Tusker Rock () is a rock in the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...

, about west of Ogmore-by-Sea,

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is suggested that it takes its name from Tuska the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

, a Dane whose fellow Vikings semi-colonised the Vale of Glamorgan. Alternatively, the name might derive (as with the similarly named Tuskar Rock, IrelandBilly Colfer ( 2004) ''The Hook Peninsula: County Wexford '
p30
Cork University Press and various other Tusker Rocks in the Bristol Channel and Milford Haven/Skomer area) simply from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''tu'' (large) ''skar'' (rock). It is fully visible only at low tide, and was formerly a notorious hazard for ships. Today, the waters around Tusker Rock are a popular diving location.

References

External links

Virtual Tour at low tideTusker Rock's shipwrecks graveyard captured in art project
* {{coord, 51.45398, N, 3.66944, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SS841741), display=title Islands of Bridgend County Borough Islands of the Bristol Channel Uninhabited islands of Wales