Samson ( kw, (Enys) Sampson) is the largest uninhabited island of the Isles of Scilly, off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. It is in size. The island consists of two hills, North Hill and South Hill, which are connected by an

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

. Samson was named after

Samson of Dol Samson of Dol (also Samsun; born late 5th century) was a Cornish saint, who is also counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany with Pol Aurelian, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Malo, Patern (Paternus) and Corentin. Born in southern Wal ...

History

The twin hills of Samson were formerly associated with

breasts The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...

, in a similar way to the

Paps of Jura The Paps of Jura ( gd, Sgurr na Cìche) are three mountains on the western side of the island of Jura, Scotland, Jura, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Their highest point is . They are steep-sided quartzite hills with distinctive conical sh ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and the

Paps of Anu The Paps of Anu ( ga, Dá Chích Anann, "the breasts of Anu") are a pair of breast-shaped mountains near Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. The eastern summit, The Paps East, is high and the western top, The Paps West is high. The mountain ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. There are large ancient burial grounds both on the North Hill and South Hill. The first written evidence for the habitation of Samson comes from the Interregnum Survey of 1651–1652, where it was recorded that: The two most prominent families on Samson, the Woodcocks and the Webbers, allegedly first settled Samson after they came into conflict with two other local families, the Banfields and the Mumfords, who had ordered them to leave their homes and move to Hugh Town. The Woodcocks and Webbers instead opted to move to Samson. During the 18th century, Samson was used as sort-of

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

by the Council of Twelve, the local administration at the time. Local "undesirables" would be banished to the island. The island was inhabited until 1855, when the

Lord Proprietor A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary". Origin In the beginning of the European ...

Augustus Smith removed the remaining population from the island. By this point, the population was found to be suffering from severe deprivation—particularly due to a diet of limpets and

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es—and consisted of only two families: the Woodcocks and the Webbers. Smith then built a deer park on the island, but the deer escaped from their stone walled enclosure, and some attempted to wade across to Tresco (at low tide). In August 1933 a major fire occurred which was put out by the staff of Major Dorrien-Smith, by digging ditches to stop the spread. In recent times the area has become a protected wildlife site. The island is home to many different birds, such as

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

s and

gannets Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies. Gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the N ...

, and many wild flowers. In 1971 the island, along with the nearby islands of Green Island, Puffin Island, Stony Island and White Island, was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its biological characteristics.

Population

* 1669: one family * 1715: only three men fit to carry arms * 1751: two households * 1794: six households * 1816: forty people * 1822: seven households (thirty-four people) * 1851: three households * 1855: Augustus Smith removed the remaining inhabitants which consisted of two families.

Visiting the island

Boat trips to Samson are regularly available May through to September. There is no

quay A wharf, 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 berths ( mooring locatio ...

, so visitors disembark via wooden plank. The remains of the old cottages can be explored, and there are also the remains of Smith's deer park and prehistoric entrance graves. There are no amenities or services available, but guided walks are led by local experts.

Literary associations

The island is featured in the

children's story "Children's Story" is a song recorded by British-American hip hop artist Slick Rick. Taken as the second single from his album ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick'', the song was a Top 5 hit on both the Hot R&B Singles and the Hot Rap Tracks ...

'' Why the Whales Came'' by

Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as ''War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytell ...

. In the book, Samson is under a curse that needs to be lifted. The island also featured in ''Armorel of Lyonesse'' by

Walter Besant Sir Walter Besant (14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant. Early life and education The son of wine merchant Willi ...

. Webber's Cottage supposedly features in that novel as Armorel's house.Tourist information
. iknow-cornwall.co.uk. In some medieval versions of the

Tristan and Iseult Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...

story

Tristan Tristan (Latin/ Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to we ...

defeats and kills the knight Morholt, uncle of Iseult and brother-in-law of the King of Ireland, at an island called St Samson which is now identified either with the Scilly Isles Samson or with an islet in the Fowey estuary. The island also features in the

Ann Bridge Ann Bridge (11 September 1889 – 9 March 1974) is the pseudonym of Mary Ann Dolling (Sanders), Lady O'Malley, also known as Cottie Sanders. Bridge wrote 14 novels, mostly based on her experiences living in foreign countries, one book of short ...

novel '' The Dangerous Islands''. Dougie Blaxland's play ''Leaving Samson'' (1996) is about the last inhabitants and their removal from the island.

References

External links