634, in addition to the Barbary Pirates, the island was plagued by privateers of French, Basque, English and Spanish origin targeting the lucrative shipping routes passing through the Bristol Channel. These incursions were eventually ended by [[John Penington]], but in the 1660s and as late as the 1700s the island still fell prey to French privateers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chanter |first=John Roberts |title=Lundy Island: A Monograph, Descriptive and Historical |date=1877 |publisher=Cassell, Petter & Galpin |pages=78–89 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CfkGAAAAQAAJ}}</ref>

===Civil war===
In the [[English Civil War]], [[Thomas Bushell (mining engineer)|Thomas Bushell]] held Lundy for King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], rebuilding Marisco Castle and garrisoning the island at his own expense. He was a friend of [[Francis Bacon]], a strong supporter of the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] cause and an expert on mining and coining. It was the last Royalist territory held between the [[First English Civil War|first]] and [[Second English Civil War|second]] civil wars. After receiving permission from Charles I, Bushell surrendered the island on 24 February 1647 to Richard Fiennes, representing [[Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron|General Fairfax]].<ref name="Boundy">{{Cite book |last=Boundy |first=Wyndham Sydney |title=Bushell and Harman of Lundy |date=1961 |publisher=Gazette Printing Service |location=Bideford}}</ref> In 1656, the island was acquired by [[William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele|Lord Saye and Sele]].<ref name="library">{{cite web |url= http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/110578/1.html |title=Lundy Community Page |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=Devon County Libraries |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070908001850/http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/110578/1.html |archive-date=8 September 2007}}</ref>
[[File:Millcombehouse.jpg|thumb|Millcombe House]]
[[File:Interior of St Helena's church, Lundy.jpg|thumb|right|Interior of St. Helen's Church, prior to the east window's restoration in 2018]]
[[File:St._Helen's_Church.jpg|thumb|right|Exterior of St. Helen's Church, taken prior to the 2018 renovations]]
[[File:Government_House_on_Lundy_Island.jpg|thumb|right|Government House, built in 1982]]

===18th and 19th centuries===
The late 18th and early 19th centuries were years of lawlessness on Lundy, particularly during the ownership of [[Thomas Benson (1708–1772)|Thomas Benson]] (1708–1772), a [[Member of Parliament]] for Barnstaple in 1747 and [[High Sheriff of Devon|Sheriff of Devon]], who notoriously used the island for housing convicts whom he was supposed to be deporting. Benson leased Lundy from its owner, [[John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower]] (1694–1754) (who was an heir of the Grenville family of Bideford and of [[Stowe, Kilkhampton]] in Cornwall), at a rent of £60 per annum and contracted with the Government to transport a shipload of convicts to [[Virginia]], but diverted the ship to Lundy to use the convicts as his personal slaves. Later Benson was involved in an insurance swindle. He purchased and insured the ship ''Nightingale'' and loaded it with a valuable cargo of pewter and linen. Having cleared the port on the mainland, the ship put into Lundy, where the cargo was removed and stored in a cave built by the convicts, before setting sail again. Some days afterwards, when a homeward-bound vessel was sighted, the ''Nightingale'' was set on fire and scuttled. The crew were taken off the stricken ship by the other ship, which landed them safely at [[Clovelly]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/history/lundy.htm |title=Lundy, the Mariscos and Benson |work=Lerwill-Life.org.uk |access-date=6 September 2007}}</ref>

[[Vere Hunt|Sir Vere Hunt, 1st Baronet of Curragh]], a rather eccentric Irish politician and landowner, and unsuccessful man of business, purchased the island from John Cleveland in 1802 for £5,270. Hunt planted in the island a small, self-contained Irish colony with its own constitution and divorce laws, coinage, and stamps. The tenants came from Hunt's [[Curraghchase Forest Park|Irish estate]] and they experienced agricultural difficulties while on the island. This led Hunt to seek someone who would take the island off his hands, failing in his attempt to sell the island to the British government as a base for troops. 

