Places of Interest around the Island

Calf of Man

The calf of man is situated to the south of the Island. The word Calf is from the Scandinavian Kalfr and means a small island lying near a larger one.

Manx Mines

Little is known about the earliest working of the Manx mines but archaeological evidence from the excavations at Kiondroghad suggests that iron ore was being obtained in the Dark Ages, and remains of what was probably a bowl hearth for smelting or refining iron (apparently dating to the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries) were found at Kirk Braddan. In 1246 King: Harald of Mann and the Isles granted the Abbot of Furness and his monks mineral rights, together with 3 acres of land at 'Rakenaldwath' on which to build houses for their men and a storehouse for the ore. Since considerable evidence of lead-smelting and what may well have been a medieval workshop for extracting silver from lead have been found on the Ronaldsway airport site it is likely that the Furness grant related to this area, the ore being obtained from somewhere in Rushen. However, the negative evidence that the Norse rulers, unlike those of Dublin, did not issue their own silver coinage would suggest that silver-lead mining was not well developed.

At the end of the thirteenth century Edward 1, now Lord of Mann, granted John Comyns, Earl of Buchan, a licence to dig lead on the Calf of Man to roof eight towers of his castle at Cruggleton in Galloway. Since no evidence of mining exists on the Calf there may have been an obvious exposure which was completely removed. The mineral rights were included when the Lordship was granted to the Stanleys and in 1666, when Charles II renewed the grant after the Restoration, 'the Mynes Royall of Gould and Silver' were added (a mine Royal of silver was one where more than sixty ounces could be extracted from a ton of lead). The mines were worked on a small scale up to the end of the seventeenth century, the Lord's share of all ore raised for 1669 being 32 tons 13cwt. What are likely to be workings of this date may still be seen at Bradda.

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Cregneash

Until the start of the 20th Century, the village of Cregneash was the only community on the island which hadn't been affected by technology. With the fear that the Manx traditions may disappear from use, the Manx Museum took over the village and kept it running as a Folk museum. The museum began with the opening of Harry Kelly's cottage to the public in 1938, and has since grown to include many of the buildings within the village, and much of the surrounding area.

Photo by Niall Kelly

Peel Castle

Peel Castle and the early cathedral are situated on St Patricks Isle at the mouth of the river Neb. Recent excavation at the site show continued occupancy for over 2000 years.

The Isle standing at the entrance to a good natural harbour, and the only sheltered port on the west coast of the Island, makes it an obvious site for the erection of a stronghold designed for the protection of ships sheltering their. It is thought that Magnus Barefoot probably erected a timber peel or fortress there soon after his arrival in 1089.

There are indications that St Patrick's Isle was the principal residence of the Kings of Man and the surrounding Isles until the first half of the thirteenth century. King Godred II died there in 1187 as did his son, Olaf II in 1237.

In 1392 Sir William le Scrope who held the Isle, built the red sandstone gate tower. The work was intended to afford protection to the adjoining Cathederal which was also repaired at that time. These repairs probably included the embattling of the Cathederal Tower and of the old Round Tower.

The age of the wall, built of large blocks of locally quarried grey slate, is not definitely known but it was probably constructed by the Stanleys somewhere about 1500 as an added defence against raids from the Scots and other enemies.