St Mary's Isles Of Scilly

The weather was not looking good for today so I decided to stay on St Mary's island and have a look at the garrison which has an array of defensive buildings and ruins.

The entrance to the garrison

This is an aerial photo of the Garrison showing Hugh Town with the harbour on one side and Porthcressa beach on the other.

The Isles of Scilly occupy an important strategic position near the entrance to the English Channel. From Tudor times in the 16th century the islands became an important harbour and base for naval seaborne operations. The harbour at Hugh Town emerged as the most important anchorage in the islands. To prevent it falling into enemy hands, fortifications were begun in 1551. The garrison was begun in 1593, extended during the English civil wars  (1642-51) and rebuilt in the 1740s. It remained as a defended place until the end of the Second World War in 1945.


The Garrison overlooks the St Mary's harbour.

This is the powder magazine

In the Second World War, only St Mary's was defended, by 500 infantry and an artillery troop with two anti-aircraft guns. A squadron of Hurricane fighter aircraft was based on the island, and fast motor launches of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force carried out rescue missions from the harbour, for pilots who had been shot down. German aircraft made several attacks especially on the radar station at Peninnis Head but no invasion was attempted.

The seas around the Isles of Scilly are among the UK's busiest and most perilous stretches of water. There have been numerous shipwrecks from Bronze age cargoes to 20th century submarines. The western rocks are particularly treacherous. 1400 lives from Sir Clowdesley Shovell's fleet were lost in one night in 1707. In total there are over 772 recorded losses and 77 known wreck sites within 5km of St Mary's alone, many of which are of archeological, historical or artistic importance.

 When I visited Tresco island there were a number of ship's figureheads on display in the gardens that had been recovered from shipwrecks. Here are just a few:

It was raining heavily now and I put on my waterproof trousers but it wasn't pleasant walking conditions.

Continuing my walk around the Garrison I came to the Morning Point Battery. Guns on Morning Point guarded the approach to Porthcressa Beach from St Mary's Sound from at least 1655. The battery that we can see today is from the 1740s built into an outcrop using stone from shallow quarries nearby. Later it had five nine pounder guns.

 I had now walked around the remains of the garrison and was ready to return to Hugh Town to have a hot drink and something to eat.

As I am walking back  I have a good view of Porthcressa beach which is on the other side of Hugh Town.
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