After the 1st Baronet's death his son, [[Sir Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Baronet|Sir Aubrey (Hunt) de Vere, 2nd Baronet]], also had great difficulty in securing any profit from the property. In the 1820s, John Benison agreed to purchase the island for £4,500 but then refused to complete the sale, as he felt that de Vere could not make out a good title in respect of the sale terms, namely that the island was free from tithes and taxes.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.limerickcity.ie/Tools/Search/?cx=011573740689929430170%3Abzoybyvdyy0&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=de+vere&sa=Go&siteurl=www.limerick.ie%252FCollectionLists%252FCollectionListsinPDF%252F |title= Limerick City Archives, P22, De Vere Papers |access-date= 25 June 2010 |archive-date= 22 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110722045600/http://www.limerickcity.ie/Tools/Search/?cx=011573740689929430170:bzoybyvdyy0&cof=FORID:9&ie=UTF-8&q=de+vere&sa=Go&siteurl=www.limerick.ie%2FCollectionLists%2FCollectionListsinPDF%2F |url-status= dead }}</ref>

William Hudson Heaven purchased Lundy in 1834, as a summer retreat and for [[Game (food)|hunting]], at a cost of 9,400 [[Guinea (British coin)|guineas]] (£9,870). He 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 belonged in law to the county of Devon, and had long been part of the [[Hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]] of [[Braunton]].<ref name="library" /> Many of the buildings on the island, including [[St Helen's Church, Lundy|St. Helen's Church]], designed by the architect [[John Norton (architect)|John Norton]], and Millcombe House (originally known simply as "the Villa"), date from the Heaven period. The [[Georgian architecture|Georgian-style]] villa was built in 1836.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1326626 |desc=Millcombe House |access-date=5 September 2007}}</ref> However, the expense of building the road from the beach (no financial assistance being provided by [[Trinity House]], despite their frequent use of the road following the construction of the lighthouses), maintaining the villa, and the general cost of running the island had a ruinous effect on the family's finances, which had been diminished by reduced profits from their sugar plantations, rum production, and livestock rearing in [[Jamaica]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gambrill |first=Anthony |date=26 May 2019 |title=Kingdom of Heaven |url= https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/focus/20190526/anthony-gambrill-kingdom-heaven |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=[[The Gleaner]]}}</ref>

In 1957, a message in a bottle from one of the seamen of {{HMS|Caledonia|1808|6}} was washed ashore between [[Babbacombe]] and Peppercombe in [[Devon]]. The letter, dated 15 August 1843, read: "Dear Brother, Please e God i be with y against Michaelmas. Prepare y search Lundy for y Jenny ivories. Adiue William, Odessa". The bottle and letter are on display at the Portledge Hotel at Fairy Cross, in Devon, England. {{ship||Jenny|1783 ship|2}} was a three-masted [[full-rigged ship]] reputed to be carrying ivory and gold dust that was wrecked on Lundy on 20 January 1797 at a place thereafter called Jenny's Cove. Some ivory was apparently recovered some years later but the leather bags supposed to contain gold dust were never found.<ref>{{cite book |last=Page |first=John Lloyd Warden |title=The Coasts of Devon and Lundy Island: Their Towns, Villages, Scenery, Antiquities and Legends |location=London |publisher=Horace Cox |date=1895 |page=227}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Langham |first=A. F. |date=1994 |title=The Island of Lundy |location=Stroud |publisher=Sutton Publishing |page=142 |isbn=978-0-7509-0661-6}}</ref>

