St Mary's Isle

2024-10-24T11:02:07Z

217.142.26.174: /* St George rescue */

{{about|the rock in the Isle of Man|the peninsula in Galloway, Scotland|St Mary's Isle Priory}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Monument
|name = St Mary's Isle (Conister Rock)
|image = Tower of Refuge - Connister Rock - Isle of Man - kingsley - 20-APR-09.jpg
|caption = St Mary's Isle with the [[Tower of Refuge]]
|location = [[Douglas, Isle of Man]]
|designer =
|type =
|material =
|length =
|width =
|height =
|begin =
|complete =
|open =
|dedicated_to =
|map_image =
|map_width =
|coordinates = {{coord|54|09|01|N|4|28|07|W|type:isle_region:IM|display=inline,title}}
|extra =
}}

'''St Mary's Isle''' (also known as '''Conister Rock''' or the '''Tower of Refuge''', [[Manx language|Manx]]: ''Kione y Sker'' or ''Creg Voirrey'') is a partially submerged reef in [[Douglas, Isle of Man|Douglas Bay]] on the [[Isle of Man]]. Prior to 1832 the rock was the property of the Quane family until John Quane, [[Attorney General of the Isle of Man]], presented the rock to [[Sir William Hillary]], in his capacity as President of the Isle of Man District of the [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]] to build the [[Tower of Refuge]].<ref name="ReferenceB">Isle of Man Times, February 13, 1932; Page 4</ref> Since then the custody of St Mary's Isle has been held by each president of the local lifeboat association.

The reef is not far from the ferry terminal. Its eastern part, the Conister Shoals, had to be blasted away when a new harbour breakwater was built in the early 1980s. The rocks are only fully submerged at spring high tides; they can be accessed very briefly on foot at low spring tides.

==Etymology==
Conister is a corruption of the Manx {{lang|gv|Kione y sker}} meaning the 'head of the reef'.

==''St George'' rescue==
On Friday 19 November 1830, under the command of [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] John Tudor [[Royal Navy|R.N.]], the [[Packet trade|packet steamer]] ''St George'' arrived in [[Douglas Harbour|Douglas]] from [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]] with mail and passengers.<ref name="ReferenceA">''The Manks Advertiser.'' Tuesday, November 30, 1830</ref>

The ''St George'' belonged to the [[Saint George Steam Packet Company]] of [[Liverpool]] and at that time was engaged in competition with the newly established [[Isle of Man Steam Packet Company]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Once her passengers and mail were unloaded, the ''St George'' proceeded to take her anchorage in the vicinity of Conister Rock using the fixed chain cable which had been secured for the task.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The night was stormy, with strong gusts of wind from the southwest which increased in ferocity as the wind backed to the southeast on the morning of November 20. At 05:00hrs the chain cable holding the ''St George'' began to give way and she began to drive in between the Pollock and Conister rocks.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Steam had been kept up during the night, with the crew at their stations, but the force of the sea together with the ship's proximity to the Conister Rock meant she struck the rock before any attempt to back her out could prove successful.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The ''St George'' struck the rock violently, immediately filled and settled down forward, with her head to the land and lying almost broadside to the most rugged part of the rock.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

[[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] Tudor immediately ordered distress signals to be made as well as the foremast to be cut away with a view to forming a raft so as that when the dawn came they might be rescued by boats from the lee side of the vessel, but this was found to be impractical.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> From his home at the Fort Anne, [[William Hillary|Sir William Hillary]] observed the disaster taking place and immediately made for the pier in order to initiate a rescue.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Together with Lt Robinson [[Royal Navy|(RN)]], William Corlett (agent for the St George Steamship Company), Issac Vondy his coxswain, and a volunteer crew of 14 [[William Hillary|Sir William]] set out to render assistance.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

On approaching the ''St George'' the lifeboat's anchor was let go to the windward,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and by veering down upon the wreck an attempt was made to take off the people from the weather quarter, but the surf would not enable this to be carried out.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The lifeboat was then backed between the ''St George'' and the rocks, and despite warnings from Lt Tudor of the dangers this would present to the lifeboat, the crew of the lifeboat persevered and were initially successful.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The lifeboat had now got into a situation where the rolling sea was causing it to become swamped and began to sustain damage with the rudder being disabled and six out of the ten oars either broken or lost. Coupled to this, [[William Hillary|Sir William]], Corlett and two boatmen had been washed overboard.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
[[File:RNLI Memorial - Loch Promenade - Isle of Man - kingsley - 20-APR-09.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Memorial erected along the Loch Promenade in Douglas]]
Corlett and the two boatmen were swiftly got back into the boat, but [[William Hillary|Sir William]], unable to swim,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> seized a rope which was hung from the vessel's side by which he was able to support himself until Lt Tudor assisted by Lt Robinson managed to get a badly injured [[William Hillary|Sir William]] aboard.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
From the disabled state of the boat and the loss of the oars it became impossible to take off the people and proceed windward by hauling up her anchor, as was originally intended. Any route to the leeward was blocked by the rigging of the mast which had been cut away and this left the lifeboat hemmed in between the wreck, the Conister Rock and by a point of rock which ran out beyond it.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

