South West St Mary's, Isles of Scilly

St Mary's is the largest island in the Isles of Scilly and the main centre for the islands, with the council offices, hospital, secondary school and police station. Tourist Information is also here. It has a daily ferry from Penzance as well as an airport with regular flights to the mainland.

The original settlement was at Old Town with High Town growing up in the C17th under the protection of Star Castle and the Garrison.

The island has about five miles of tarmacked roads, but no traffic lights, roundabouts or zebra crossings. There are many untarmacked tracks as well as footpaths but few signposts. Visitors are unable to bring cars to the Island although they can hire bikes or an electric buggy once there.

It does have a community bus that runs a regular service around the island, taking 17 minutes.

Island Mini Bus Tours run twice daily trips around the island with commentary.

The Island is surrounded by rocky coves and many secluded sandy beaches. There are also striking rock formations, especially at Peninnis Head and rocky barriers running into the sea.

There is little water on St Marys and all their water comes from a mix of deep boreholes and a desalination plant.

A small stream runs through Lower Moors, an area of reedbed and marshland to the east of Hugh Town. This is now a nature reserve with a walking trail. Another stream runs through Higher Moors Nature Reserve to Porth Hellick Pool, the largest freshwater body on St Mary’s.

Most of the centre of the island is small fields surrounded by hedges and used for growing early daffodils and, later in the year potatoes. These are often for sale in honesty kiosks along the road, along with free range eggs.

Areas unsuitable for cultivation are left as rough heathland.

Vegetation thrives and everywhere is very lush. The very tall blue spikes of Echium are seen growing in many gardens.

Agapanthus grows wild.

Walls are covered with bright pink flowers of Mesembryanthemums.

Some of the largest stonecrops I’ve ever seen are found growing everywhere.

Rock Samphire also grows along the coast.

Carn Ddu is a small sub tropical community garden in an old quarry in the centre of the island.

It can either be reached along Telegraph Road from Hugh Town or along Old Town Lane and a rough track from Old Town. Entry is free and it is a delightful place to drop out on a sunny day.

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[Eleanor]

Hugh Town

Hugh Town is the main settlement on St Mary’s, as well as being the largest settlement in the Scilly Isles. When the Star Castle and The Garrison were built in the C16th to defend the islands against attack from the French and Spanish, the centre of population moved from Old Town to the sandbar separating The Garrison from the rest of St Mary’s. By the C17th a town had grown rapidly around Town Bay.

A sheltered harbour was developed at the west end of the beach and this is now the ferry terminal and the inter island boats depart from here.

Smaller boats are moored in the bay.

The lifeboat Station is on Carn Thomas, the headland at the east end of the bay, although the lifeboat is usually moored in the bay.

The Strand overlooking the beach is lined with stone terraced housing. The links to the sea are still apparent with a carved wooden figurehead above the Scilly Self Catering Offices.

It is a compact own centre with a good range of shops, including a Co-op supermarket and many others geared to the tourist.

The main streets are wide and lined with a mix of stone and plaster rendered buildings. A network of narrower streets radiates off them.

The Town Hall on the Parade in the centre of Hugh Town, was built in 1889 and has served as a public hall, theatre, magistrates court, council chamber and local authority offices. These have now moved into the Old Wesleyan Chapel on Garrison Lane and, in 2024, there were plans to redevelop the building for the community with exhibition and performance space, as well as a museum.

The Town Hall is adjacent to The Park an area of grass, flowers and benches. The war memorial is here.

Porthcressa Beach to the south less busy than Town Beach and is a lovely expanse of sand overlooked by a grassy area with the Tourist Information Centre. On one side is the headland with The Garrison. At the other end is the rocky headland of Peninnis Head.

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[Eleanor]

Churches in Hugh Town

The Church of St Mary the Virgin

The church was built by Augustus Smith in 1838 to replace the Old Town Church which was falling down and wasa also inconvenient for most of the congregation who lived in Hugh Town. One of the conditions for him obtaining the lease of the Islands from the Duchy of Cornwall was to build a new church and pay the incumbent. He also designed the church. He was not a trained architect which may explain the mix of styles inside the church.

Standing at the top of Church Street, its offset tower is a local landmark. It is an imposing stone building.

The two elaborate lead water cisterns on either side of the door date from 1727 and were brought here from Star Castle.

The inside is equally as impressive with wooden benches arranged along the walls as well as across the nave.

There is an unusual white painted reredos and pulpit.

The East Window is by CE Kempe.

There is a wooden gallery across the back of the church with the organ. The rather nice west window commemorates the coronation of George V in 1937.

