St Agnes () is the southernmost 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 ...

. Thus the island's Troy Town Farm is the southernmost settlement in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Description

St Agnes joins the island of

Gugh Gugh ( ; ) could be described as the sixth inhabited island of the Isles of Scilly, but is usually included with St Agnes with which it is joined by a sandy tombolo known as "The Bar" when exposed at low tide. The island is only about long a ...

by a

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. It is a deposition landform by which an island becomes attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar. Once attached, the island is then known as a tied island. The word ''t ...

, a kind of

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or ...

, called the Gugh Bar, which is exposed only at low tide. The Gugh is inhabited, with some three residents. The two islands of St Agnes and Gugh together have a population of 85 residents recorded in the 2011 census (73 were recorded in the 2001 census) and a landmass of . Without the Gugh included, St Agnes is marginally smaller than

Bryher Bryher () is one of the smallest inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly, with a population of 84 in 2011, spread across . Bryher exhibits a procession of prominent hills connected by low-lying necks and sandy bars. Landmarks include Hell Bay, ...

in both population and area; however if Gugh is included with St Agnes, it is Bryher that is marginally smaller in area and population. In earlier times many men from St Agnes earned a living as

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...

, guiding transatlantic liners and other vessels through the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. Now the mainstay of the economy is tourism, together with some

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

farming. Accommodation is limited, and St Agnes is the only populated island in the

which has no hotel. However, it has a few B&Bs and self-catering cottages, an ice cream shop, a campsite, a small post office and general store and a gift shop. It also has a pub (the Turk's Head) and a cafe, although these are closed in the winter.

Settlements

The main population centre is in the north and middle of the island. The southern part of the island is covered by the heather

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

of Wingletang Down. The settlements are Troy Town (far west), Lower Town (west), Middle Town (central) and Higher Town (east).

Lighthouse

The island's most notable landmark is its

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

, which has been converted into living accommodation as the tower no longer contains a light.

Other landmarks

Other landmarks include a

standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...

known as the Nag's Head (probably a natural formation). In 1707, many of the sailors who had drowned in the great naval disaster off the Isles of Scilly were reputedly buried on the St Agnes playing field. ; Troy Town maze The

Troy Town Many turf mazes in England were named Troy Town, Troy-town or variations on that theme (such as Troy, The City of Troy, Troy's Walls, Troy's Hoy, or The Walls of Troy) presumably because, in popular legend, the walls of the city of Troy were con ...

Maze is said to have been laid out by the son of the lighthouse keeper in 1729, but may be much older. Although called a maze it is strictly a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

with a convoluted path to the centre via seven rings. It is the only one outside Scandinavia made of beach pebbles, which may indicate it to be of Viking origin. References in the

Norse sagas Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

tell of raiders coming to Scilly as late as the mid-12th century. Any buried evidence of its origins may have been destroyed during an unofficial rebuild in 1988.

Churches

The primary church of St Agnes is St Agnes' parish church, but the

Bible Christians The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O'Bryan (born Bryant), a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm ...

maintained a congregation on the island for over 100 years and built the Bible Christian Chapel, St Agnes in the north of the island in 1874. St Agnes' Church is a

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 ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

located in the village, dedicated to St Agnes of Rome. The first church was built in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, but it was destroyed in a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

. It was rebuilt in the eighteenth century, but was again destroyed. The current building was built by the islanders in the nineteenth century using the proceeds of the sale of a wreck, and the bell in the church was taken from that wreck. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. In 1821, the church was surveyed by Barnard Sherris of the Incorporated Church Building Society, and a grant was approved for a new west gallery and two new pews in the chancel. The church features stained-glass windows locally made by artists Marigold and Oriel Hicks. St Agnes' Church is within the United Benefice of the

parishes, which also includes All Saints' Church, Bryher,

St Martin's Church, St Martin's St Martin's Church, St Martin's is a Grade II listed parish church in the Church of England located in St Martin's, Isles of Scilly, UK. History The Anglican church was built in 1683 by Thomas Ekin, the Godolphin Steward. Originally only long ...

, St Mary's Church, St Mary's,

St Mary's Old Church, St Mary's St Mary's Old Church, St Mary's is a parish church in the Church of England located in Old Town on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, United Kingdom. History The Anglican church of St Mary was built at Old Town, Isles of Scilly during the 1 ...