The situation of the crews of the ''St George'' and the lifeboat remained perilous for two hours,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> a critical situation, but after time the rigging of the fallen mast was cut away with knives and an axe which were fortunately in the boat.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
The size of the swell increased as the tide rose and now swept the decks of the ''St George'' nearly burying the lifeboat, and one last effort was made to extricate themselves from a situation which at any time could have proved fatal.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

The crew of the ''St George'' consisted of 22 and the lifeboat 18.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> They finally all managed to get into the lifeboat, by now taking a large quantity of water which had to be constantly bailed out by the use of buckets which had been taken from the ''St George''.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> With the use of the remaining oars the lifeboat was cast off and the cable cast away, but she struck violently on the low ridge of the rock, filled, and striking again was washed over, leaving her occupants holding on by ropes.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
The cable was then cut, and the sea coming round the bow of the ''St George'' drove the lifeboat broadside on, upon the sheltered side of the Conister Rock thus avoiding the potential catastrophe, and they were then able to proceed towards the shore a quarter of a mile away.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

They were met by two boats which had put out from the pier and proceeded through the sound to approach them under the shelter of the lee of the rock.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Some of the ''St George's'' crew were transferred into the first boat, and the other boat, commanded by Lt Sleigh [[Royal Navy|R.N.]]<ref name="ReferenceA"/> was able to get a line to the lifeboat and thus take it successfully in tow to the beach. None of the forty men involved were lost.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

A memorial depicting the rescue can now be seen in the sunken garden on Loch Promenade, [[Douglas, Isle of Man|Douglas]].

===Crew of the Douglas lifeboat===
*[[William Hillary|Sir William Hillary]]
*Lieut. Robert Robinson [[Royal Navy|(RN)]]
*William Corlett (agent to the St. George's Company)
*Issac Vondy (coxswain)
*William Connor
*John Inch
*Thomas Carran
*Thomas Cannell
*William Gill
*George Thompson
*Henry Clague
*Robert Kewley
*Richard Harvey
*Philip Cottier
*John Callow
*Richard Cowell
* Unnamed person<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Crew of SS ''St. George''===
*Lieut. John Tudor [[Royal Navy|(RN)]] (Commander)
*Joseph Owen ([[Second mate|Second Officer]])
*20 other crew members<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

A subsequent financial gift of £50 was given to Sir William by the owners of the ''St George'' in 1833 to be distributed amongst the lifeboat's crew.

==The Tower of Refuge==
{{main|Tower of Refuge}} [[File:Tower 02.jpg|thumb|The Tower of Refuge]]
The structure was built upon the reef on the orders of [[William Hillary|Sir William Hillary]] (who helped to found the [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]]) in 1832. After several shipwrecks upon the semi-submerged rock, he wanted a refuge for survivors until help could arrive. Sir William, who personally contributed a high proportion of the costs, secured a substantial number of public contributions for funding the building. The owner of the private islet was persuaded to give their permission for the refuge. After its construction, the building was stocked with provisions such as bread and [[fresh water]] for any shipwrecked persons. The tower originally housed a bell for summoning of help.

The refuge, which was built to look like a [[castle]], was designed by local [[architect]] John Welch who was also responsible for the design of other landmark buildings in the Isle of Man.

The tower was the subject of a poem by [[William Wordsworth|Wordsworth]]:
<blockquote>COMPOSED OR SUGGESTED DURING A TOUR IN THE SUMMER OF 1833
XV
ON ENTERING DOUGLAS BAY, ISLE OF MAN
:"Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori."<ref>Horace, ''Odes'' 4.8.28.</ref>

:THE feudal Keep, the bastions of Cohorn,
:Even when they rose to check or to repel
:Tides of aggressive war, oft served as well
:Greedy ambition, armed to treat with scorn
:Just limits; but yon Tower, whose smiles adorn
:This perilous bay, stands clear of all offence;
:Blest work it is of love and innocence,
:A Tower of refuge built for the else forlorn.
:Spare it, ye waves, and lift the mariner,
:Struggling for life, into its saving arms!
:Spare, too, the human helpers! Do they stir
:'Mid your fierce shock like men afraid to die?
:No; their dread service nerves the heart it warms,
:And they are led by noble HILLARY.
 
NOTE
 
14 'And they are led by noble Hillary.'
 
The TOWER OF REFUGE, an ornament to Douglas Bay, was erected chiefly through the humanity and zeal of Sir William Hillary; and he also was the founder of the lifeboat establishment at that place; by which, under his superintendence, and often by his exertions at the imminent hazard of his own life, many seamen and passengers have been saved.
</blockquote>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:The Thomas Parker, wrecked on St Mary's Isle..JPG|The schooner ''Thomas Parker'', which was wrecked on St Mary's Isle during a storm on 26 October 1867
File:Tower 04.jpg|The pleasure cruiser ''[[MV Karina]]'', under the command of Capt. Stephen Carter, passes the Conister Rock.
File:TowerofRefuge.jpg|The Tower of Refuge
</gallery>

==Other uses==
[[Conister|Conister Trust]], a local Manx financial services institution, has been named after Conister Rock since its founding in 1935.

==See also==
* [[Douglas Harbour]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.douglaslifeboat.iofm.net/Tower_of_Refuge.htm History of the Tower of Refuge]

[[Category:Islands of the Isle of Man]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Registered Buildings of the Isle of Man]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

St Mary's Isle