On either side of the door are brass plates with the Lord’s Prayer, Creed and Ten Commandments. The tiny gilded and painted lion above the door comes from The Association that was wrecked off the coast in 1707 with the loss of 800 men.

The stone font standing on marble legs is just inside the door.

The windows in the nave depict saints as well as one dedicated to lifeboat men and lighthouse keepers.

There is also a Roll of Honour for both World Wars.

St Mary’s Methodist Church

John Wesley visited the Islands in September 1743 and preached on the streets in St Mary’s as he was not allowed to use the pulpit in the church in Old Town. Methodism spread rapidly and small Wesleyan Chapels were built in Old Town, Holy Vale and Hugh Town.

The current building on Church Street dates from 1899 and replace a Chapel on Church Street (which became the Masonic Lodge) as well as the original Wesleyan Church on Garrison Lane, which was taken over to use as council offices. The rostrum and communion rail were reused in the new building, which could seat 350 worshippers. The building cost £1300 and local farmers carted stone from the quarry free of charge. The remaining chapels on the island merged in the 1930s.

The main door leads into a small porch with two separate doors leading into the church , one for men, the other for the womenfolk. It still has the large gallery on all four walls with the organ taking up most of the east wall.

The Catholic Church of Star of the Sea

The Catholic Church is a small whitewashed building on The Strand.
Dating from 1860, this was the primary school for girls, before becoming the Catholic Church in 1931. Until they could get a permanent priest, a priest came over from the mainland by boat on a Saturday and returned on the Monday. There is now no longer a permanent priest and during the summer months, visiting priests come on holiday here and take services.

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[Eleanor]

C16th Defences around Hugh Town - Harry's Walls

Harry’s Walls on the hillside above Porth Mellon Beach, is the remains of an unfinished Tudor Fort that, if completed, would have formed some of the most advanced military architecture in the country.

In the C16th, the Isles of Scilly were coming increasingly under attack by the French and Spanish. Henry VIII’s break with Rome made the south coast vulnerable to attack from France and Spain and Henry ordered the building of a chain of artillery forts and blockhouses to guard the harbours and beaches of southern England. However no major work was begun on Isles of Scilly and the only defence for St Mary’s was the rather ineffective Ennor castle.

Harry’s Walls along with the Blockhouse and King Charles’s Castle on Tresco, was part of the defences built during the reign of Edward VI in 1551.

Harry’s Walls was built to protect the increasingly important sheltered harbour in what was to become Hugh Town. A large square fort was planned with bastions armed with cannons at each corner. If completed, it would have been one of the first artillery forts in England to feature these bastions and some of the most advanced military architecture in the country.

Only one stretch of wall and two bastions were completed. It was left unfinished, partly due to a shortage of funds, but also as the site was discovered to be unsuitable as it only gave limited protection to shipping at anchor in St Mary’s Road. It was replaced by the building of Star Castle and the Garrison in 1590.

All that is left now are the remains of the two bastions joined by a stretch of curtain wall and assorted bits of masonry and bumps on the ground.

The tall standing stone at the entrance to Harry’s Walls is a Bronze Age Menhir, which suprisingly wasn't removed when building the fort.

The site can only be reached on foot and is about a mile from Hugh Town. Follow The Strand along the bay and climb up past the old school buildings on your left towards the Industrial Estate on the edge of Hugh Town. At the junction by Porthmellon Gig Sheds, there is a sandy track with a signpost propped against the bank, which runs along the side of Porth Mellon Beach.

The track leads to a private sign leading up to a house. The footpath goes to the left and follows the coast to a flight of steps with another sign to Harry's Wall. These lead to a narrow road that climbs up the hillside to what looks like a holiday house, with a grassy track beyond up to Harry's Walls.

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[Eleanor]

Star Castle and Garrison Walls

Star Castle and Garrison Walls are one of the most remarkable and impressive coastal defence systems in England. The remains of walls, bastions, barracks, stores and and workshops, are spread out across the headland. This plan is taken from the English Heritage website.

The site is dominated by the Star CAstle and the headland is protected by stone walls. Bastions along the curtain wall were designed to cover the main sea approaches. The higher slopes of the headland are dominated by the early C20th batteries that were built to counter attacks from enemy cruisers and torpedo boats.

In 1570 Francis Godolphin was granted a 38-year lease of the Isles of Scilly. The islands were a vital anchorage for British ships controlling routes between mainland Europe and Ireland and the west coast of Britain.

After the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, plans were drawn up to improve the defences of the islands. This included the building of a fort, The Star Castle, on Hew Hill, the high ground on the west side of St Mary’s The walls surrounding the castle are in the shape of an eight-pointed star and were surrounded by a deep dry ditch and with strategically placed gun batteries at regular intervals around the outer wall, which allowed covering fire at all angles.

