St Mary's Island, Tyne and Wear
- St Mary's Island, Tyne and Wear
St. Mary's Island is a small island made of sandstone near the seaside resort of Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, UK.
St. Mary's Island was originally called Bates Island, Hartley Bates or Bates Hill as it was originally owned by the Bates family who were prominent locally. It is sometimes known as Bait Island, probably due to a misunderstanding of the meaning of the name. The island is opposite Curry's Point on the mainland and is connected to the coast at low tide by a rocky causeway. The main feature of the island is St. Mary's Lighthouse which was built in 1898.
In medieval times there was a chapel on the island dedicated to St Helen. Within the chapel was the Lady Light, also known as St. Katherine's Light. The light was later, wrongly, ascribed to St. Mary and, as a result, the island became known as St. Mary's Island. It is debatable whether the light was used as a warning to shipping or was purely religious. Next to the chapel was a burial ground where monks and local people were interred. Traces of St. Helen's Chapel were destroyed when the lighthouse was built in 1898.
During the 19th century there was an inn, known as the 'Square and Compass', on the island, run by a Mr. George Ewen. In 1895, after complaints about rowdy customers trespassing on nearby land, the landlord , Lord Hastings, had Mr. Ewen and his family evicted from the island.
The lighthouse continued to function until 1984, when it was taken out of service. The lighthouse is now open to visitors who can climb the steps to the lantern room, if they wish, or see the Visitors' Centre.
External links
* [http://www.friendsofstmarysisland.co.uk Friends of St Mary's Island] History, photographs and descriptions of the buildings and island today.
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Tyne and Wear — Geografie Status: Zeremonielle Grafschaft Region: North East England Fläche: 540 km² Demografi … Deutsch Wikipedia
Tyne and Wear — Infobox England county name = Tyne and Wear motto = status = Metropolitan county Ceremonial county origin = 1974(Local Government Act 1972) region = North East England arearank = Ranked 44th area km2 = 540 ons = 2D nutscode = 2 nuts3 = UKC22/23… … Wikipedia
Cox Green, Tyne and Wear — Coordinates: 54°53′24″N 1°28′59″W / 54.890°N 1.483°W / 54.890; 1.483 … Wikipedia
Murton, Tyne and Wear — Coordinates: 55°01′52″N 1°29′13″W / 55.031°N 1.487°W / 55.031; 1.487 … Wikipedia
St Mary's Island — may refer to:* St Mary s Island, Medway, United Kingdom * St Mary s Island, River Thames, United Kingdom * St Mary s Island, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom * St Mary s, Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom * St Mary s Island, Karnataka, India * Another … Wikipedia
AND — ► masculino INFORMÁTICA Operador lógico y (conjunción lógica) que solo da valor lógico verdadero (1) cuando ambos operandos son verdaderos. * * * (as used in expressions) Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Arts and Crafts Movement American… … Enciclopedia Universal
List of abbeys and priories in England — Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Article layout 2 Abbreviations and key … Wikipedia
Newcastle upon Tyne — This article is about the English city. For other uses, see Newcastle. Coordinates: 54°58.440′N 1°36.792′W / 54.974°N 1.6132°W / 54.974; 1 … Wikipedia
List of twin towns and sister cities in the United Kingdom — This is a list of places in the United Kingdom having standing links to local communities in other countries. In most cases, the association, especially when formalised by local government, is known as town twinning (though other terms, such as… … Wikipedia
Dene, Newcastle upon Tyne — Ward Name: Dene Councillor: Wendy Taylor Party … Wikipedia
