Tresco (Cornish: Ynys Skaw), is the second largest island of the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, UK. It is 735 acres (2.97 km2) in size, measuring approximately 3.5km by 1.75km.
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Landscape
A variety of scenery is found on the island, including rugged granite outcrops, heathland of the exposed north coast and mainly shell beaches in the east and south. The variety of its scenery and geomorphology is partly a result of the last ice age, where the Devensian ice sheet clipped the north side of the island leaving deformation till deposits.
Description
The island belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall and is leased to the Dorrien-Smith estate, which runs it as a timeshare business. The main habitations are the villages of New Grimsby and Old Grimsby in the centre of the island, where there is a shop and post office, an art gallery, a pub, and a hotel, all of which are owned and run by the Tresco Estate. In the south of the island are the sub-tropical Tresco Abbey Gardens and Tresco Heliport.
The character of Tresco varies from that of the other islands in the Scilly archipelago as it is primarily run as a holiday resort, with virtually all activity and employment being tourist-related. This contrasts with the other islands where tourism is important, but does not dominate to the same extent.
Church
See St. Nicholas' Church, Tresco.
Population
These figures constitute permanent residents only. A large number of seasonal staff also reside on the island during the summer period.
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Recent developments
Since 2001, the island has hosted a marathon run organised in aid of Cystic Fibrosis. The course consists of 7½ laps around the island. The event is always held on the same day as the London Marathon.
In 2007 a rebuild of the Abbey Farm / Shed area was completed, this area served as a Sea Plane base during the First World War. The development included rental cottages, a swimming pool, health centre and the "Flying Boat Club" restaurant.
Transport
Tresco is a car-free island. Farm tractors with passenger trailers are used to transport overnighting visitors to and from Tresco Heliport and from the various boat quays, and a few golf carts for disabled visitors.
British International Helicopters operate from Tresco Heliport, providing a year-round helicopter service to Penzance Heliport.
Bryher Boats run passenger boat services to and from the other inhabited islands, as well as occasional circular sightseeing tours.
Old buildings and monuments on Tresco
- King Charles's Castle dates from 1550-54, and was occupied by the Royalists during the English Civil War. It was later partially demolished to provide the building materials for Cromwell's Castle.
- A coastal tower known as Cromwell's Castle, was built 1651-52 with gun platform added c. 1740 by Abraham Tovey, Master Gunner.
- The Old Blockhouse gun tower protecting Old Grimsby harbour, vigorously defended during the Civil War. It was probably built between 1548 and 1552.
- Monument to Augustus Smith above Appletree Bay on the south west of the island.
- Arch from the wall of the mediæval monastery in Tresco Abbey Gardens.
- Oliver's Battery, in the south of the island, by the Carn Near quay, erected shortly after the capture of Tresco by Parliamentary forces in the English Civil War. It was built by Admiral Robert Blake.
Tresco in fiction
Because of its geography and history, Tresco has often featured in fiction. Most notably in the books of author Sam Llewellyn, a direct descendant of Augustus Smith who, after his appointment as Lord Proprietor of the Scillies in 1834 and living on the island, began to create the Abbey Gardens on land which surrounded the old Priory [1].
- Flora Castledine, lead character of the Georgie Gale novel Tread Softly, was born and brought up on the Isles of Scilly. Tresco is mentioned several times.
- Why the Whales Came by Michael Morpurgo is set in the Isles of Scilly and features Tresco several times.
- Hell Bay, by Sam Llewellyn, is set on Tresco and fictionalises the events leading up to Augustus Smith taking ownership of the island.
- The Sea Garden, also by Sam Llewellyn, is set on a fictional island based heavily on Tresco. It features a stunning Sea Garden much like the Tresco Abbey Gardens and the history of the fictional island draws heavily from the real history of the island.
- Storm Islands, by Ann Quinton, is a mystery novel set on Tresco and in the Isles of Scilly.
Tresco in film and television
- In the 1989 BBC adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the scenes on the fictional Lone Islands were filmed on Tresco, with the on-ship scenes being filmed on a ship on the surrounding sea.
See also
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tresco |
- Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
- An illustrated history of Tresco from the Bronze Age to the present 'The Last Piece of England'
References
Van Der Meer, Menzies & Rose, 2003, Subglacial till: the deforming glacier bed, In: Quaternary Science Reviews Vol 22, pp. 1659-1685.
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