The central building provided accommodation for a garrison of a lieutenant, three gunners, and twenty-six soldiers during the summer, with only ten soldiers during the winter. It was entered from the north through a square-headed doorway with the date 1593 carved onto its lintel.

An additional curtain wall with bastions was constructed across the the narrow stretch of land overlooking what was to become Hugh Town, with a rock cut ditch in front.

During the English Civil War, Star Castle was a Royalist stronghold and one of the places Prince Charles stayed on his way to Jersey and exile. It finally fell to the Parliamentarians in 1651.

With the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Star Castle again served as a garrison, becoming the Governor’s residence in the mid C18th.

The threat of invasion by France and Spain remained a possibility during the C17th and C18th and the Elizabethan curtain wall was extended, surrounding almost the whole of the headland. Bastions covered every possible angle of approach from sea or land.

A sunken powder magazine, later called the Rocket House, was built close to the main entrance gateway with a blast proof stone wall around it. Next to it was a small prison cell.

The gateway was remodelled with a bell cote and parapet above, together with barracks on either side and a guardhouse. Dated 1742, the initials are those of King George, Francis Godolphin and Abraham Tovey, the resident master gunner, who supervised the building of the walls. Many of the surviving batteries, barracks and buildings including workshops and stores still seen on the headland, date from this time.

In 1831, a redundant windmill was converted into a gun tower and was later used as a signal station and a lookout tower for HM Coastguard

Further strengthening of the headland took place between 1898 and 1901, when the massive Woolpack and Steval batteries were added.

The Garrison was used again in the First World War, when it was re-armed and accommodated almost 1,000 servicemen. The islands were used by flying boats on early U-Boat patrols.
In the Second World War the Isles of Scilly were at the forefront of the Battle of the Atlantic. Large numbers of servicemen were again stationed here and the Garrison was an important signal station, with pillboxes cleverly constructed within the 18th-century batteries. One can be seen outside Woolpoint Point Battery, reached by a gateway through the wall.

Star Castle became a hotel in 1933. Steval Battery has been converted into an expensive self catering property.

Garrison walls is now managed by English Heritage and there is a well marked path round the walls.

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[Eleanor]

A Walk around The Garrison

This is a popular walk from Hugh Town and is a steep walk up Garrison Hill to the gateway leading into The Garrison.

Just inside the gateway is the guard house and a gatehouse. Near it is the Powder Magazine which has an exhibition about the history of the Garrison. The road climbs up to Star Castle, now a hotel.

There is a footpath running round the inside of the walls that encircle the headland. As well as batteries, these have battlements overlooking the shore and islands. The outside of the walls are banked with earth to protect them from cannon fire.

There are batteries and bastions set into the walls. King Charles’s Battery still has cannon, including one on a swivel base.

Bartholomew Battery has lost its cannon although the stone sets beneath them survive.

Redan A and B were smaller triangular bastions projecting from the walls.

Woolpack Point Battery was the largest and most impressive of the Batteries. At the tip of the headland it was intended to stop enemy ships navigating into St Mary Sound and the harbour.

The Battery was rebuilt in t4he C18th and is probably the best preserved. It also had it’s own small gunpowder store inside the walls.

The path continues round the headland and past a stone stair leading down to a tunnel and sally point giving access to Porthcressor Beach.

A footpath climbs up through the bracken from Woolpack Point, to the top of the headland where a rough track leads back to Star Castle. There is a very large private camping ground, rough grass football pitch (which proclaims itself as the smallest Football league in the world), tennis court and children’s adventure play area.

A footpath through the trees leads to the now deserted and overgrown turn of the C19th Woolpack Battery, which again has a private sign.

The track swings around Star Castle before dropping down to the main gateway into the Garrison.

A stone flight of steps leads up to the only entrance into Star Castle with a dog leg passageway giving extra defence against attack. This has information about the Civil War

Star Castle is protected by very thick walls with steps leading up to the top of them.

This is now a grassy area with flower beds and picnic tables.

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[Eleanor]

Old Town

Old Town was the original centre of population, set around a sheltered bay with a small pier and protected by Castle Ennor on a knoll above the beach. The castle was built in the C12th and was the military and administrative hub of the Islands.

During the C15th, there was increasing threat of attack by the French and Spanish and further defences were needed on the west side of the Island to protect the main shipping routes. As protection moved from Old Town to the west, Hugh town grew up under the shelter and protection of Star Castle and the garrison.

Castle Ennor was no longer needed and its stonework was robbed out for use as building stone. Now all that remains are a few walls on the wooded Castle Mount, next to a local garden.

