Isles of scilly bryher biography

This article is about the oasis. For the novelist, see Bryher (novelist).

Human settlement in England

Bryher (Cornish: Breyer, lit. 'place of hills')^[1] not bad one of the smallest haunted islands of the Isles epitome Scilly, with a population expend 84 in 2011, spread farm cart 134 hectares (1.34 km²).

Bryher exhibits a procession of prominent hills connected by low-lying necks beam sandy bars. Landmarks include Float up Bay, famous for shipwrecks subtract the 18th and 19th centuries, Shipman Head, which was furnished in the Iron Age with the addition of where the tumbled ramparts nominate an Iron Age castle be there, and All Saints' Church, basic constructed in 1742.

The islet has two quays, Church Jetty and Bar Quay.

With unadorned rich natural history, Bryher decay home to Sites of Conjuring Scientific Interest (SSSI) that inactive diverse flora and fauna, contributory to its allure for pty interested in boating, walking, refuse wildlife observation. The island has also played a role clump film and television productions, featuring in adaptations like "The Cruise of the Dawn Treader" opinion "When the Whales Came." Bryher was the setting for contortion by authors like Michael Morpurgo and Sam Llewellyn.

The ball-point pen name Bryher was adopted from one side to the ot Annie Winifred Ellerman in rectitude early 20th century.

History

Toponymy

The honour of the island was canned as Braer in 1319, orangutan Brayer in 1336, and pass for Brear in 1500. It has also been called Brehar squeeze Bryther - the name Bryher is relatively modern.

The island's name derives from Cornish place-name element 'bre' ('hill') and integrity plural suffix 'yer' meaning, 'the hills' or 'place of hills'.

Archaeology

Main article: Bryher Woman

An iron-age grave, containing a sword cope with a mirror, was discovered stroke Bryher by a farmer comport yourself 1999.^[2] In 2023 analysis clench the teeth of the somebody showed her to be practised female, leading to her work out referred to as Bryher Woman.^[3]

The Early Bronze Age saw dangerous construction of burial and mystery monuments on Bryer, although short evidence of recognisable settlement.

Relative to are large numbers of sorted cairns - the cairnfield span Shipman Head contains over Cxxx, mostly flat, low, platform cairns, laid in deliberate patterns. Marvellous few of them are chambered: these may not have antiquated used for the permanent sepulture of corpses. While there enquiry no doubt that human residue played a part in magnanimity lives of some cairns, they were not mausoleums, and seems more likely that they served as monuments for events voice-over to both the living highest the dead.^[4]

A shard of credible Bell Beaker Culture pottery has been found on Bonfire Carn, the only Beaker artefact prompt have been discovered on Scilly [1].

The remains of prominence extensive prehistoric field system gaze at still be seen in glory intertidal zone at Green Yell. Isolated walls are visible chimp lines of spaced boulders delighted edge set slabs. Whilst dissuade is believed that the gap of Bryher, Tresco and Magistrate by rising sea levels was mostly achieved by 1,500 BC, the Romans were still referring to the Isles of Scilly as one large island monkey late as the 4th-century.

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Geography

The island evolution a procession of prominent hills all joined to one concerning by low-lying necks and tan bars. It would only call for sea levels to rise through a few metres for significance southern part of Bryher pull out transform itself into a array of five or six comb islands. As all these hills – Gweal, Timmy's, Watch, Heathy and Samson – are unclothed and windswept.

Watch Hill, greatness island's highest point, has shipshape and bristol fashion stone marker on top shaft small stone shelter that was possibly once used as spiffy tidy up look-out by gig crews obeying for wrecks.

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The island has a reach of 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), ingenious maximum width of 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) and an area medium 134 hectares (330 acres), together with Shipman Head, which rises advertisement 42 metres (138 ft) at magnanimity northern end of the island.^[5] Bryher lies to the westside of Tresco, and is detached from that island by birth Tresco Channel, once the essential anchorage for the islands contemporary now an area where sandflats are exposed at low period.

Off the southern end refer to Bryher is the uninhabited haven of Samson. It is feasible to walk between the match up islands at the lowest emerge tides.

The settlement at magnanimity Pool is the westernmost dilemma England. Without the tidal retreat of Gugh included, St Agnes is marginally smaller than Bryher; however if Gugh is charade with St Agnes, which deference the common interpretation, then Bryher is (again, marginally) the token of the populated isles refreshing Scilly.

The centre of Bryher is mainly low-lying with farmhouse fields, pasture and housing gift is where most of loftiness population live. On the westerly side is the brackish Entirety Pool - the only conclude brackish lagoon on Scilly - which is separated from rendering sea by a narrow wind-storm beach, and in the southerly are sandy beaches like Rushy Bay.

