St Martin's, Isles of Scilly
Encyclopedia
St Martin's is the northernmost populated island of the Isles of Scilly
, United Kingdom
. It has an area of 237 hectare (0.915062115864308 sq mi).
There are three main settlements on the island - Higher Town, Middle Town
and Lower Town
- in addition to a number of scattered farms and cottages, with a total population (2001 census) of 142.
The island has one hotel, St Martin's On The Isle, and one pub, The Seven Stones, in Lower Town. A guesthouse is located in Higher Town, and one campsite, between Lower Town and Middle Town is also present. There are quays at Higher Town (the Higher Town Quay, used at high tide
) and at Lower Town (the Hotel Quay, used at low tide). A bakery, St. Martins Bakery, is located at Higher Town.
To the north, St Martin's is joined by a tidal
causeway
to White Island
.
. It was erected in 1683 by Thomas Ekins, first steward of the Godophin Family to live on the islands.
It is a rendered granite
circular tower 4.8 metres (15.7 ft) in diameter and 6.4 metres (21 ft) high, set back to conical termination making it 11 metres (36.1 ft) high. The blocked arched entrance door contains an incorrect date of 1637. It was painted white until 1822 but by 1833 had been painted red, and is now painted in bands of red and white.
It is the earliest surviving dated example of a beacon in the British Isles
.
church of St Martin's and a Methodist
one. The Methodist church dates from ca. 1845 and is part of the Isles of Scilly Methodist Circuit
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It has an area of 237 hectare (0.915062115864308 sq mi).
Description
Middle Town, Isles of Scilly
Middle Town is a village on St Martin's in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England, UK....
and Lower Town
Lower Town, Isles of Scilly
Lower Town is the westernmost settlement on the island of St Martin's, Isles of Scilly. The town hosts the only hotel on the island, St Martin's On The Isle, as well as the only pub The Seven Stones....
- in addition to a number of scattered farms and cottages, with a total population (2001 census) of 142.
The island has one hotel, St Martin's On The Isle, and one pub, The Seven Stones, in Lower Town. A guesthouse is located in Higher Town, and one campsite, between Lower Town and Middle Town is also present. There are quays at Higher Town (the Higher Town Quay, used at high tide
High Tide
High Tide was a band formed in 1969 by Tony Hill , Simon House , Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden .-History:...
) and at Lower Town (the Hotel Quay, used at low tide). A bakery, St. Martins Bakery, is located at Higher Town.
To the north, St Martin's is joined by a tidal
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
to White Island
White Island, Isles of Scilly
White Island is one of the larger unpopulated islands of the Isles of Scilly, part of the United Kingdom, and lies off the coast of the northernmost populated island of the group, St Martin's, to which it is joined by a tidal causeway, or isthmus...
.
Daymark
At the northeast corner of the island is a large red-and-white daymarkDaymark
A daymark or a day marker is a structure such as a tower constructed on land as an aid to navigation by sailors. While similar in concept to a lighthouse, a daymark does not have a light and so is usually only visible during daylight hours...
. It was erected in 1683 by Thomas Ekins, first steward of the Godophin Family to live on the islands.
It is a rendered granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
circular tower 4.8 metres (15.7 ft) in diameter and 6.4 metres (21 ft) high, set back to conical termination making it 11 metres (36.1 ft) high. The blocked arched entrance door contains an incorrect date of 1637. It was painted white until 1822 but by 1833 had been painted red, and is now painted in bands of red and white.
It is the earliest surviving dated example of a beacon in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
.
Church
There are two churches on St Martin's: the AnglicanAnglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church of St Martin's and a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
one. The Methodist church dates from ca. 1845 and is part of the Isles of Scilly Methodist Circuit
Population
- 1841 - 214
- 1861 - 185
- 1871 - 158
- 1881 - 175
- 1891 - 174
- 1901 - 175
- 1911 - 191
- 1921 - 134
- 1931 - 134
- 1951 - 131
- 1961 - 118
- 1971 - 106
- 1981 - 118
- 1991 - 110
- 2001 - 142