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The rock is the summit of an extinct volcano and is located 57 deg 35'48"N 13 deg 41'19"W some 300 miles west of Manish Point, North Uist in Scotland. The rock is about 25 metres wide at its base and rises sheer to a height of approximately 22 metres. There is a small ledge of 3.5 metres by 1.3 metres and known as "Hall's Ledge" 4 metres from the summit. The rock's only permanent inhabitants are colonies gannets, seagulls and periwinkles.
The earliest recorded landing on the island was in 1810; the next was not until 1888. On 18 September 1955 the island was officially annexed by Britain when Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott RN from HMS Vidal was deposited on the island by a Royal Navy helicopter. He cemented in a brass plaque and hoisted the Union Jack to stake the British claim. On 10 February 1972 the Isle of Rockall Act received Royal Assent to make the island part of Inverness-shire fully incorporating the island into the United Kingdom. Later a navigational beacon was installed on the island and Britain declared that no ship would be allowed within a 50 miles radius of the rock. In 1985 former SAS member and survival expert Tom McClean lived on the island for 40 days to affirm Britain's right to the island.
Greenpeace occupied the islet for a short time in 1997, calling it "Waveland", to protest oil exploration, but the company sponsoring it collapsed in 1999, and the experiment ended.
Rockall is also close to the Darwin Mounds, deep-water coral mounds about 185 km. north west of Cape Wrath
An Irish/Celtic band, "The House Band", has an album called Rockall, named after the place.
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Rockall is also the name of the land where Anthony Swithin's series "The Perilous Quest for Lyonesse" takes place.