Andreas ( or ; ) is one of the seventeen

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the sheading of Ayre. The main settlement in the parish in the village of Andreas, which is also known as Kirk Andreas.

History

There are several ancient monuments and sites located in the parish of Andreas. Ballavarry Burial Mound is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

burial mound found a short distance outside of the village of Andreas. Knock y Doonee is a significant historical and archaeological site in Andreas. Archaeological excavations on the area have uncovered a bilingual ogham stone in Latin and Ogham; a Christian

keeill Keeill (also ''keill, keeil''; plural ''kialteenyn'' or ''keeills'') is a specific type of small simple chapel found on the Isle of Man and built between the 6th and 12th centuries. Etymology The word is a borrowing from Manx Gaelic where it me ...

(a small chapel); a Christian carved stone cross; and a

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

boat burial. Severa
carved stone crosses
and slabs have been discovered in Andreas. Although many of the crosses are extant only as fragments and are located in the Manx Museum, ''Thorwald's Cross'' for example can be viewed at St Andrew's Church. Several early Christian Manx keeills have been recorded throughout the parish although most have been destroyed when their remaining stones were removed for the construction of other buildings during the 19th century. * Knock y Doonee keeill. * Keeill Tushtag. * Ballagonnell Keeill. * Ardonan keeill.

Geography

Andreas borders

Jurby Jurby ( – deer settlement - animal park) () is one of the seventeen List of parishes of the Isle of Man, parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north-west of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the shead ...

to the west, Bride to the east and Lezayre to the south. The

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

is to the north. The parish is low-lying. The most significant inland water feature is the Lhen Trench, which runs for about 7 km north–south, in parallel with the boundary with

. To the north the Scottish

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands () are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the others being the Central Lowlands and the Highlands). The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to col ...

and the Mull of Galloway can sometimes clearly be seen. The total area is about . The village of Andreas or Kirk Andreas is the only significant settlement in the parish. The nearest town, Ramsey, is 4 miles or 6 km away.

Local government

For the purposes of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

, the whole of the historic parish forms a single parish

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

with

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

s. The

Captain of the Parish The Captain of the Parish is an official in each parish in the Isle of Man—formerly the title was ''Captain of the Parish Militia'', but it is now only a titular honour. Historically the Captain of the Parish was authorised to raise his own mi ...

(since 2003) is Dorothy Sayle.

Politics

Andreas parish is part of the Ayre & Michael

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

, which elects two Members to the House of Keys. Before 2016 it was in the Ayre constituency.

Demographics

The Isle of Man census of 2016 returned a parish population of 1,397, a decrease of 2.1% from the figure of 1,426 in 2011.

Landmarks

Churches

St Andrew's Church in Andreas village was built in 1802 using stone from Sulby Glen as there was no local stone quarries. Although a large 120 ft bell tower was added in 1860, it was dismantled in 1945 to improve the safety of nearby RAF Andreas. The bell tower has never been restored to its original height. St Jude's Church is also located in the hamlet of St Jude's, was built in 1839. The Lhen Nature Reserve

Andreas Airfield

Near the middle of the parish is the former RAF Andreas airfield which operated between 1941 and 1946. It is home to a small number of privately owned light aircraft and also used by a gliding club.

Cronk y Bing Nature Reserve

Cronk y Bing is the site of a nature reserve in Andreas which extends all the way to the north tip of the Isle of Man at the Point of Ayre. It consists of

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

land and extensive sand dunes. Plants such as marram grass, pyramidal orchid, and sea bindweed dominate the area.

References

External links

Manxnotebook Andreas
Detail about Manx parishes and description of the parish.

with full description of the parish and photographs

Isle of Man Building Control Districts
showing parish boundaries
Glenology - Manx Glens
An ongoing study of Manx glens, their locations and meanings. {{Authority control Parishes of the Isle of Man