Ten Mile Point is a neighbourhood in the District of Saanich in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

, and is the most easterly point on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

. Ten Mile Point was so named because it was ten nautical miles () from what was at the time the headquarters of the

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

(now

CFB Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquim ...

). Ten Mile Point is a

wooded A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

peninsula that forms one side of Cadboro Bay, the home of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and the mythical Cadborosaurus

sea monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

. Cadboro Point is located on the east part of this peninsula. Prevost Hill was named after

James Charles Prevost James Charles Prevost (1810–1891) was an admiral in the British Royal Navy. He was born in Bedhampton, Hampshire, England, the son of Rear-Admiral James Prevost and his first wife France née Haultain, and joined the navy in 1823 and by 1850 ...

, British commissioner in the negotiations to settle the San Juan boundary dispute. Prevost Hill is the highest elevation on Ten Mile Point and is known informally in the neighbourhood as "Minnie Mountain". Prevost Hill is the location for a subdivision within Ten Mile Point called "Wedgewood Point" or "Wedgewood Estates". A small wooded island, "Flower Island", almost touches the southern shore of Ten Mile Point. Ten Mile Point has many secluded

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

es and

cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

One such cove, called "Smuggler's Cove", was used during the

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

years as a boat landing and launch for

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

-runners traveling back and forth to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Another cove is called "Telegraph Cove" and was the location of a dynamite factory which operated in the late 19th century. In the early part of the 20th century, Ten Mile Point became a summer retreat with many cabins on its shores. It gradually developed into the present upscale residential neighbourhood. Ten Mile Point maintains a rural, bucolic feel as a result of lot municipal zoning implemented specifically for this area by the District of Saanich. The area has only two

street lamps A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

. Retired two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and singer/songwriter

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

both own homes in Ten Mile Point. The neighbourhood was also home to movie director

George Pan Cosmatos George Pan Cosmatos (4 January 1941 – 19 April 2005) was a Greek-Italian film director and screenwriter. Following early success in his home country with drama films such as ''Massacre in Rome'' with Richard Burton (based on the real-life Arde ...

. Canadian musician Ten Mile Point is named after the neighbourhood. Ten Mile Point was the filming location for the fictional Washington State community of "Fisher Island" in the 2021 Netflix series, "Maid".

References

BCGNIS listing "Ten Mile Point (point)"Ten Mile Point's bandcamp page
Neighbourhoods in Saanich, British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub