The island can be accessed by the Islander boat from Looe. However it doesn’t operate to a published timetable, which makes it difficult to plan a visit if you aren’t staying in Looe. The boat only operates 2-3 hours each side of high tide from Easter to September and weather permitting. If you are staying in Looe for a few days there is a board on the harbour railing with a sheet for you to book your place. If you are making a special journey as I was then I suggest you contact Tim the boatman in advance to check sailing times.
You get 2 hours ashore, which is long enough to explore the island quite thoroughly. There is one main circular path round the island and a shorter one from the information centre to the Chapel site. Laminated sheets with details about the history and wildlife are available from the information centre for you to walk around the island with. The wardens are very knowledgeable and friendly and are happy to answer any questions about the island. At very low spring tides it is possible to walk/wade across to the island. Deer have occasionally been known to find their way to the island either by swimming or wading from the mainland.
Local legend says that Joseph of Arimathea visited Cornwall and left Jesus who was a child at the time on Looe Island while he traded for tin from Cornish miners. It is thought that this is the reason that a chapel was built on the island c1139 and another at Hannafore on the mainland opposite the island. It was part of Glastonbury Abbey until the late 13th century and 2 Benedictine monks were living there in around 1200. by the early 16th century it had become a chantry - a place where the Courtenay family who owned the island at the time paid someone to say prayers for them, in the hope they would get to heaven as a result. In 1547 all chantries become possessions of the English Crown. The island was known as St Michael's Island until after 1588 and it was also previously known as St Nicholas's Island.
There have been many shipwrecks around the island and it was used by smugglers who hid their contraband in the caves around the island.
In 1743 the island was bought by Edward Trelawny, a local MP and Governor of Jamaica. It was leased out to various tenants who farmed it and it remained part of the Trelawny estate until 1921. In 1830 coastguards posted to the island to watch out for smugglers.
After 1921 it changed hands several times until 1965 when it was bought by 2 sisters - Babs and Evelyn Atkins, who set up a pottery there and welcomed visitors. Evelyn Atkins, who died in 1997 aged 87, wrote two books about their life on Looe Island, which are fascinating and inspiring accounts of island life - We bought an Island (1976) and its sequel Tales from our Cornish Island (1986). Babs Atkins died in 2004 and she bequeathed the island to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
You get 2 hours ashore, which is long enough to explore the island quite thoroughly. There is one main circular path round the island and a shorter one from the information centre to the Chapel site. Laminated sheets with details about the history and wildlife are available from the information centre for you to walk around the island with. The wardens are very knowledgeable and friendly and are happy to answer any questions about the island. At very low spring tides it is possible to walk/wade across to the island. Deer have occasionally been known to find their way to the island either by swimming or wading from the mainland.
Local legend says that Joseph of Arimathea visited Cornwall and left Jesus who was a child at the time on Looe Island while he traded for tin from Cornish miners. It is thought that this is the reason that a chapel was built on the island c1139 and another at Hannafore on the mainland opposite the island. It was part of Glastonbury Abbey until the late 13th century and 2 Benedictine monks were living there in around 1200. by the early 16th century it had become a chantry - a place where the Courtenay family who owned the island at the time paid someone to say prayers for them, in the hope they would get to heaven as a result. In 1547 all chantries become possessions of the English Crown. The island was known as St Michael's Island until after 1588 and it was also previously known as St Nicholas's Island.
There have been many shipwrecks around the island and it was used by smugglers who hid their contraband in the caves around the island.
In 1743 the island was bought by Edward Trelawny, a local MP and Governor of Jamaica. It was leased out to various tenants who farmed it and it remained part of the Trelawny estate until 1921. In 1830 coastguards posted to the island to watch out for smugglers.
After 1921 it changed hands several times until 1965 when it was bought by 2 sisters - Babs and Evelyn Atkins, who set up a pottery there and welcomed visitors. Evelyn Atkins, who died in 1997 aged 87, wrote two books about their life on Looe Island, which are fascinating and inspiring accounts of island life - We bought an Island (1976) and its sequel Tales from our Cornish Island (1986). Babs Atkins died in 2004 and she bequeathed the island to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
The island is small but perfectly formed and has a surprising variety of landscapes for such a small island. The north eastern side, which is protected from the wind by a hill is covered with trees, the south east side is where the 3 houses and their vegetable gardens are located and the western side is maritime grassland, which is grazed by Hebridean sheep. The island is home to a colony of grey seals and to a large number of greater black backed gulls as well as shags, cormorants and oystercatchers. The trees were planted around 1870.
Looe Island from Hannafore
Looe Island from the Hore Stone
Island House
This was built by the Customs Service to keep a watch on possible smuggling activities in the area
Island House and Jetty Cottage in the background
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| All that remains of an ancient chapel on the highest point on the island |
On the top of the highest point on the island (45 metres) there are a very few remains of St Michael’s Chapel. Time Team paid a visit in 2008 to excavate the site. They drew up a plan of the building, and below the floors the team uncovered the burial of a man and a piece of pottery dating to the 13th century. There is a World War 2 bomb crater near the chapel remains on the island.
Looking towards Hannafore from the Tractor Shed
Looking towards the SE corner of the island and Little Island
Smuggler's Cottage
Ferry from Looe
Several boatmen run trips around the island but this is the only ferry that it allowed to land on it.
Babs Atkins' grave in a peaceful spot on Looe Island
A very enjoyable review.Thank you.
ReplyDeletePete.
I have just read both of Edith's books and what an amazing couple of ladies they were! I live in Cornwall and it is now on my wish list to visit the island next summer. Thank you for your review and photos which have painted the full picture for me. Peter
ReplyDelete