St Agnes, Isles of Scilly

Coordinates: 49°53′28″N 6°20′35″W / 49.891°N 6.343°W / 49.891; -6.343
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Saint Agnes (disambiguation).

St. Agnes
A map of St. Agnes, with Gugh to the east
St. Agnes is located in Isles of Scilly
St. Agnes
St. Agnes
Location within Isles of Scilly
Population82 (2011)
OS grid referenceSV881430
Civil parish
  • St Agnes
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townISLES OF SCILLY
Postcode districtTR22
Dialling code01720
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireIsles of Scilly
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
49°53′28″N 6°20′35″W / 49.891°N 6.343°W / 49.891; -6.343

St Agnes (Cornish: Agenys)[1] is the southernmost populated island of the Isles of Scilly. Thus the island's Troy Town Farm is the southernmost settlement in the United Kingdom.

Description

sandbar from St. Agnes to Gugh

St Agnes joins the island of

Bryher
in either population or area; however if Gugh is included with St Agnes, it is Bryher that is marginally smaller in area and population.

In earlier times many men from St Agnes earned a living as

pilots, guiding transatlantic liners and other vessels through the English Channel. Now the mainstay of the economy is tourism, together with some bulb farming. Accommodation is limited, and St Agnes is the only populated island in the Isles of Scilly which has no hotel. However, it has a few B&Bs
and self-catering cottages, an ice cream shop, a campsite, a small post office and general store and a gift shop. It also has a pub (the Turk's Head) and a cafe, although these are closed in the winter.

Settlements

The main population centre is in the north and middle of the island. The southern part of the island is covered by the

Wingletang Down
.

The settlements are Troy Town (far west), Lower Town (west), Middle Town (central) and Higher Town (east).[2]

Lighthouse

Main article: St Agnes Lighthouse

The island's most notable landmark is its lighthouse, which has been converted into living accommodation as the tower no longer contains a light.

Other landmarks

A rock formation on the southwest side of St. Agnes that looks like an elephant

Other landmarks include a

standing stone known as the Nag's Head (probably a natural formation). In 1707, many of the sailors who had drowned in the great naval disaster off the Isles of Scilly were reputedly buried on the St Agnes playing field.[3]

Troy Town maze

The

Norse sagas tell of raiders coming to Scilly as late as the mid-12th century. Any buried evidence of its origins may have been destroyed during an unofficial rebuild in 1988.[4]

Churches

Bible Christian chapel

The primary church of St Agnes is St Agnes' parish church, but the

Bible Christians maintained a congregation on the island for over 100 years and built the Bible Christian Chapel, St Agnes
in the north of the island in 1874.

St Agnes' Church is a

Incorporated Church Building Society, and a grant was approved for a new west gallery and two new pews in the chancel.[6] The church features stained-glass windows locally made by artists Marigold and Oriel Hicks.[7] St Agnes' Church is within the United Benefice of the Isles of Scilly parishes, which also includes All Saints' Church, Bryher, St Martin's Church, St Martin's, St Mary's Church, St Mary's, St Mary's Old Church, St Mary's, and St Nicholas's Church, Tresco
.

Population

Population
City Population
1841
243
1861
200
1871
179
1878
150([a])
1881
148
1891
130
1901
134
1911
102
1921
101
1931
78
1951
78
1961
85
1971
63
1981
80
1991
90
2001
73
2011
85

Sporting and social life

The Turk's Head, the only pub on St. Agnes

Friday evenings in the summer (end of April until start of October) see men's domestic

Cornish Pilot Gig racing on Scilly, with the ladies' race on Wednesday. After the race, supporters fill the Turk's Head to discuss the race and to socialise. The pub is open through the summer, but during the winter it only opens on Wednesdays for a pub quiz, and one other night. [8]

Notable residents

Periglis Cottage, home of Hilda M. Quick

Periglis Cottage was the home of St Agnes's resident ornithologist Hilda M. Quick.[citation needed] She was the author of Birds of the Scilly Isles published in 1964.

