St Helen's, Isles of Scilly

Coordinates: 49°58′23″N 6°19′30″W / 49.973°N 6.325°W / 49.973; -6.325
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

St Helen's
Enys Elyd
Civil parish
Tresco
Demographics
Population0

St Helen's (

scheduled ancient monument.[5] Access to the island is through chartered or private boat,[6] although there are some season trips throughout the summer.[7] St Helen's is currently managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
.

Geography

St Helen's is the third largest of the uninhabited islands and is situated in the northern part, between

well
and the walls of several fields.

Pre-history

Cairns

The platform cairns on St Helen's make up a large amount of the total 387 surviving cairns on the Isles of Scilly, and so have been registered as an ancient monument. The remaining Bronze Age cairn field on the island consists of four ring cairns on the slight north-west facing slope. The first cairn is 4 m in diameter with a ring of earth with protruding spaced stones, 1m wide and 0.2 m high. The second cairn is oval 4 m by 3 m with a ring 0.4 m wide and 0.2 m high, incorporate two contiguous slabs embedded on edge. The third cairn is 6 m in diameter with a ring with spaced stones averaging 1m wide and 0.3 m high. The fourth cairn is 4 m in diameter with a ring of spaced stones which averages 0.7 m wide and 0.2 m high.[8]

History

Early Christian chapel

On the south slope of St Helen's there is an early

excavations suggest that the site developed from a solitary hermit site, with a single round hut and oratory, to a communal hermitage with a number of rectangular huts for individual accommodation, surrounding the church and oratory buildings.[9] Five graves from the early hermitage were also excavated east of the living section. A field system was also present providing food for the Hermitage/Chapel, and later the Pest House residents.[10] In the early 11th-century a small church was built on the north east side of the living section and around 1120 AD the church was granted to Tavistock Abbey.[11] This increased the numbers of pilgrims visiting the site due to it being the shrine of Elidius, and many alterations and remodeling were made to the complex.[6] Additionally, further excavations of the site have uncovered decorated ridge-tiles and parts of the 12th century Purbeck Marble shrine that is thought to have once housed Saint Elidius relics.[12] It is also said that there was once a causeway from abbey church at Tresco across the downs to the church on St Helen's Isle.[13] Currently there are yearly open air service on 8 August to celebrate the feast of St Elidius at the small ruined church.[14]

The Ruined Pest House, St Helen's

St Helen's Pool

St Helen's Pool is a stretch of water just off St Helen's island which provided sheltered anchorage for shipping,[15] though there is a chance ships may experience swells near high water.[16] There is evidence to show that during the later medieval period the monks of Tresco may have collected tolls from ships for anchorage in St Helen's Pool, as it is considered that it was the main harbour of the islands in medieval times.[17]

The Pest House

St Helen's Isolation hospital, also known as the Pest House, was a

Act of Parliament in 1754 decreed that any plague-ridden ship north of Cape Finisterre heading for England should anchor off this island.[19] The station included the building of an isolation hospital as well as a slipway and an extensive quay to serve it.[20] The pest house was still open to receive patients from quarantined vessels.[21] The hospital building is a rectangular, roofless building, 7 m by 5.5 m externally with a two–roomed extension on its east side. The walls of the building are 0.6 m wide and 3 m high, and are constructed of mortared rubble with other details picked out in larger stones. The building has recently been repaired and stabilized to prevent its collapse with the help of English Heritage funding through the Isles of Scilly (IOS) Grant Scheme, administered by Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Community Grants Programme (CIOS).[17] There is also a graveyard associated with the pest house which is known to include the grave of a 27-year-old naval surgeon who was sent to treat the sick and died within a week himself, and various passengers from Africa and Asia who also died at the station.[22]

Wildlife and ecology

The island is part of the St Helen's (with Northwethel and Men-a-vaur) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is designated for its rare flora and breeding seabirds. The SSSI was first notified in 1971, re-notified in 1986 and covers all land above the mean high-water mark.[4]

