North Stack


North Stack is a small island situated just off Holy Island on the north-west coast of Anglesey.
North Stack can also refer to the headland opposite the island. This is the site of a redundant fog warning station, comprising a number of buildings, including the Trinity House Magazine, built in 1861, where shells for the warning cannon were stored. These buildings now house a bird watching observatory, giving a view of South Stack lighthouse across Gogarth Bay, and the studio of artist Philippa Jacobs. The Precambrian quartzite cliffs of this headland, including North Stack Walls and Wen Zawn, provide one of the largest ranges of rock climbs in Britain, such as "A Dream of White Horses", "The Cad" and "The Bells! The Bells!" The climbing areas at North Stack have been documented since the 1970s in a series of local guidebooks. Leading climbers such as Paul Pritchard have put up many extreme new routes.
The stack was the site of a crash of a US Eighth Air Force B-24 Bomber on 22 December 1944 that killed the eight crew on board.