Necker Island (British Virgin Islands)

Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / height missing

Necker Iceland is an island located in the group of the British Virgin Islands, about 5 km northeast of Virgin Gorda.

Geography

Necker Iceland is the second most northern island to Anegada the Virgin Islands. Their surface area is 30 acres ( 0.3 km ²). She is from east to west about 840 meters long and up to 650 meters wide. Highest peak is Devils Hill to the southeast, is at The Great House.

History

The island was named in the 17th century by the Dutch squadron commander Johannes de Neckere and remained uninhabited until the second half of the 20th century.

1965 Don McCullin spent the photographer and the journalist Andrew Alexander on behalf of the newspaper Telegraph, they worked for a fortnight on the island. The publisher had hoped that they would survive their Robinsonade at least three weeks, but how McCullin reproduced later, "because of our increasing weakness and the fact that we were with the nerves at the end and without water, we hoisted the red flag and were in the first hours of the fifteenth day picked up. " According McCullin there was nothing idyllic on the uninhabited island: " It was inhabited by snakes, scorpions and tarantulas (...) The mosquitoes and other insects were more toxic and persistent than any to which I am made ​​in Vietnam and the Congo. "

The island is since 1979 owned by Richard Branson, the offering for exclusive tourism. In August 2011, the main house " The Great House " was struck by lightning and burned down.