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The territory of the municipality of Ouessant consists mainly of the island of Ouessant, which is surrounded by several islets. The largest of these, situated to the north, is the Keller Island (Île de Keller) and Kadoran (Île Cadoran) to the north. The 200-meter (660ft) channel between Ushant and Keller is called the Toull C'heller. To the southeast, Ushant is separated from the Ponant Islands by the Fromveur Passage; the Ushant side of the strait is marked by La Jument lighthouse, on a rock about 300 metres offshore.
Ushant marks the southern limit of the Celtic Sea and the southern end of the western English Channel, the northern end being the Isles of Scilly, southwest of Land's End in Cornwall. Ushant lies outside the English Channel and is in the Celtic Sea.
The island is a rocky landmass at most eight by three kilometres (five by two miles), covering 15km2 (5+3⁄4sqmi).
History
Several Neolithic megaliths were located on the island, alongside a long-lived Bronze Age sanctuary but the latter is not visible anymore.
Ushant is famous for its maritime past, both as a fishing community and as a landmark in the Channel approaches. It is named in the refrain of the sea shanty "Spanish Ladies":
We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors,
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas,
Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England,
From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues.
The British and French navies fought several battles near Ushant.
On 23 July 1815 the captive Emperor Napoleon – aboard HMSBellerophon towards his final exile – spent several hours on deck watching Ushant, the last part of France he saw.
On 28 May 1896, the SS Drummond Castle ran aground and sank off Ushant after attempting to pass the island to the south; 242 passengers and crew died.
In March 1978, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground at Portsall about 19 miles (31km) from the island, leading to major pollution of the Brittany coast.
According to an old Breton proverb, "Qui voit Molène voit sa peine / Qui voit Ouessant voit son sang / Qui voit Sein voit sa fin / Qui voit Groix voit sa croix." ("Who sees Molène sees his pains (or penalty) / who sees Ushant sees his blood / who sees Sein sees his end / who sees Groix sees his cross"). This proverb underlines local points, which are often deadly to navigate with many rocks, and tidal streams of more than ten knots.
Ushant has a single school, attended by the majority of the island's youth: L'École D'Ouessant, southeast of the main town. It is the island's only large workplace and a major employer.
Population
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1968
1,814
—
1975
1,450
−3.15%
1982
1,221
−2.43%
1990
1,062
−1.73%
1999
932
−1.44%
2007
848
−1.17%
2012
893
+1.04%
2017
835
−1.33%
2023
860
+0.49%
Source: INSEE
Ushant's only village is Lambaol (Lampaul), which has the mayoral office, school and post office. People also live in the outlying hamlets of Feuteun Vélen, Frugullou, Pen ar Lan, and Porsguen.
Climate
Ushant's climate is oceanic (Cfb) under the Köppen climate classification: temperate, fully humid, temperate summer, with generally cool, rainy winters and temperate, drier summers.
Comparison of local Meteorological data with other cities in France
Ushant's isolation has helped the conservation of the European dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera), unaffected by pollution, pesticides and Varroa parasites. In the rest of France, it has been replaced by Apis mellifera ligustica. As a side effect, populations of the bee louse, Braula coeca, that has elsewhere perished through pesticides are still found on Ushant. The association Conservatoire de l'Abeille Noire Bretonne is attempting to conserve and increase the numbers of the European dark bee, intending to reintroduce it in Western France.
Ushant and the Molène archipelago support Europe's southernmost colony of grey seals. They are mostly at Point Cadoran, on Ushant's north coast, where the strong currents keep the water temperature below 15 degrees Celsius (59°F), the warmest that the seals can tolerate.
The island is mentioned in Greenmantle (1916), a novel by the Scottish author John Buchan.
Charles Tournemire's Symphony No. 2, completed in 1909, was inspired by and named for the island.
The 1910 novel Das Meer by German author Bernhard Kellermann takes place on the island. Features such as Phare du Creach and Port du Stiff are highly defined. The main character stays at the la Villa des tempêtes, in ruins today.
The secret of the seas (Le Secret des Eaux: Ouessant), is a 1923 novel by André Savignon set on Ushant.
"Lord Ushant" is the title given the heir to the Duchy of Tintagel (Cornwall) in Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers (1938).
Ushant is mentioned in George Orwell's diaries, in passing.
A ship from Ushant is mentioned in the WWII Brest destruction commemorative ode Barbara by French poet Jacques Prévert.
Ushant is the autobiography of the American poet and novelist Conrad Aiken, published in 1952.
Mystery book Act of Mercy by Peter Tremayne is set in 666 AD Ushant and elsewhere.
Ushant is the setting of the 2004 French film L'Équipier (English title: The Light) directed by Philippe Lioret.
Father Truitard, a character in Bruce Chatwin's The Viceroy of Ouidah, spent "years communing with the waves and petrels on the island of Ushant".
Composer Yann Tiersen made the album Eusa in 2016 after moving to Ushant. Each track is named after a location on the island. He also recorded his third album "Le Phare" in a rented house on Ushant.
↑Slaughter, John Robert (8 November 2009). Omaha Beach and Beyond: The Long March of Sergeant Bob Slaughter. Zenith Press. pp.70–71. ISBN9780760337349.
↑"Ouessant–Stiff (29)"(PDF). Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1991–2020 et records (in French). Meteo France. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
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