Old Town is a small settlement of houses strung out along the the bay. There is still a small slipway and the remains of a medieval pier are visible at low water as a curve of jumbled rocks. A Medieval granite trough used for salting and preserving fish is nearby.

The wide sweeping bay is less busy than Porthcressor beach and is overlooked by the mass of Peninnis Head.

The airport is on top of the hill overlooking Old Town

Old Town Church

Old Town Church is across the bay surrounded by its graveyard and trees. It is the oldest church on the Island and a small church was built here in the C12th by monks based at Tresco Priory. The church was built and extended in the C17th when it was still the only church on the island, and was also used by by The Garrison.

By the end of the C19th the church was in very poor condition and the Christmas Day service in 1831 ended in panic when slates from the roof fell on the congregation. A new church was funded by Augustus Smith in Hugh Town and the nave of the Old Town Church was also restored, mainly as a mortuary chapel and the churchyard was extended. Harold Wilson is buried here along with crew from ships lost in the area.

The church is still used for an evening service on Sundays during the holiday season.

The inside of the church is very simple with whitewashed walls, wood roof and old grave slabs on the floor. Candles are still used for lighting, with many scones around the walls. There is a simple granite font at the back of the nave.

The altar is also granite. The east window has Christ Crucified in the centre with the Virgin Mary and St John. Above is a smaller window with symbols for alpha and omega.

Buzza Tower and Entrance Grave

Buzza Town is a prominent landmark on the on the hill between Old Town and Hugh Town. It was originally built as a windmill in the early C19th. It was restored in 1912 with sheltered seating round the base, as a memorial of the visit by Edward VII to the Islands.

It is one of the best viewpoints of the islands overlooking Hugh Town and both Town and Porthcressor beaches.

Just below on the hillside overlooking Hugh Town is the remains of Bronze Age Buzza Entrance Grave. This is now much overgrown by bracken but the massive capstone is still visible.

Buzza Tower is unsigned. The easiest approach is from the Church Road, turning into the Hospital. The road round the front of the hospital building leads towards a car park. A narrow and very steep footpath to the left eventually drops down into Hugh Town. Buzza Tower is off this and the Entrance Grave can be reached along the mown track just a few yards below the Tower.

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[Eleanor]

Prehistory

Some of the best and easiest reached sites are at the north of the island. I caught the community bus to Telegraph and walked from there. Telegraph Tower was originally built as a gun tower and look out during the threat of invasion in the Napoleonic wars. The site was later taken over by the Coastguards. In 1898, it was the place Guiglielmo Marconi heard one of the first radio transmissions transmitted from Porthcurno, thirty miles distant.

It was replaced by by the wireless mast and transmitting station on the headland in 1903.

Halangy Down Ancient Village and Bant’s Carn

Halangy Down and Bant’s Carn are about 15 minutes walk from Telegraph. Taking the unsigned footpath opposite Telegraph Tower leads through trees to Bant’s Carn. Following McFarland’s Down track leads to Halangy Down Ancient Village on the slope below Bant’s Carn which is reached by a steep climb.

On a clear day, there are superb views across to Tresco.

Bant’s Carn is one of the best examples of the many Bronze Age Entrance Graves that are unique to the Isles of Scilly and parts of Western Cornwall. Dating from around 2500BC, an earthen mound surrounded by kerb stones originally covered covered the massive cap stones. When it was excavated in 1900, the remains of cremated bones and pottery were found at thge far end of the chamber.

Halangy Down Ancient Village on the slope below Bant's Carn, is the remains of an Iron Age lived in from about 800BC to 100 AD. There are the remains of around a dozen interconnecting houses along with traces of their field systems with terraces and banks.

The picture from the English Heritage website gives an impression of what the village may have looked like with its stone walled and thatched houses.

The families supported themselves by growing crops and keeping cattle, sheep and pigs and supplementing their diet with seabirds and fish.

Innisidgen Burial Chambers

The two burial chambers at Innisidgen can be reached along the coastal footpath from Mcfarland’s Down and are signed off to the right at the end of the track.

Both Iron Age Entrance Graves are found on the steep slopes of Innisidgen Hill overlooking St Martins and the Eastern Isles.

Lower Innisidgen is reached first and only two cap stones and part of the surrounding mound survives. It was overgrown and full of soil until dug out in 1950.

Upper Innisidgen is a few minutes walk further up the hill and is the best preserved of the two. It is probably the most impressiveof the Entrance Graves on Scilly and is still covered by a massive earth mound and surrounding kerb stones.

The entrance passage is lined with massive stone slabs.

Both graves are surrounded by woodland with deserted sandy beaches. Most people pass through when walking the coastal footpath.