Salt Island, Anglesey

Salt Island is an island joined to Holy Island, itself an island joined to Anglesey in North Wales. It is a natural provider of shelter for the town's Old Harbour from the Irish Sea and is also part of the Port of Holyhead where the ferries to Dublin sail from. HistoryThe island gained its name by a factory located on it which processed sea water in order to extract sea salt. By the early 18th century, the sea salt was often mixed with rock salt (often smuggled onto the island) to increase the quality of the factory's product. The factory ceased production in 1775. Another building no longer standing on the island was the Stanley Sailor's Hospital. This hospital was set up in 1871 by a local philanthropist and initially only treated sailors although it quickly became a general hospital. It was taken over by the National Health Service in 1948 and closed its doors in 1987. LighthouseThere have been three lighthouses located on the island. The current lighthouse is the Holyhead Mail Pier Light. PierThe main pier on the island, the Admiralty Pier, was opened in 1821. At around 300m long it extends east into the sea and has been used to handle ferry traffic since it was opened. Due to its important historical links between Great Britain and Ireland, the pier has twice had royal visitors, once on 7 August 1821 when King George IV arrived from Ireland and once in 1898 when Queen Victoria set sail for her last voyage to Ireland.

Salt Island is an island joined to Holy Island, itself an island joined to Anglesey in North Wales. It is a natural provider of shelter for the town's Old Harbour from the Irish Sea and is also part of the Port of Holyhead where the ferries to Dublin sail from. HistoryThe island gained its name by a factory located on it which processed sea water in order to extract sea salt. By the early 18th century, the sea salt was often mixed with rock salt (often smuggled onto the island) to increase the quality of the factory's product. The factory ceased production in 1775. Another building no longer standing on the island was the Stanley Sailor's Hospital. This hospital was set up in 1871 by a local philanthropist and initially only treated sailors although it quickly became a general hospital. It was taken over by the National Health Service in 1948 and closed its doors in 1987. LighthouseThere have been three lighthouses located on the island. The current lighthouse is the Holyhead Mail Pier Light. PierThe main pier on the island, the Admiralty Pier, was opened in 1821. At around 300m long it extends east into the sea and has been used to handle ferry traffic since it was opened. Due to its important historical links between Great Britain and Ireland, the pier has twice had royal visitors, once on 7 August 1821 when King George IV arrived from Ireland and once in 1898 when Queen Victoria set sail for her last voyage to Ireland.