===20th and 21st centuries===
William Heaven was succeeded by his son the Reverend Hudson Grosset Heaven who, thanks to a legacy from Sarah Langworthy (née Heaven), was able to fulfill his life's ambition of building a stone church on the island. St Helen's was completed in 1896, and stands today as a lasting memorial to the Heaven period. It has been designated by [[English Heritage]] a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE |num=1104955 |desc=Church of St Helen |access-date=5 September 2007}}</ref> He is said to have been able to afford either a church or a new harbour. His choice of the church was not however in the best financial interests of the island. The unavailability of the money for re-establishing the family's financial soundness, coupled with disastrous investment and speculation in the early 20th century, caused severe financial hardship.<ref>{{cite news |last=Heaven |first=Will |title=Lundy: My family and the Kingdom of Heaven |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=5 November 2011 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/familyhistory/8866830/Lundy-My-family-and-the-Kingdom-of-Heaven.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=7 July 2016 |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/familyhistory/8866830/Lundy-My-family-and-the-Kingdom-of-Heaven.html |archive-date=12 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[File:1puffin1929.JPG|thumb|One Puffin coin of 1929, bearing the portrait of Martin Coles Harman]]
Hudson Heaven died in 1916, and was succeeded by his nephew, Walter Charles Hudson Heaven.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.fotw.info/Flags/gb-en-lu.html |title=Lundy Island |access-date=6 September 2007 |work=Flags of the World |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050124161206/https://www.fotw.info/Flags/gb-en-lu.html |archive-date=24 January 2005}}</ref> With the outbreak of the [[First World War]], matters deteriorated seriously, and in 1918 the family sold Lundy to Augustus Langham Christie. In 1924, the Christie family sold the island along with the mail contract and the [[Merchant vessel|MV]] ''Lerina'' to [[Martin Coles Harman]]. Harman issued two coins of Half Puffin and One Puffin denominations in 1929, nominally equivalent to the British halfpenny and penny, resulting in his prosecution under the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[Coinage Act 1870|Coinage Act of 1870]]. His case was heard by Devon [[Magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates]] in April 1930, and he was fined £5 and ordered to pay £15 15 shillings (£15.75 in [[Decimal day|decimal currency]]) [[Costs in English law|costs]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Lundy Island Coinage |work=[[The Times]] |date=17 April 1930 |page=16}}</ref> He appealed to the [[King's Bench Division]] of the [[High Court of Justice]] in 1931, but the appeal was dismissed.<ref>{{cite news |title=High Court of Justice |work=[[The Times]] |date=14 January 1931 |page=5}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Bruce">{{Cite book |last=Bruce |first=Colin R. |title=Unusual World Coins |edition=2nd |date=1988 |publisher=KP Books |isbn=978-0-87341-116-5}}</ref> Harman's son, [[John Pennington Harman]] was awarded a posthumous [[Victoria Cross]] during the [[Battle of Kohima]], [[India]] in 1944. There is a memorial to him at the VC Quarry on Lundy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MNA100302 {{!}} National Trust Heritage Records |url= https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA100302 |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk}}</ref> Martin Coles Harman died in 1954.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 December 1954 |title='King of Lundy Island' Is Dead at 69 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1954/12/07/archives/king-of-lundy-island-is-dead-at-69-m-c-harman-bought-vestpocket.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220610180933/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/12/07/archives/king-of-lundy-island-is-dead-at-69-m-c-harman-bought-vestpocket.html |archive-date=10 June 2022 |access-date=1 February 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Residents did not pay taxes to the United Kingdom and had to pass through customs when they travelled to and from Lundy Island.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fogle |first=Ben |title=Offshore: In Search of an Island of My Own |date=2007 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9780141930435 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BNNwCPfPFrAC&q=Lundy+travel+customs+tax&pg=PT67}}</ref> Although the island was ruled as a virtual [[Fee (feudal tenure)|fiefdom]], its owner never claimed to be independent of the United Kingdom, in contrast to later territorial "[[micronation]]s".<!-- Debateable. Harman claimed that Lundy was "a self-governing dominion of the [[British Empire]] recognising King George as its head" (quote from the coinage court case).-->

Following the death of Harman's son Albion in 1968,<ref>"Island owner dies after air lift" (source unknown). 24 June 1968</ref> Lundy was put up for sale in 1969. [[Jack Hayward]], a British millionaire, purchased the island for £150,000 (£{{Inflation|UK|150000|1969|r=-3|fmt=c}} today) and gave it to the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]],<ref name="Bruce" /> who leased it to the [[Landmark Trust]]. The Landmark Trust has managed the island since then, deriving its income from arranging day trips, letting out holiday cottages and from donations. In May 2015 a sculpture by [[Antony Gormley]] was erected on Lundy. It is one of five life-sized sculptures, ''Land'', placed near the centre and at four compass points of the UK in a commission by the Landmark Trust, to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The others are at [[Lowsonford]] ([[Warwickshire]]), [[Saddell Bay]] ([[Scotland]]), [[Aldeburgh#Martello Tower|the Martello Tower]] ([[Aldeburgh]], [[Suffolk]]), and [[Clavell Tower]] ([[Kimmeridge Bay]], [[Dorset]]).<ref name="landmark">{{cite web |url= http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news-and-events/50th-anniversary/land/ |title=Land – An art installation for all to mark Landmark's 50th year |work=Landmark Trust |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150702142330/http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news-and-events/50th-anniversary/land |archive-date=2 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="bbcland">{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32702277 |title=Sir Antony Gormley sculptures placed at five UK beauty spots |work=BBC |date=12 May 2015 |access-date=8 July 2015}}</ref>

The island is visited by over 20,000 day trippers a year, but during September 2007 had to be closed for several weeks owing to an outbreak of [[norovirus]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=de Bruxelles |first=Simon |title=Island closes down after stomach bug |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2500379.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090516053533/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2500379.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= 16 May 2009 |work=Times Online |date=21 September 2007 |access-date=29 September 2007 |location=London}}</ref>

An inaugural Lundy Island half-marathon took place on 8 July 2018 with 267 competitors.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.puretrail.uk/lundy/ |title=The Lundy Island Race – Sunday 8th July 2018 |publisher=Pure Trail Running  |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>

