St Michael's Mount

Several people have asked us about St Michael's Mount, so here is our brief historical guide to the Mount....

St Michael's Mount is an island which is about 500m off the coast of Cornwall and is joined to the mainland by a causeway at low tide.

During its long history the Mount has been a church, priory, fortress and private house. After the Mount became a private home belonging to the St. Aubyn family in 1659, a large part of the former quarters of the monks and military garrison were converted into the present living areas. Members of the St. Aubyn family still live at the Mount - in 1954 the family gifted the Mount to the National Trust with a 999 year lease to live there.

350BC to 56BC (approx) - The safe sheltered bay was a tin port

around 1070 - linked with Mont St Michel (France) as part of the Benedictine community

1587 - Mount beacon signalled Spanish Armada

1642 - Mount defended by Royalists in the Civil War

1647 - Colonel John St Aubyn nominated Captain of the Mount

1659 - Colonel St Aubyn purchased the Mount and it became a private home

1954 - Gifted to the National Trust with a large endowment

From the mainland it is certainly a great landmark and the stone causeway is amazing. From the top of the Mount you can see why it was such an important military site as you can see for miles out to sea for any sign of enemy ships approaching.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week at Marazion looking out at St Michael's Mount.

Looking along the causeway out the St Michael's Mount