Grim forts amid splendid gardens

If Tresco didn't have its world famous sub-tropical gardens it may well have found itself being marketed as The Island of Castles - the small but beautiful Scillonian isle has no fewer than three fortresses of old.

None is vast or grandiose, and, compared with some defensive coastlines, Tresco's doesn't exactly bristle with ramparts - but its lonely towers do add a grim reminder that it wasn't always regarded as a watering hole of the well-heeled.

They are the icons that remind you that out past the palms and the succulents, beyond the other-worldly warmth of the gardens, there is another wilder, savage, less-tamed side to the story of Tresco. Their granite walls witnessed plenty of bloodletting - it was claimed by the ever-efficient Admiral Blake that his forces killed or captured some 800 Royalists on this particular Fortunate Isle.

But why should this corner of paradise have required such defences? The answer partly lies in the fact that Tresco was once a hotbed of lawlessness and piracy.

In 1549 the Scillonian archipelago's new owner was already up to no good just two years after he'd bought the islands. Lord Admiral Seymour was accused of plotting against King Edward VI and using the Scillies as a base for piracy.

But it was fear of the French which saw the first of the castles built on Tresco's rocky northern heights. King Charles' Castle - as it is called today - was built between 1548 and 1554 and commanded a strategic vantage point over the deep fjord-like channel that runs between Tresco and neighbouring Bryher.

 In the latest in our series on the region's castles Martin visits Tresco on the Isles of Scilly and finds not one but three fortresses. Beyond the other-worldly warmth of the gardens, there is a wilder, savage, less-tamed side to the story of Tresco.

At least, you'd think it was ideally placed. Alas for the architects, this turned out not to be the case. It was actually in too commanding a position, being far too high above the channel for its cannon to be effective.

The gunners of yore would have had to point their barrels downwards to hit any ship sailing between the islands - and you can imagine what would have happened to a cannonball once the muzzle was lowered... How many rolled harmlessly out of the guns to bounce down the hill to the sea is not known, but to address the problem a blockhouse was built on the edge of a small cliff some 100 feet below.

Just under a century later this was hugely modified to become one of the best known castles in the Westcountry - but more of that later. Because yet another small castle was also being built in order to defy the French. The Blockhouse (as it now known) sits on an imposing seaward spur just south across the bay from where the world-renowned Island Hotel now basks in luxurious glory.

By the time Elizabeth I came to the throne these fortifications were already being run down - perhaps surprisingly, in view of the fact that the Spanish Armada was swashbuckling its way around great parts of the Atlantic at the time.

It wasn't until the English Civil War that Tresco again found itself in the military scheme of things. As the conflict raged on the mainland, the nation's westerly fringes tended to back the King.

Cornwall and Scilly were no exceptions. In 1646 Prince Charles (later King Charles II) took refuge in St Mary's Star Castle for six weeks, though there is no evidence he crossed over on a sight-seeing trip to Tresco - even though the place today has a fortification which bears his name. With civil war raging, the islands returned to the lawless state they had enjoyed or endured 100 years previously. The archipelago was described as "a nest of privateers" and the islanders would plunder any passing ship - regardless of its flag. The Dutch in particular seemed to incur the wrath of the Scillonians.

But the Dutch would stop at nothing when it came to protecting their mercantile interests, and in 1651 sent no fewer than 12 men-of-war to sort out the Scillonian problem.

Cromwell did not like the sound of this at all. He had enough problems without having to worry about a foreign power setting up camp in the busy and important Western Approaches - so he sent his trusty Admiral Blake to repel the Lowlanders.

Blake was more than a match for the Dutch, despite the fact that his pilot was a Tresco man who had no inclination to see Cromwell's forces on his beloved island. He pretended that the uninhabited isle of Northwethel was Tresco, and Blake and his men were forced to spend an uncomfortable night out there before the tide allowed them to leave.

Bridgwater's most famous son sent the Dutch packing before taking Tresco from the Royalists stationed there. It took him a while to win the island, and he refortified it as he went, but he killed or took perhaps as many as 800 Royalists prisoner. Some of these unfortunates were dealt summary justice on what is to this day known as Hangman's Island, just off Bryher. Blake proceeded to use Tresco as a base from where he could launch attacks on Sir John Grenville's stronghold on St Mary's. Then, having eventually subdued the Royalist threat in the Scillies, the Admiral prepared to leave - but was still worried about the lurking Lowlanders.

He knew that Star Castle on St Mary's would be up to the job of repelling any advance they might make, but was not so sure about the defences on Tresco. Which is why he ordered the building of the gun tower on the site of the old blockhouse under King Charles' Castle.

The imposing 60ft-high cylindrical rampart was completed in 1652, and it must have taken an awful lot of sweat and tears because its walls are an impressive and presumably backbreaking 12 feet thick.

The sheer mass of these walls has allowed the structure to remain in good shape, despite being situated in what must be one of the most windy, spume-lashed corners in the entire country.

Today English Heritage runs the place and visitors are free to enter its craggy portals and climb the newly-built wooden steps to gain access to the circular stone staircase which will take them to the top.

It's all very wild and seemingly impregnable - you can certainly see why the Dutch never bothered to return in anger. You can also wonder at the hardiness of the folk of those far-off days - living in a cold tower with no glass in the windows must have been disagreeable to say the least. You would, perhaps, find yourself dreaming of tropical gardens - which today, of course, Tresco can provide, just 20 minutes walk around the corner.

Go to the top of this page

Home    The Isles of Scilly Tresco