Foulness Island passing of the Ministry of Defence Act 1946 and the subsequent rationalisation of five agencies in 1971, ownership of the island passed from the War Office to the Ministry of Defence. In 2003, a contract to manage the testing of munitions was awarded to the defence contractors QinetiQ, and they also control access to the island. In the 1850s, the South Essex Estuary and Reclamation Company proposed a grand scheme to reclaim around of land on the Essex coast, which would have included most of Foulness Sands and Maplin Sands. The civil engineer Sir John Rennie produced the plans, and
Sheep Island, County Antrim Sheep Island, County Antrim Sheep Island is an island off the north coast of Northern Ireland, close to Ballintoy, County Antrim. It has an area of 3.5 hectares, is located 0.5 km off the coast and is known for its steep cliffs (one of which is near-vertical and more than 20m in height) and rocky shores. The top of the island is domed and covered with soil. Sheep Island is designated as a Special Protection Area and an Area of Special Scientific Interest. This is because it contains a number of a particular species of cormorant, which is known as