Education

St Agnes Base

Five Islands Academy (previously Five Islands School) has its St Agnes Base, a primary campus. Secondary pupils board at the St Mary's main campus,[9] staying there on weekdays and coming back and forth to their home islands on weekends.[10]

Students at the

sixth-form college level reside and board elsewhere,[11] in mainland Great Britain. Previously the Learning and Skills Council paid for costs of accommodation for sixth-formers.[12]

Natural history

Over one third of the area of St Agnes is designated as

Scirpus maritimus). The surrounding grassland, which is also a cricket pitch, is notable for the clovers amongst its flora including western clover (Trifolium occidentale), suffocated clover (T. suffocatum) and subterranean clover (T. subterraneum). Other plants include adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum) and small adder's-tongue (O. azoricum).[15][16]

Vagrant birds

St Agnes is visited by

birdwatchers, particularly during the ″Scilly season″ of September and October. Among the many vagrant
birds which have been found here around this time are the following, which were all ″firsts″ for Britain:

  • Northern waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis) found at Covean on 30 September 1958 and stayed there until 12 October 1958.[17]
  • Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) near Big Pool on 19 September 1962.[18]
  • Blackpoll warbler (Setophaga striata) discovered in the Parsonage garden on 12 October 1968 and remained on the island until 25 October 1968.[19]
  • Europe's first hooded warbler (Wilsonia citrina) at Big Pool from 21 September 1972 to 23 September.[20]
  • Semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) first found at Porth Killier on 9 October 1978 and stayed around on Periglis until 9 November 1978.[21]
  • Europe's first magnolia warbler (Setophaga magnolia) in Barnaby Lane on 27 and 28 September 1981.[22]
  • Eastern Bonelli's warbler (Phylloscopus orientalis) in 1987.
  • Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) at Wingletang Down on 7 October 1987.[23]
  • Short-toed eagle
    (Circaetus gallicus) in 1999.

In addition:

Among rare vagrants recorded at other times of year are the following:

Civil parish and ward

The isles of Scilly comprising the civil parish and ward of St Agnes shown in red.

St Agnes is one of the five

council or meeting
.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ estimated to be nearly 150 in 25 households; the heads of 17 of these were surnamed Hicks (still a common surname on the island)

Further reading

  • Scilly Island by Island: St Agnes, Gugh, Annet, Western Rocks by Friendly Guides (2021)
    ISBN 978-1-904645-63-4

References

  1. ^ "Akademi Kernewek - Henwyn Tyller".
  2. ^ "Map of St Agnes, 1:25,000". streetmap.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  3. ^ The Council of the Isles of Scilly Association Commemoration Group 2007. "HMS ASSOCIATION". Shipwrecks UK. Retrieved 23 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Sawyer, Katharine (August 2006). "Scilly Through The Ages – Troy Town Maze". Scilly Now and Then. No. 6.
  5. ^ * Nikolaus Pevsner (1970) The Buildings of England, Cornwall, 2nd ed.
  6. Lambeth Palace Library - Database of Manuscripts and Archives. 23 September 2023. Archived from the original
    on 23 September 2023.
  7. ^ "St Agnes". IOS Churches. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. ISBN 978-1-85868-826-8
    ;; pp. 45-46
  9. ^ "Contact Us". Five Islands Academy. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Home to School Travel". Isles of Scilly Council. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Schools & Colleges". Isles of Scilly Council. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Education". Council of the Isles of Scilly. 14 October 2002. Archived from the original on 14 October 2002. Retrieved 8 December 2018. There is no post-16 provision on the Islands, students leaving the Isles of Scilly (VC) Federated School attend at colleges/schools with 6th forms on the mainland.[...]
  13. ^ "Mapping the habitats of England's ten largest institutional landowners". Who owns England?. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  14. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00042-1
    .
  15. ^ "Big Pool and Browarth Point (St Agnes)" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  16. ^ "Wingletang Down (St Agnes)" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  17. ^ Harris, G J; Parslow J L F (November 1960). "Northern Waterthrush in the Isles of Scilly: a bird new to Great Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 53 (11): 513–8. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  18. ^ Parslow, Jon L; Carter M J (1965). "Bobolink in the Isles of Scilly: a bird new to Great Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 58: 208–214.
  19. ^ Osborne, Ken (2002). "Birding Hotspots 1: The Parsonage". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2001: 165–7.
  20. ^ Edwards, K D; Osborne K C (1972). "Hooded Warbler in the Isles of Scilly: a species new to Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 65: 203–5.
  21. ^ Dukes, Paul A (1980). "Semipalmated Plover: new to Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 73: 458–464. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  22. ISBN 0-7136-6037-6
    .
  23. ^ Dukes, Paul A (March 1995). "Wood Thrush in Scilly: new to Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 88 (3): 133–5. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  24. ^ Fisher Ashley and Flood Bob (2005). "Cream-coloured Courser – First for Scilly, September 28, 2004". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2004: 138–9.
  25. ^ Quick, Hilda (1952). "Blue-cheeked Bee-eater in Scilly: A new British bird". British Birds. 45: 225–7. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  26. ^ Hudson, D.C. (2010) Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2009. Isles of Scilly Bird Group.
  27. ^ Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map

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