St Martin's () is the northernmost populated island of the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

, England, United Kingdom. It has an area of and a total population (2021 census) of 135.

Description

There are three main settlements on the island - Higher Town, Middle Town and

Lower Town Lower Town (also spelled "Lowertown" () is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Vanier Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to the east of downtown. It is the oldest neighbourhood of the city, with construction beginning in 1826. It includes the comm ...

- in addition to a number of scattered farms and cottages. There are two

quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

s - at Higher Town (the Higher Town Quay, used at

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

) and at Lower Town (the Hotel Quay, used at

low tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...

). In Higher Town there is a post office. Several regions of the island are designated as

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. To the north, St Martin's is joined by a

tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

to White Island. There is also a commercial

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

and observatory on the island.

Daymark

At the northeast corner of the island is a large red-and-white

daymark A daymark is a navigational aid for sailors and maritime pilot, pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight. The word is also used in a more specific, technical sense to refer to a signboard or daytime identifier that ...

. It was erected in 1683 by Thomas Ekins, first steward of the Godophin Family to live on the islands. The daymark, alongside some prehistoric cairns, is registered as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. It is a rendered

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

circular tower in diameter and high, set back to conical termination making it high. The blocked arched entrance door contains an incorrect date of 1637. It was painted white until 1822 but by 1833 had been painted red, and is now painted in bands of red and white. The daymark is built on the highest point of St Martin's — and the second-highest point in the Isles of Scilly — and the islands' only

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

triangulation station A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The station is usually set up by a map ...

is situated by the daymark; the position and relative height mean that the Cornish mainland is visible (when the weather allows) and the daymark is identifiable from the mainland too.

Religion

There are two churches on St Martin's: the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church of St Martin's and St Martin's Methodist Church, both located in the Higher Town area. The Methodist chapel dates from about 1845 and is part of the Isles of Scilly Methodist Circuit.

Civil parish and ward

St Martin's is one of the five

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

of the Isles of Scilly, which are also

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. The civil parish and ward include several uninhabited islands and rocks, including the

Eastern Isles The Eastern Isles () are a group of 12 small uninhabited islands within the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of the Scilly Heritage Coast and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) first designated in 1971 for its f ...

Great Ganilly Great Ganilly ( ; ) is one of the Eastern Isles of the Isles of Scilly. It has a maximum total area of 0.13 square kilometres and a highest point of 34 metres above sea level, located in the middle of the island. There are two known cairn ...

, English Island and White Island. St Martin's returns one councillor to the Council of the Isles of Scilly, the same as the other "off-island" wards. The civil parish is not functional, however, and there is no

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

meeting A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision-making. Definiti ...

Education

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

sixth-form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council level ...

level reside and board elsewhere, in mainland Great Britain. Previously the

Learning and Skills Council The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 Ma ...

paid for costs of accommodation for sixth-formers.

Population

References

External links

Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Martin's, Isles of Scilly Inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly Civil parishes in Cornwall