Tower of Refuge

Castle situated in Douglas Bay, built as a shelter for mariners who might find themselves ship wrecked. The Tower of Refuge is built on an island known as St Marys Isle, or Conister Rock, which poses a sizable hazard to shipping in the area, barely submerged during high tide, the castle acts as a marker warning shipping of the rock on which it stands.


History

Ownership passed from the Captain John Quane in 1832 to Sir William Hillary under the National institution for Preservation of Life from Shipwreck which later became the RNLI. Funds amounting to £254 were raised to build the castle, which was completed in 1833.

Designed by John Welch, in the style of 13th century castles, similar in design to Peel Castle and Castle Rushen. During it's lifetime it has accomodated two shipwrecks, 1867 the schooner Thomas Parker foundered during a storm, and in 1930 the RMS Mona, a Steam Packet ship ran aground.
click to view fullsize

  • Tower of Refuge

  • Tower of Refuge

    Night time LED light show

  • Tower of Refuge

    Attribution CC: AlexMcCormac

  • Tower of Refuge

    Thomas Parker Schooner wrecked on St Mary's Isle

  • Tower of Refuge

    Steam Packet Mona ran aground on St Mary's Isle

  • Tower of Refuge

    Organized walk at low tide to the Tower

  • Tower of Refuge

    Attribution CC: Jim

  • Tower of Refuge

    Credit: Barry Wood

  • Tower of Refuge

    Credit: Barry Wood

  • Tower of Refuge

    Credit: Martyn Prosser

  • Tower of Refuge

    Tower Mint Two Pound Coin

  • Tower of Refuge

    Hire of Rowing Boats, Manx National Heritage, iMuseum.im

  • Tower of Refuge

    Painting by John Miller Nicholson (1840-1913), Manx National Heritage

  • Tower of Refuge

    Subscribers who funded tower construction
Trivia

The castle is adorned with LED lights capable of lighting the castle in a range of colours.

Today, normally the only visitors to the castle are seagulls, or the odd kayaker.

Once a year there is an organised walk to the castle, raising funds for the RNLI, corresponding to the lowest tides of the year, many hundreds of people visit this organised event. Those holding a special golden ticket make it past the castle door.

In its life time the castle has been white-washed to make it more visible to shipping, and stocked with food and water.

It's ownership is still in the hands of the RNLI.

In the past there were rentable rowing boats which could be used to row out to the castle.



© 2022 Maps.im & DroneSurvey.im