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What it’s like to live on St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall

The beautiful and mystical castle in the sea on the southwest coast of Cornwall is called St Michael's Mount. Read an account of a resident of St Michael's Mount to get a flavour of what it's like to life as an 'islander'.

St Michael’s Mount is a small island situated in Mounts Bay just off the coast of Marazion. It’s joined to land by a granite-built path known as the causeway which is exposed by the outgoing tide twice a day. The island is managed by the St Aubyn family and the National Trust in partnership. The island is a remarkable sight and is classed as one of the UK’s national treasures.

The Legend of St Michael’s Mount

The island of rock rises out of the sea with a majestic castle atop which would not look out of place in a Harry Potter film or House of the Dragon.

St Michaels Mount features in many stories and legends, the most well known being the story of Cormoran the Giant who was tricked and killed by a boy named Jack. Legend says that the giant’s body is still in the well which can be seen on the way up to the castle. Also, if you look very carefully you may find Cormoran’s heart in the castle path, turned to stone. Place your foot on it and you can still feel the heartbeat.

Visitors to the island

This island is visited through the season by thousands of people each day by making the trip by sea in the boats or by walking over the causeway at a low tide. Visitors come to learn about the history, visit the castle and beautiful gardens and see where some cool TV shows and movies have been filmed. The Mount is accessed via the causeway at low tide and becomes exposed when the tide reaches 2.2metres. From the end of March until the end of October when the tide is in, the island is accessed on a timetable like a bus timetable by a fleet of small ferry boats. In the off season from the end of October, people move to and from the island on an amphibious vehicle named the St Michael.

Who lives on St Michael's Mount?

To live on the mount, you must work there. There is a mix of boatmen, gardeners, castle stewards and visitor services staff with their families and pets, occupying the properties.

At the base of the island is what we refer to as the village and consists of several buildings used for visitors such as toilet blocks, café, restaurant, ice-cream hut, picnic spaces, information centre and workshops for staff such as the boat house for the boatman team. In addition to this, there are two lines of terraced houses, one in front of the harbour; Harbour view and consists of four occupied houses and then a second row, behind the first called Elizabeth Terrace, which has seven cottages. There is a large house called the Lodge next to the gates that has a path that leads to the castle and then the castle itself. Obviously, the population of the island changes over time naturally but currently there are around thirty residents living on the island.

Lord and Lady St Levan and their family live in the castle itself.

Does the island need residents?

In short yes. All of the people living on the island (who work there) have been trained to a high level so that should there ever be an emergency they can act in place of the emergency services as best they can until the ‘real deal’ arrive. If there were to be a first aid shout such as a fire or another emergency in the early hours of the morning, residents would pull together to tackle the situation or remove someone across the water to get the help that was required.

There are regular training exercises on the island and with services such as the fire brigade coming to the island via the lifeboat working together to tackle a situation. An additional question I always get asked is what I did when I was pregnant. I moved off the island to a property on the mainland as having the baby was inevitable and timings were only predictable to some extent! I chose to not get people up in the night to transport me and I did not want the air ambulance waking everyone up in the night should something have gone amiss.

Do children live on St Michael's Mount?

Yes, there are several families with children on the mount. There is quite an age range at present from babies to teens. They get a boat in the morning off the island and make their way to school. Sometimes living on the island can be hard for the children as they get a bit older. With the boat timetable there is a last boat of the day which means that they cannot always do the things such as go to the cinema when they like with friends or after school clubs because the tide will not allow.

In winter, this is much harder than in the summer. From Easter, the last boats tie in with sunset so extend through the summer months. In the winter months, the last boat amphi run is  at 5 pm. That is early for most children, let alone those of secondary age working on their independence. This is one of the challenges we are navigating with Harry who is twelve and Florence who is seven.

People ask the children if they like where they live, and their response is always the same; they love where they live and do not want to live anywhere else. I asked Harry and Florence what it is that they loved about living on the island. They both said harbour jumping and swimming after school. They adore that we have a small motorboat, and both love to fish and see the marine wildlife first hand.

They have had several up-close encounters with marine life which has been incredible for them. Seeing dolphins, rays, crabs, lobsters, seals, fish, and night time wonders such as bioluminescence in the water. However many times they encounter these beautiful moments, the awe of experiencing them never lessens.