, and

St Nicholas's Church, Tresco St Nicholas's Church, Tresco, is a parish church in the Church of England located in Tresco, Isles of Scilly, UK. History Originally two old cottages were used by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) as a church. Augustus Smith ...

. File:The church at St Agnes - geograph.org.uk - 2733498.jpg, alt= File:St. Agnes church, St. Agnes - geograph.org.uk - 5412882.jpg, alt= File:St. Agnes parish church, east window - geograph.org.uk - 567242.jpg, alt= File:New window in St Agnes church - geograph.org.uk - 3663391.jpg, alt=

Population

Sporting and social life

Friday evenings in the summer (end of April until start of October) see men's domestic

Cornish Pilot Gig The Cornish pilot gig is a six-oar rowing boat, clinker-built of Ulmus minor 'Stricta', Cornish narrow-leaf elm, long with a beam of . It is recognised as one of the first shore-based lifeboat (rescue), lifeboats that went to vessels in distres ...

racing on Scilly, with the ladies' race on Wednesday. After the race, supporters fill the Turk's Head to discuss the race and to socialise. The pub is open through the summer, but during the winter it only opens on Wednesdays for a

pub quiz A pub quiz is a quiz held in a pub or Bar (drinking establishment), bar. These events are also called quiz nights, trivia nights, or bar trivia and may be held in other settings. The pub quiz is a modern example of a pub game, and often attempts ...

, and one other night.

Notable residents

Periglis Cottage was the home of St Agnes's resident ornithologist Hilda M. Quick. She was the author of ''Birds of the Scilly Isles'' published in 1964.

Education

Five Islands Academy (previously Five Islands School) has its St Agnes 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.

Natural history

Over one third of the area of St Agnes is 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 ...

(SSSI). In the south of the island Wingletang Down is noted for its heath, dune grassland and rocky coast and is the only site in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

where the

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

least adder's–tongue (''Ophioglossum lusitanicum'') grows. Other rare plants include the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

autumn lady's-tresses (''

Spiranthes spiralis ''Spiranthes spiralis'', commonly known as autumn lady's-tresses, is an orchid that grows in Europe and adjacent North Africa and Asia. It is a small grey-green plant. It forms a rosette of four to five pointed, sessile, ovate leaves about in le ...

'') and early meadow-grass (''

Poa infirma ''Poa infirma'' is a species of grass known by the common names early meadow-grass and weak bluegrass. It was first described from a specimen found in Colombia, but it is actually an introduced species in the Americas and is native to Europe. It ...

''). The only freshwater pools on St Agnes are Big Pool and Little Pool in the north-west of the island which are part of the Big Pool and Browarth Point SSSI. (The land designated as Big Pool and Browarth Point SSSI is entirely owned by the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

) Big Pool shows evidence for inundation by the 1755 Lisbon tsunami that was caused by the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...

. The vegetation has some

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

influence because of occasional influx of the sea during winter storms with rushes such as saltmarsh rush ('' Juncus gerardi'') and sea club–rush (''

Scirpus maritimus ''Bolboschoenus maritimus'' is a species of flowering plant from family Cyperaceae. Common names for this species include sea clubrush, cosmopolitan bulrush, alkali bulrush, saltmarsh bulrush, and bayonet grass. It is found in seaside wetland hab ...

''). The surrounding grassland, which is also a cricket pitch, is notable for the clovers amongst its flora including western clover (''

Trifolium occidentale ''Trifolium occidentale'', the western clover, is a clover plant belonging to the genus ''Trifolium'' in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are white, similar to white clover (''Trifolium repens''), with which it has long been confused. T ...

''), suffocated clover ('' T. suffocatum'') and subterranean clover ('' T. subterraneum''). Other plants include adder's-tongue (''

Ophioglossum vulgatum ''Ophioglossum vulgatum'', commonly known as adder's-tongue, southern adder's-tongue or adder's-tongue fern, is a species of fern in the family ''Ophioglossaceae''. The chloroplast genome was reported to have a size of 138,562 base pairs. Descr ...

'') and small adder's-tongue ('' O. azoricum'').

