St Michael's Mount in Cornwall England

 

During these cold winter days, I hope to finish my posts on our Golden Anniversary to England.  All of these posts reside in order under the Great Britain tab above.  Come along with us as we travel to Cornwall and visit a place that Bronze age settlers, monks, pilgrims, and soldiers have all trod. 

 The clouds followed us as we travelled down to the town of Marazion, Cornwall.  Marazion is one of the oldest towns in the UK.  Its charter was incorporated in 1257 in a grant by Henry III and was reaffirmed by Queen Elizabeth I in 1595.  Pilgrims came to the area to visit the Benedictine Monastery on St Michael's Mount on the shores of Mount's Bay.  George Fox, one of the founders of the Religious Society of Friends stayed in Marazion in 1656.  John Wesley preached here in 1789.  St Michael's Mount has been a Christian holy place since the fifth century and sits on the iconic rocky island that houses a medieval church and castle and guards the entrance to Land's End district of Cornwall.  The imposing island is home to the St Aubyn family and an additional population of 30 islanders.

Notice to get to the island we need to take a boat during high tide as the causeway is covered in water!  We planned our visit carefully as the tides vary greatly here.  In the above photo you can see a faint white curved line leading to the island.  This will be an important reference later.  So stay tuned.

If this site reminds you of another famous Mont-St-Michel, in France, like I did, they both are intimately connected to each other.  Visions of the archangel were seen during the fifth century at both sites.  The two shrines are situated on the English Channel, one in England and the other in France.

In order to go to the island we need to hop onboard a boat and take a ride to see if we can climb (yes, we have to climb) up to see the church and castle!

Watch your step on the rocks as they are quite slippery!

As we disembark, we land on the island.  The beauty of the architecture is quite impressive and so charming. 

"The history of St Michael's Mount stretches back into the mists of time, but it is still home to me and my family, as well as some thirty other people who live and work on the island.  Whether you came because of its beauty, its spirituality, its varied past or to find out more about its vibrant present, I very much hope that you have enjoyed your experience here."

Lord St Levan

As you can see many folks enjoy visiting St Michael's Mount.

 

You know how much we love the National Trust!  St Michael's Mount is taken care of by them and the St Aubyn family working together.  It's quite worrisome that the pandemic has had a negative affect on the National Trust properties.  Hopefully when we return to normalcy all of us can support their efforts to preserve these ancient properties. 

Unless you are royalty, we must climb the steep, rocky, hill to visit the castle and church.  We are so glad that we walk daily and are still able to do these strenuous climbs!

The Pilgrim's steps lead us up, up, up!  Take your time and be sure to rest along the way.  The climb is quite vertical!   The Pilgrim's steps here are part of a vast network of trails in Europe.  Starting in Lelant near St Ives, St Michael's Way is a 12.5 mile stretch ending at St Michael's Mount.  We are not doing the long walk from Lelant, but will climb to the top!

This area is full of tales and legends about a giant, Cormoran and his wife Cormelian.  A local lad, dubbed Jack the Giant Killer, is said to have defeated the giant here after the giant was terrifying the locals.

His heart of stone is said to be buried here.

So we really don't have to worry about a giant.  All we have to do is take one step in front of the other and continue on our journey.

We're getting closer.

Just a little bit further, but I must say this is quite a scramble at the top!

As you can see we are quite high up on the Mount.  For perspective notice the motor boat on the right.

The entrance is directly in front of us now.  You can see there is no where to back up and take a photo at this point!

The St Aubyn coat of Arms is above the mantle.  Colonel St Aubyn was the Governor of the island in 1647.

His handsome travelling chest sits by the entrance.

The library used to be the original kitchen for the priory.  In the late 18th century the castle was renovated to be more comfortable for its inhabitants. 

The Chevy Chase was the refectory for the priory.  It acted as the main dining room for the family until the 1950's.  They still eat here on occasion.  

 

There are lovely stained glass windows all about the castle. 

Stepping outside, we are on the South Terrace.  If you don't like heights, stay close to the building.  Don't ask me how I know this!

Going to the North Terrace we are on the highest point of the natural rock where we see the medieval church dedicated to St Michael.

We need to walk around that narrow walk to access the church entrance.  Yikes!  We didn't come all this way to back down now.  Just stay close and don't look down!

We made it to the entrance and now if you wish you can enter the medieval church.  It is still an active church that is used for services.

The church was built by Bernard le Bec, Abbot of Mont-St-Michel in Normandy in 1135.  It has undergone many restorations since that time, but remains a lovely place of spirituality.  It truly is the heart of St Michael's Mount.  

Sitting quietly in this place of worship touched our hearts, as we thought of all the souls of all those who have worshiped at St Michaels through the ages.

As we leave the ancient church we are directed to visit the rest of the castle.

Entering the Blue Drawing Rooms we learn they were designed and furnished in the 1750s by the 4th Sir John St Aubyn.  This is where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert came for tea on the Mount.  Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited here in 2013 and signed the visitor's book.

Moving into the Map Room we see a model of the Mount made from champagne corks.  It was made by Henry Lee who served as butler to the family in the 1930s.  He worked for the family for 49 years.

It is now time for us to make our way outside and leave the Mount.  Surely walking down should be easier, but I'm afraid that is not true, so please be careful.  

The views are lovely as we stop along the way.  We notice the tide is really getting quite low.

The same boat that we rode over to the Mount is now sitting in the sand!

As you can see we can now walk over the revealed causeway instead of taking a boat ride!  Before walking back let's have lunch in the Sail Loft on the island.  I'm having the leek and potato soup and Grayden is having the ham and cheese sandwich.  See what you would like as you have earned a nice lunch after all of that hiking up and down St Michael's Mount!

Thanks for coming along with us.  After lunch we will walk on the causeway and have a Cornish ice cream cone.