Jurby ( – deer settlement - animal park) () 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-west of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the sheading of

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

Jurby has the same meaning as

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, both originating from the Scandinavian term for a deer farm or park; 'djúra-bý.' The earliest known reference to Jurby comes from 1291, when it appears as 'Dureby,' but by 1588 it had morphed into being today's Jurby. The introduction of Derby as a placename in the Isle of Man came much later, such as with the appearance of Derbyhaven in 1507, when it came from the surname of the then Lords of Man.

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 1999) is John James Quayle.

Politics

Jurby parish is part of the

Ayre & Michael Ayre & Michael is a House of Keys constituency in the north of the Isle of Man. It was created for the 2016 general election and elects 2 MHK It is easily the largest Keys constituency in area, and includes the parishes of Michael (parish), Mich ...

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 The House of Keys () is the directly elected lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council. History The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written in Lat ...

. Before 2016 it was in the

constituency.

Demographics

The Isle of Man census of 2021 returned a parish population of 780, an increase of 0.5% from the figure of 776 in 2016, but a decrease of 2.2% from the figure of 797 in 2011. According to the 2011 Isle of Man census, 3.5% of Jurby residents reported that they could speak, read or write in the

Manx language Manx ( or , or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language, Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the heritage language of the Manx ...

Geography

The parish of Jurby, which lies on the north-western coast of the island, borders those of

Andreas Andreas () is a name derived from the Greek noun ἀνήρ ''anēr'', with genitive ἀνδρός ''andros'', which means "man". See the article on Andrew for more information. The Scandinavian name is earliest attested as antreos in a runeston ...

to the east,

Lezayre Lezayre ( ; ), formally Kirk Christ Lezayre, is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the sheading of Ayre. Administratively, par ...

to the south-east, and

Ballaugh Ballaugh ( ; , ) is a small village in the Isle of Man in the parish of the same name, in the sheading of Michael. It is the only village in the parish. The parish adjoins Jurby to the north, Lezayre to the east, Michael to the south and south- ...

to the south. It is low-lying overall: the highest elevations are some coastal dunes with a height of up to 39 metres. There is an industrial park on the old

RAF Jurby Royal Air Force Jurby, or more simply RAF Jurby, is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station built in the north west of the Isle of Man. It was opened in 1939 on of land acquired by the Air Ministry in 1937, u ...

Airfield.

Landmarks

Airfield

Jurby Airfield was originally used as a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

training base in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the 1950s it was used as a training camp for Officer cadets on short-term commissions in the RAF. The course lasted three months. Part of the airfield is now used as an industrial and retail estate. The old runways and taxiways now form the Jurby motorcycle race track. The grassland surrounding the airfield harbours many wildflowers, as the land has never been ploughed. Skylarks can be heard in summer when there are no races on. A large part of the airfield therefore has statutory protection under the Wildlife Act 1990 as an Area of Special Scientific Importance.

Museums

A museum dedicated to transport in the island, the Jurby Transport Museum, is housed in an old aircraft hangar. Another museum nearby, the Isle of Man Motor Museum, was officially opened by the Lieutenant Governor on 22 May 2015.

Church

A tiny 8th century chapel dedicated to St Cecilia (the patron saint of music), was Jurby's first recorded church. St Cecilia's Day on 22 November was the parish festival day. There are several Viking carved crosses and gravestones within the church. Medieval objects have occasionally been excavated when new graves were prepared in the church grounds. In medieval times the church was part of the

Whithorn Whithorn (; ), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christian church in Scotland, "White/Shining House", built by ...

diocese in South West Scotland. This caused some political trouble when the English and Scots were at war; the Bishop invited the Scottish clergy of Jurby to visit him and was criticised by English authorities for fraternising with the enemy. The present

St. Patrick's Church, Jurby St Patrick's Church is a parish church of the Church of England in Jurby parish, near the northwest coast of the Isle of Man. Scotland and Ireland can be seen across the Irish Sea on a moderately clear day. The church also has views down the wes ...

was built during the war with help of RAF Jurby. There are a number of war graves, for British, Commonwealth and Polish servicemen. They died mostly from aircraft training accidents. The church is set on a slight headland on the coast and there are views south to Peel, north to Scotland, and inland across the rural north of the island, towards the hills.

Prison

The

Isle of Man Prison Isle of Man Prison is a mixed-use prison located in the Jurby parish of the Isle of Man. The prison is operated by the Isle of Man Prison Service (part of the Department of Home Affairs (Isle of Man), Department of Home Affairs) and is the only ...

operated by the Isle of Man Prison Service is located at Jurby.

Treens

Jurby was historically subdivided into five treens:isle-of-man.com: Treens and Quarterlands
Retrieved 18 December 2017. #Sertfell #Knoksewell #Dalyott #Slekby #Le Soulby

Gallery

File:Jurby church - geograph.org.uk - 779024.jpg, St. Patrick's Church File:Jurby Parish Church (1).jpg, Interior of St. Patrick's Church File:Jurby Parish Church (5).jpg, St. Patrick's Church and graveyard File:Andreas & Jurby.jpg, Aerial view of the Airfield with Jurby visible in the distance. File:RAF Jurby Head - Isle of Man.jpg, RAF Jurby Head File:Jurby Transport Museum (27622780414).jpg, Interior of Jurby Transport Museum

References

* Showing parish boundaries * An ongoing study of Manx glens, their locations and meanings.

External links

A Manx Notebook
*

* *
Map of Jurby showing subdivision into treensWebsite of the Isle of Man Motor Museum
{{Isle of Man Parishes of the Isle of Man