Old Town ( "church town") is a village on St Mary's in 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 ...

located southeast of

Hugh Town Hugh Town ( or ) is the largest settlement on the Isles of Scilly and its administrative centre. The town is situated on the island of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, St Mary's, the largest and most populous island in the archipelago, and is located ...

. It is thought to be the oldest settlement on the island. It is a popular tourist area and is only a short distance from the island's airport. As well as a number of self-catering holiday properties, Old Town also has a large proportion of dwellings permanently occupied by local residents. The Five Islands School, as well as the main sports and fitness centre for St Mary's, is located just by Old Town, at the settlement of Carn Gwaval. Old Town Bay () forms a natural harbour and links the village with the open sea; there is an old quay and there continues to be a slipway in use.

History

In medieval times this was the main

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

, administrative centre and settlement of the Isles of Scilly. The island of St Mary's was then known as Ennor, and the Old Town was named Porth Ennor or Porthenor (being the main harbour settlement of the island). It declined with the development of the Garrison and neighbouring Hugh Town, which in turn replaced Old Town as the main harbour, administrative centre and settlement of the Isles.

Amenities and landmarks

As well as being located close to the island's school and airport, within Old Town there is a small shop, a pub, two cafés, as well as three art studios located on the road leading north out of the village.

Ennor Castle

On a small but prominent knoll are the fragmentary remains of a small

shell keep A shell keep is a style of medieval fortification, best described as a stone structure circling the top of a motte. In English castle morphology, shell keeps are perceived as the successors to motte-and-bailey castles, with the wooden fence arou ...

castle dating from the thirteenth or fourteenth century, known as Ennor Castle, the only medieval castle on the islands. It became redundant after

Star Castle ''Star Castle'' is a vector graphics multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses orbiting a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The display is black and wh ...

, built on the Garrison, was built in the late sixteenth century. Some of the castle's stone was used to build Star Castle, with much of the rest robbed for buildings in Old Town. During 2014, overgrowth clearances were carried out, which made the castle far more visible. The project was supported by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and the owners of the site.

Church

On the other side of the bay to the settlement lies St Mary's Old Church (commonly known as Old Town Church) which is surrounded by an old, terraced graveyard as well as the newer municipal

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. The

dedication Dedication often refers to various religious and secular ceremonies and practices such as: * Dedication (ritual) the ritual or ceremonial establishment of a purpose for a person, place, or thing ** Dedication of churches ** Child dedication, a C ...

of the church to

St Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...

then gave that name to the island parish, replacing the older name of Ennor; the naming after the parish church is also the case with a number of other islands in Scilly. Common with other Cornish

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, the church is located a little distance from the main settlement of the parish, and there once was a small churchtown surrounding the church; today however there are no other buildings in the vicinity of the church. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St Mary's is now in Hugh Town, also dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, though the Old Church is used for Sunday evening services (Easter-September) and the cemetery belonging to the Council of the Isles of Scilly lies adjacent.Council of the Isles of Scilly
Cemetery

Notable residents

Former

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

was a regular visitor to the Isles of Scilly, and often stayed at Hugh Town in a bungalow named 'Lowenva'. He is buried in the cemetery at the church at Old Town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Town, Isles Of Scilly Villages in the Isles of Scilly History of the Isles of Scilly Populated places on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly