Tiny wild island
Web: www.visitislesofscilly.com/explore/st-agnes
The tranquil and beautiful island of St. Agnes has the most south-westerly community in the British Isles. Flower farming and fishing are the traditional occupations and visitors can enjoy a stress-free holiday with the silence only broken by the natural sounds of sea or bird, since traffic is rarely encountered. St. Agnes still has a lighthouse, the second oldest in the British Isles, but it is now disused as a light and has become a private house. The population of the island was 73 people at the 2001 census.
A footpath follows the deeply indented coastline, revealing beautiful sandy coves, rugged granite outcrops, heath, download, meadow, and a freshwater pool. This habitat attracts butterflies and moths and is often the first landfall for American vagrants or migrating birds. There is a profusion of wild flowers and lichens, testament to the unpolluted atmosphere and the brilliance of the night stars can be enjoyed on safe and solitary strolls. The evening activities are simple - a pint at the pub, a boat trip to birdwatch and see the sunset. Pleasures too are simple. Time to stand and stare, swim and dive in the crystal clear sea, search for beads at Beady Pool (relics of a 17th century shipwreck), or just find a quiet niche and settle down to read or paint.
St. Agnes joins the island of Gugh by a tombolo, a kind of sandbar, called the Gugh Bar, which is exposed only at low tide. The Gugh is inhabited, with some three residents . The main population centre of St. Agnes is in the north and middle of the island. The southern end of the island is covered by the heather moorland of Wingletang Down.
There is a variety of very reasonable accommodation in guest houses, self-catering cottages or on the camp-site with its outstanding views to the Western Isles. Two cafes offer excellent home-made food including cream teas, whilst meals and real ales are available at the pub which enjoys a superb view. St. Agnes also has a well stocked post office/general store/off-licence which can satisfy most of your requirements, and an order can be prepared for your arrival. Church services are held regularly, weather permitting. Intricate and detailed model boats are made to order at the Model Boat Workshop. The Bulb Shop offers a postal service for Scillonian flowers and bulbs.
The recently renovated Island Hall can be rented for functions or group activities. Cricket, tennis and fishing can be enjoyed by visitors to St. Agnes. A boat service in the excellent purpose-built catamaran "Spirit of St. Agnes", offers daily trips to St. Mary's and the other islands, it also follows the weekly Gig Race. Longer trips provide an opportunity to view seals and birds at close proximity. There is a lighthouse on the island, but it is now disused. Four miles west is the Bishop Rock Lighthouse.
The Anglican church is dedicated to St. Agnes of Rome. The first church was built in the 16th or 17th century, but it was destroyed in a gale. It was re-built in the 18th century, but was again destroyed. The current building was built by the islanders in the 19th century using the proceeds of the sale of a wreck, and the bell in the church was taken from that wreck. In 1821 a new west gallery and two new pews in the chancel were added.
The Troytown Maze is said to have been laid out by the son of the lighthouse keeper in 1729, but may be much older.
The island is only about half a mile long and about a third of a mile wide, with the highest point, Kittern Hill, at 112 feet. The island is managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. Vegetation cover is mainly wind-pruned heath or dense bracken and bramble with a small area of coastal grassland formed over blown sand which has accumulated near the bar. In 2013, the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project was set up by a number of organisations including the RSPB and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. The five-year project aimed to keep the islands of St. Agnes and Gugh free of the brown rat, in order to assist the survival of breeding sea birds. On Kittern Hill there are five entrance graves, one of which (Obadiah's Barrow) was excavated in 1901, by George Bonsor, and ″disarticulate un-burnt bones″ found. The only menhir to be excavated on Scilly is The Old Man of Gugh, a standing stone which lies at the base of Kittern Hill. For centuries Gugh seems to have been uninhabited and used by the residents of St. Agnes for cattle grazing. In the 1920's, a retired surveyor and former consulting engineer William Hamlet Cooper secured the lease of the island, built the two buildings that can be seen today and started a farm. He lived on the island, along with his housekeeper. A fire on the island in September 1933 burnt for a week with the island said to be ablaze from end to end. The fire was put out by the staff of Major Dorrien-Smith and the farmhouse and farm buildings owned by Mr Theo Bond and his wife, the only inhabitants, were saved.
Downs Farm A small 15-acre cattle farm on the beautiful island.
Troy Town Farm on the island is the southernmost settlement and camp-site in the United Kingdom.
Westward Farm is a small family farm and Farm Shop, and Scilly's only licensed distillery producing premium gin as well as apple juice, cyder and our range of '28 miles' soaps and toiletries from our own essential oils.
Periglis Cottage was the home of St. Agnes's resident ornithologist Hilda M Quick (1895-1978). She was the author of 'Birds of the Scilly Isles' published in 1964.
Beady Pool Beach - This secluded cove on the eastern side of St Agnes has a remote feel to it. Situated on Wingletang Down the beach consists of a small crescent of sand between two, low, boulder strewn headlands.
Bergecooth Beach - Pleasant little beach located right in front of the Troytown farm campsite.
Cove Vean - The beach at Cove Vean is a real gem. Tucked away on the sheltered eastern side of St Agnes the beach is safe for swimming and snorkelling.
Periglis Beach - Periglis sits on the far side of St Agnes with just Annet and the Western Rocks between it and the coast of America.
The Bar Beach - The Bar is a sandbar that links the Scilly Isle of St Agnes with the little island of Gugh.
The Isles of Scilly
St. Mary's St. Martin's Bryher Tresco The Uninhabited Islands