===Wrecked ships and aircraft===
====Wreck of ''Jenny''====
Near the end of a voyage from [[Africa]] to [[Bristol]], the British [[merchant ship]] {{ship||Jenny|1783 ship|2}} was wrecked on the coast of Lundy on 20 January 1797.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Marine List |journal=[[Lloyd's List]] |issue=2893 |orig-date=27 January 1797 |date=1969 |location=Westmead, Hampshire |publisher=Gregg International Publishers |pages=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105233100&seq=23&q1=%22The+Jenny%22&start=1 1] |via=HathiTrust}}</ref> Only the [[first mate]] survived.<ref>{{cite news |title=Report of the wrecking of the Jenny |url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bath-journal/131775288/ |access-date=14 September 2023 |work=The Bath Journal |date=30 January 1797}}</ref> The site of the tragedy ({{coord|51|10.87|N|4|40.48|W}}) has since been known as Jenny's Cove.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jenny's Cove |url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-north-devon-herald/131775385/ |access-date=14 September 2023 |work=The North Devon Herald |date=17 June 1897}}</ref>

====Wreck of Battleship ''Montagu''====
[[File:HMS Montagu (1901) Aground Lundy Island 1906.jpg|thumb|left|Battleship [[HMS Montagu (1901)|HMS ''Montagu'']] aground on Lundy in 1906]]
Steaming in heavy [[fog]], the [[Royal Navy]] [[battleship]] {{HMS|Montagu|1901|6}} ran hard aground near Shutter Rock on Lundy's southwest corner at about 2:00&nbsp;a.m. on 30 May 1906.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burt |first=R. A. |title=British Battleships 1889–1904 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |date=1988 |pages=205–206 |isbn=978-0-87021-061-7}}</ref> Thinking they were aground at [[Hartland Point]] on the English mainland, a landing party went ashore for help, only finding out where they were after encountering the [[lighthouse]] keeper at the island's north light.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coutanche |first=André |title=History 1836–1925 – the Heaven era |url= https://www.lundy.org.uk/about-lundy/history/1836-1925 |access-date=31 January 2024 |website=The Lundy Field Society}}</ref>

[[File:HMS Montagu (1901) Heavy Fittings Removed 1906.jpg|thumb|right|HMS ''Montagu'' during the failed salvage attempts of the summer of 1906]]Strenuous efforts by the Royal Navy to salvage the badly damaged battleship during the summer of 1906 failed, and in 1907 it was decided to give up and sell her for scrap.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shepstone |first=Harold J. |date=21 September 1907 |title=Breaking Up the Ill-fated British Battleship ''Montagu'' |url= https://zenodo.org/records/2138490 |journal=[[Scientific American]] |page=211 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican09211907-211 |via=Zenodo |volume=97 |issue=12}}</ref> ''Montagu'' was scrapped at the scene over the next fifteen years. Diving clubs still visit the site, where armour plating remains among the rocks and kelp.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Booth |first=Tony |url= http://archive.org/details/admiraltysalvage0000boot |title=Admiralty Salvage: In Peace & War 1906–2006 |date=2007 |publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime |isbn=978-1-84415-565-1 |location=Barnsley, S. Yorkshire |page=14}}</ref>

====Remains of a German Heinkel 111H bomber====
[[File:Remains of a German Heinkel 111H bomber.JPG|thumb|Remains of one of the Heinkels just south of Halfway Wall]]
During the [[Second World War]] two German [[Heinkel He 111]] bombers crash landed on the island in 1941. The first was on 3 March, when all the crew survived and were taken prisoner.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Howard |date=21 March 2021 |title=German bombers crash-landing on Lundy Island provoked angry mob |url= https://www.devonlive.com/news/history/month-two-german-bombers-incredibly-5202121 |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=Devon Live}}</ref>

The second was on 1 April when the pilot was killed and the other crew members were taken prisoner.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gade |first1=Mary |last2=Michael |first2=Harman |title=Lundy's War |date=1995 |publisher=Mary Gade |location=Appledore |isbn=978-0-9525602-0-3}}</ref> This plane had bombed a British ship and one engine was damaged by [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti aircraft]] fire, forcing it to crash land. Most of the metal was salvaged, although a few remains can be found at the crash site to date. Reportedly, to avoid reprisals, the crew concocted the story that they were on a reconnaissance mission.<ref>{{cite web |title=Heinkel He-111 3911 - Lundy |url= http://members.multimania.co.uk/daveswrecks/photoalbum16.html |publisher=AIRCRAFT WRECKS in the UK & Ireland |access-date=3 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100620055821/http://members.multimania.co.uk/daveswrecks/photoalbum16.html |archive-date=20 June 2010}}</ref>