Flora

In 1940 the highest land on St Helen's was covered in maritime heath with ling (

bryophytes. At the time of the publication of Lousley's flora (1971) the vegetation had still not reverted to heath and by 1987 Hottentot fig (Carpobrotus edulis
) had spread over much of the area. By 2002 much of this plant had disappeared possibly because of salt spray, or because of unusually cold weather. At the last SSSI assessment in 2009, vegetation on the island including the heath was considered to be in ″a favourable condition″. Lousley found large areas of cliffs and rocks were also covered with Hottentot fig which is spread by gulls carrying the plant to their nests. It can then take root and spread over bare ground and vegetation.

The lower lying ground to the south of the hill, has deeper soils with black humus and white sand grains. The flora is dominated by a tangle of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and bramble (Rubus ulmifolius) and is comparatively rich compared with many of the other islands; probably because St Helen's has less salt spay due to its comparatively sheltered position being surrounded by other islands. The long history of human settlement has also allowed for the establishment of additional species, either by human introduction, or by grazing which has helped to develop deeper soils on the lower ground. Around the pest house there is rank grassland and scrub with flowering plants such as hemlock (Conium maculatum), hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) and good populations of balm-leaved figwort (Scrophularia scorodonia) which is spreading in one area. Unusually for a small Scillonian island there is also grey willow (Salix cinerea), wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) and small reed (Calamagrostis epigejos). In the past the areas around the buildings would have been cultivated or grazed and North reported the island was uncultivated during his visit in 1850.[21] To allow access for visitors to the August church service, the tall vegetation is cut around the ruined buildings and on the path from the landing place.

On the north-west side of the island there is an area of maritime grassland with abundant thrift (

Lavatera arborea).[4][14][23][24] Also on the north side and directly opposite Round Island, Issac North (1850) found a chasm richly covered in sea spleenwort (Asplenium marinum).[21]

Shore dock

Shore dock (Rumex rupestris) is one of the rarer docks and a BAP species; it is one of the reasons why the Isles of Scilly is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). It was recorded in 1957 by Lousley, but has not been seen since and is thought to be extinct on St Helen's. It was recorded nearby on Teän in 2005.[25]

Fauna

The fauna of the outer islands of the Isles of Scilly is generally poorly recorded because of, both the difficulty of reaching them, and the length of the time spent.

Mammals

St Helen's has a long history of habitation and when Issac North visited the islands in 1850 he reported goats (

Oryctolagus cuniculus) has not been recorded since 1980.[14]

Birds

Cooper (2006) recorded a few great black-backed gull

Puffinus puffinus).[28]

Other islands in the St Helen’s group

Foreman’s Island

Foreman's Island (grid reference SV900160) is a 0.37 hectares (0.91 acres) low-lying island on the south side of St Helen's Pool between Teän and Tresco. It is one of a group of rocks and islets of importance for breeding seabirds.[14] The common froghopper (Philaenus spumarius) has been recorded on Foreman's.[29]

Men-a-vaur

Men-a-vaur (

Gulosus aristotelis) and puffin.[4] Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and raven (Corvus corax) breed in some years.[14]

Lousley recorded common scurvygrass (

Omalium allardi) has been recorded.[30]

Northwethel

Northwethel (grid reference SV895163) is a 4.63 hectares (11.4 acres) and 15.2 m (50 ft) high island in Old Grimsby Channel, off Grimble Porth, Tresco. The island consists of two hills connected by a low stretch of land. There is a sandy beach at the landing area on the south and a small brackish pool behind the sea bank.[14][31]