We cannot ever see that it will become boring or unexciting. All the young people on the island have a wonderful understanding of nature and how to look after it. They are all currently on seal watch, as we have regular seal visitors who come into the harbour to rest. Some of these are healthy and just come for some respite whilst there may be a few who need some additional help. Everyone knows signs of what to look for in the animals and how to respond safely and appropriately.

St Michael’s Mouunt Summer Day images Photo by Mike Newman

What about shopping deliveries?

We have a base on the mainland where post, parcels, and things such as Hello Fresh boxes can be delivered safely. This does cause some problems occasionally. For example, when I ordered a new mattress the delivery driver arrived at the slipway in his delivery time slot (a non-committal turn up at any point between 8 am and 1 pm type of slot) and panicked when he saw no road access! I explained that I could get there on a transport run on the next hour and just needed him to hang on for me. Luckily for me that was not too long to wait, and we transferred our new mattress from the delivery van to the amphibious vehicle and across the water to the island.

As for a supermarket delivery, that is simply not possible so the residents of St Michael’s Mount tend to use click and collect or just shop around the tide times. It is easier (if it is possible) to complete a big shop when the tide is low, and the causeway is open as then a vehicle will be driven by one of the boatmen and you and your shopping can be brought over to your front door.

The only people this is not possible for, is the residents of the castle. Their shopping can be brought to the island but not driven to the castle so, there is a small tram. Shopping, luggage, and anything a bit too heavy to carry will be put into the tram and it is taken on the tracks up in a tunnel underground. It will then stop inside the castle to be unloaded.

Each day any Royal Mail post and standard deliveries are collected and brought to a shared community space in the island where each household has a post box. Post is sorted into these boxes and collected by residents.

Delivering to St Michael’s Mount is always a learning curve for a new amazon driver though!

How would a storm affect life on St Michael's Mount?

If the sea conditions are dangerous and boats cannot run safely, we have what is termed a ‘black flag’ day. This means that other than if/when the causeway is exposed there is no way to or from the island for the day. The children who are school age are delighted, and I guess the best way to describe it would be what mainland children would call a snow day in winter.

Storms can affect the island and there are certain measures in place to try and protect it as much as possible. The houses on the harbour front all have wooden slots that large pieces of wood bolt into on their windows and front doors. We also have a plenty of sandbags which go between the wood and the door. This is to protect against flooding on a spring tide with adverse weather and to protect the windows from rocks that may get thrown up by the sea. Many of the plug sockets are placed higher up the walls than in a normal house and the heating is sealed under the floor’s downstairs.

What is it like to share the island with tourists?

Having around 5000 people come past your front door a day may sound intrusive but, to be honest, we don’t really notice. The majority of visitors are on the island to visit the castle and gardens, not us, so they tend to wander by. We have had some funny situations, for example when I walked back to my front door and a man followed me into the house. I explained that my house was private and not part of the visitor attraction; he took a lot of convincing before he would go back out. The children find it funny when people take pictures of our cat Tinker if she is sitting in the window. Harry likes to photobomb as many pictures as he can!

The only thing that is awkward is when people need to queue for the boats and they see us walk to the front. I appreciate that this must be very confusing and annoying, and people will wonder why we are seemingly jumping the queue. We have a different transport timetable to visitors, residents are booked onto specifically timed boats. If we have an appointment at 3 pm on the mainland I have to allow time to get off and we would never manage to get anywhere on time if we had to queue so fortunately, we are able to cross even when very busy.

We sometimes get people asking if we are actors and often people will point at us and say things like “Look it’s them”. There is a large board in the barge house with a picture and information about our family. People then recognise us from the board, but you do get used to it.

Generally, due to us being at school and work on the mainland during the day we are not there when the visitors are and, in the school holidays, we are often out doing things just as the visitors are doing. For this reason, we tend to miss the biggest crowds and for us it works perfectly.

St Michaels Mount off the coast of Marazion is explorable with a castle at its peak is a must-see on any trip

With thanks to an islander..

In this blog, Naomi has answered the questions that she’s have been asked most in the 7 years she’s been been lucky enough to live on the island. Living on a coastal island has its obvious restrictions however, the small community in which she is part of is like an extraordinary extended family. Naomi’s children have a freedom to be in and experience nature and the sea in such a beautiful and authentic way that no museum or wildlife sanctuary could provide. As a family, they get to live and work in a unique and beautiful place, so for them, it works!

To find out more information about St Michael’s Mount and its history along with information on those living there plan a visit, navigate your way to this website.

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