Geography
The island is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of Girvan. Two miles (3 km) in circumference and rising to 1,110 feet (340 m), the island consists entirely of the volcanic plug of an extinct volcano that might have been active about 500 million years ago.
It is part of the administrative district of South Ayrshire, in the ancient parish of Dailly.
The lighthouse on its east coast faces the Scottish mainland, and a ruined keep, built by the Hamilton Family to protect from the threat of invasion from King Philip II of Spain, is perched on the hillside above.
Read more about this topic: Ailsa Craig
Famous quotes containing the word geography:
“Ktaadn, near which we were to pass the next day, is said to mean “Highest Land.” So much geography is there in their names.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Yet America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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