Samson () is the largest uninhabited 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 ...

, 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 (; : isthmuses or isthmi) 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 count ...

. Samson was named after

Samson of Dol Samson of Dol (also Samsun; born late 5th century) was a Welsh saint, who is also counted among the Brittany#Religion, seven founder saints of Brittany with Paul Aurelian, Pol Aurelian, Saint Tudwal, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Saint Malo (saint ...

History

The twin hills of Samson were formerly associated with

breasts The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

, in a similar way to the

Paps of Jura The Paps of Jura () 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 shapes Breast-shaped h ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the Paps of Anu in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. There are large ancient

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

grounds both on the North Hill and South Hill. The first written evidence for the habitation of Samson comes from the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

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 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 ...

. 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 ...

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 Europe ...

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

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails with a conical gastropod shell, shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). Existing within the class Gastropoda, ...

s and

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

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). By the 1880s the island was grazed by cattle, sheep and rabbits. 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, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

s and gannets, 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 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) for its

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

characteristics.

Gallery

File:Samson from Porthloo, Scilly - geograph.org.uk - 1615481.jpg, Samson from Porthloo, St Mary's File:Remnants on Samson - geograph.org.uk - 5094329.jpg, North Hill from South Hill File:Chambered Cairn, North Hill, Samson - geograph.org.uk - 918026.jpg, Chambered Cairn on North Hill File:Deer Park Wall and Cottage, South Hill, Samson - geograph.org.uk - 929094.jpg, Remains of the deer park wall on South Hill File:Old Cottage on South Hill, Samson - geograph.org.uk - 455577.jpg, Remains of Cottage on South Hill

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 ( 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 ...

, 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 '' Why the Whales Came'' by Michael Morpurgo. In the book, Samson is under a curse that needs to be lifted. The island also featured in ''Armorel of Lyonesse'' by Walter Besant. 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. Of disputed source, usually assumed to be primarily Celtic nations, Celtic, the tale is a ...

story, Tristan 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 Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samson, Isles Of Scilly Uninhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly Celtic mythology Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the Isles of Scilly Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971 Former populated places in Cornwall