Redonda is located about 30 miles to the south west of Antigua and 13 miles north west of Montserrat. It is the remnant of a volcanic cone and, is one of the smallest islands in the chain of the Lesser Antilles.
The inhospitable looking 1,000 foot high island is just one mile long by one third of a mile wide and currently lies uninhabited. But it was not always that way.
In the early part of the 20th Century, large quantities of phosphate-bearing ore were mined from the island.
Accommodation was established on Sussex Plateau and rain-water reservoirs, a jetty and a cable-hoist were installed.
At its peak of production, over 7,000 tons of ore were being exported each year. Work ceased with the outbreak of the Great War, and was never resumed.
Hurricanes destroyed most of the buildings with only ruins at Sussex surviving.