Human habitation dates back to the Bronze Age with a cairn field of up to nine cairns including one that has a chamber 5.5 m (18 ft) in diameter with two cover stones still in place. The chamber is oriented east to west and 3.0 m (10 ft) long, 1.36 m (4.5 ft) wide at the centre and 0.45 m (18 in) at the entrance. There is also a prehistoric field system and a settlement with (probably) six hut circles. Some of the hut circles are integrated into the field walls of which there are three or four irregular shaped fields 30.0 m (98 ft) to 50.0 m (164 ft) across. The hut circles have an internal width of 4.0 m (13 ft) to 6.0 m (20 ft). A number of finds of flint, bone and pottery of unknown date have been deposited with the Isles of Scilly Museum on St Mary's.[32] It is said that 1,500 Parliamentarians landed on the island in the mistaken belief they were on Tresco and a roughly rectangular enclosure with two sides of drystone walling is a possible ″Parliamentary army shelter″.[14] On the west side of the island are the remains of a rusting ship.[31]

The botanist

Chenopodium rubrum).[14] A visit by John Hunt in the 1980s found a ″healthy″ growth of bracken.[31] The fern soft shield-fern (Polystichum setiferum) once thought to be very rare on the islands has now been found on all the inhabited islands (except Bryher) and curiously also on Northwethel.[33]

Round Island

Main article: Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly

Round Island (grid reference SV901177) is a 4.09 hectares (10.1 acres) island to the north of St Helen's with an unmanned lighthouse on the summit. It is part of the Pentle Bay, Merrick and Round Islands Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Teän

Main article: Teän

Teän (grid reference SV908164) is a 16.13 hectares (39.9 acres) island between St Helen's, to the north-west and St Martin's to the east. The island has a long history of habitation and was designated as the Teän Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1971. It is included in the Isles of Scilly Geological Conservation Review for the linking of islands by a sandy bar or tombolo.

References

  1. ^ "Akademi Kernewek - Henwyn Tyller".
  2. ^ Weatherhill, C (1995). Cornish Placenames and Language. Sigma Leisure.
  3. ^ "UK033-Isles of Scilly". www.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d "St Helen's (with Northwethel and Men-a-vaur)" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  5. ^ Historic England. "Kerbed platform cairn and prehistoric house platform 370m NNW of the Pest House, St Helen's (1014552)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b "St. Helens". www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Important Information". www.simplyscilly.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Two kerbed platform cairns 240m north of the Pest House, St Helen's (1014550)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Introductions to Heritage Assets-Hermitages". www.historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  10. ^ "St Helen's Field System". scillypedia.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  11. ^ "Isles of Scilly" (PDF). www.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  12. ^ "Collection Summary-Isles Of Scilly Museum". www.cornucopia.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  13. ^ Jessie Mothersole. "The Isles of Scilly-Their Story, Their Folk & Their Flowers". www.archive.org. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Parslow, R. (2007) The Isles of Scilly. New Naturalist Library. London: HarperCollins
  15. ^ "Valhalla - Friar Tuck 1863". www.tresco.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  16. ^ "Isles of Scilly Cruising Guide". www.alphatozulu.com. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  17. ^ a b Charles Johns; Richard Larn; Bryn Perry Tapper. "Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment for The Isles of Scilly" (PDF). www.english-heritage.org.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  18. ^ "Pest House, St. Helen's". www.simplyscilly.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  19. ISBN 9781847251435
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  20. ^ "Meeting report from SW Soundings No.44 (Feb 1999)". www.swmaritime.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  21. ^ a b c d North, Issac William (1850). A Week in the Isles of Scilly. London: Longman and Co.
  22. ^ "Pest House Ruins St.Helens Plague Quarantine Station (Isles of Scilly) From 1764". alchemipedia.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
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  24. ^ Webber, Julie. "Condition of SSSI units". Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
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  26. ^ A R Hope Moncrieff, ed. (1919). Black's Guide To Cornwall. London: A & C Black. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  27. ISBN 9781903998519
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  28. ^ "Response rates to tape playback of male calls by Manx Shearwaters" (PDF). JNCC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  29. hdl:1887/11016
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  30. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1931.tb01058.x
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  32. ^ "Northwethel Search". Pastscapes. English Heritage. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  33. ISBN 978-1-902864-07-5
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