Vagrant birds

St Agnes is visited by

birdwatcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...

s, particularly during the ″Scilly season″ of September and October. Among the many

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

birds which have been found here around this time are the following, which were all ″firsts″ for Britain: *

Northern waterthrush The northern waterthrush (''Parkesia noveboracensis'') is a species of ground-feeding migratory New World warbler of the genus ''Parkesia''. It breeds in the northern part of North America in Canada and the northern United States including Alask ...

(''Parkesia noveboracensis'') found at Covean on 30 September 1958 and stayed there until 12 October 1958. *

Bobolink The bobolink (''Dolichonyx oryzivorus'') is a small New World blackbird and the only member of the genus ''Dolichonyx''. An old name for this species is the "rice bird", from its tendency to feed on cultivated grains during winter and migration. ...

(''Dolichonyx oryzivorus'') near Big Pool on 19 September 1962. *

Blackpoll warbler The blackpoll warbler (''Setophaga striata'') is a New World warbler. Breeding males are mostly black and white. They have a prominent black cap, white cheeks, and white wing bars. The blackpoll breeds in forests of northern North America, from A ...

(''Setophaga striata'') discovered in the Parsonage garden on 12 October 1968 and remained on the island until 25 October 1968. * Europe's first

hooded warbler The hooded warbler (''Setophaga citrina'') is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies. Ho ...

(''Wilsonia citrina'') at Big Pool from 21 September 1972 to 23 September. *

Semipalmated plover The semipalmated plover (''Charadrius semipalmatus'') is a small plover. ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek ''kharadrios'' a bird found in ravines and ri ...

(''Charadrius semipalmatus'') first found at Porth Killier on 9 October 1978 and stayed around on Periglis until 9 November 1978. * Europe's first

magnolia warbler The magnolia warbler (''Setophaga magnolia'') is a member of the New World warbler, wood warbler family Parulidae. Etymology The genus name ''Setophaga'' is from Ancient Greek ''ses'', "moth", and ', "eating", and the specific ''magnolia'' refe ...

(''Setophaga magnolia'') in Barnaby Lane on 27 and 28 September 1981. * Eastern Bonelli's warbler (''Phylloscopus orientalis'') in 1987. *

Wood thrush The wood thrush (''Hylocichla mustelina'') is a North American passerine bird in the family Turdidae and is the only species placed in the genus ''Hylocichla''. It is closely related to other thrushes such as the American robin and is widely di ...

(''Hylocichla mustelina'') at Wingletang Down on 7 October 1987. *

Short-toed eagle The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus ...

(''Circaetus gallicus'') in 1999. In addition: * a yellow-browed bunting (''Emberiza chrysophrys'') in 1994 was Britain's fourth. * a cream-coloured courser (''Cursorius cursor'') in 2004 was the first to be seen in Britain for 20 years. Among rare vagrants recorded at other times of year are the following: *

Blue-cheeked bee-eater The blue-cheeked bee-eater (''Merops persicus'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family (biology), family, Meropidae. The genus name ''Merops'' is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater", and ''persicus'' is Latin for "Persian". It breeds in Nor ...

(''Merops superciliosus'') on 22 June 1951; a first for Britain. * Britain's fifth and Scilly's first Balearic woodchat shrike (''Lanius senator badius'') at Troy Town from 21 to 27 April 1999. (Accepted by the BBRC) * a

little bustard The little bustard (''Tetrax tetrax'') is a bird in the bustard family, the only member of the genus ''Tetrax''. It breeds in Southern Europe and in Western and Central Asia. Taxonomy The little bustard was formally described in 1758 by the S ...

(''Tetrax tetrax'') in March 2002. * a

killdeer The killdeer (''Charadrius vociferus'') is a large plover found in the Americas. Its shrill, two-syllable call is often heard, sounding like "kill deer". It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 1 ...

(''Charadrius vociferus'') in November 2003.

Civil parish and ward

St Agnes 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. The civil parish and ward include Gugh and several uninhabited islands and rocks, including the Western Rocks, Annet, Rosevear, Pednathise Head (the southernmost land in the UK) and the

Bishop Rock The Bishop Rock () is a skerry off the Great Britain, British coast in the northern Atlantic Ocean known for its lighthouse. It is in the westernmost part of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornwall, Cornish ...

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 ...

1:25,000 map St Agnes 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 ...

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Agnes Inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly Civil parishes in Cornwall