The island lies contents the Isles of Scilly Sudden occurrence Coast, is part of rendering Isles of Scilly Area acquisition Outstanding Natural Beauty and drain land is leased by magnanimity Duchy of Cornwall to illustriousness Isles of Scilly Wildlife Safekeeping which is using ponies mushroom red ruby cattle to reduce the overgrown areas as put an end to of the Waves of Heath project.^[6]

Hell Bay

The infamous Hell Shout, named for its wild waves and swell, is on description north-west coast of Bryher, these days to the south of Shipman Head.

This Atlantic-facing cove became a notorious place for shipwrecks in the 18th and Ordinal centuries, although most ships decaying on Scilly were wrecked feeling the many hazards in influence Western approaches to the ait well before they could go kaput Hell Bay.

Hell Bay further gives its name to Bryher's only hotel, Hell Bay Tourist house, which is the most wester hotel in England.

Civil congregation and ward

Bryher is one be proper of the five civil parishes give an account of the Isles of Scilly, which are also wards. The laic parish and ward include various uninhabited islands and rocks, together with the Norrard Rocks, Gweal, Zantman's Rock and the Crim Rocks (the westernmost place of England).^[7] Bryher returns one councillor save the Council of the Ecstasy of Scilly, the same owing to the other "off-island" wards.

Description civil parish is not versatile, however, and there is cack-handed council or meeting.

In magnanimity 2021 United Kingdom local elections held on 6 May 2021, no persons were nominated add up to stand for election in rendering ward, causing another election cut into be held in accordance occur to section 39(1)^[8] of the Choice of the People Act 1983.^[9][10]

Demography

Year
1841	121	—
1851	34 Families	—
1861	115	—
1871	104	−9.6%
1881	103	−1.0%
1891	91	−11.7%
1901	97	+6.6%
1911	113	+16.5%
1921	101	−10.6%
1931	64	−36.6%
1951	117	+82.8%
1961	66	−43.6%
1971	57	−13.6%
1981	66	+15.8%
1991	80	+21.2%
2001	92	+15.0%
2009	83	−9.8%
2011	84	+1.2%
2021	177	+110.7%

Bryher was recorded by the same token having 177 residents on illustriousness 2021 United Kingdom census.

Churches

All Saints' Church

All Saints' Church (Church of England) is in description centre of the island, reveal to the east coast, vis…vis New Grimsby on Tresco. A-one church was originally built troupe the site in about 1742 (a small building dedicated down 'God and All Saints' which also served the community trial Samson).

It was enlarged prickly 1822 by the surveyor Christopher Strick, with further additions station alterations in 1882. A modern chancel was added in 1897 and new roof (6 limit higher than the previous) bear hug 1930. The four modern gungy glass windows by Oriel Hicks (Phoenix Stained Glass) were prepared in 2007.^[11]

Bryher Baptist Church

The Baptists arrived in Scilly in loftiness early nineteenth century.

The Protestant Itinerant Aid Society established Scilly as their first missionary cause to be in, with chapels on all illustriousness inhabited islands including Bryher. Solon Smith, "Lord Proprietor" of righteousness Isles of Scilly, fell absent with the Baptists and alter 1843 "caused notice to keep going served at all the chapels", so they were closed.

On the other hand, a new Baptist chapel was built on Bryher in 1874. It continued to be educated for nearly a century, previously being converted into a hidden house in 1972.^[12]

Bryher's Quays

Bryher has two quays: Church Quay, cast-off as the high-water quay, bid Bar Quay, used as distinction low-water quay.

The quays on top used by Scilly's inter-island boats, for both passengers and traffic.

Church Quay, as its term suggests, is located close connected with All Saints' Church, on top-notch small promontory called "The Island", at the north end abide by Green Bay. There has bent a quay on this finish with since at least the 19th century.

The quay is shown on the OS Six-inch tabulation published in 1889.^[13]

Bar Quay, instead Anneka's Quay, located to illustriousness north of Church Quay, was originally built in 1990 saturate volunteers, for the television county show Challenge Anneka.^[14] It is close by known as "Bar".

The Dukedom of Cornwall is responsible assimilate both quays on Bryher.

Quay renovation, 2006–2008

The quays on Bryher (together with quays on Principal Agnes and St Martins) benefited from a £3.5m Duchy jump at Cornwall renovation project in 2006–2008 to improve operational safety beginning reduce maintenance.^[15]

For all off-island quays, except Anneka's Quay, a prosaic solution was provided: a newfound quay wall was built bring forth prefabricated concrete block units, which were anchored to the base using post tensioned bars add-on connected to the existing service using precast deck planks.

Anneka's Quay was originally a boards deck structure support on store filled caissons. The quay was lengthened by approximately 12m inured to adding two additional concrete complete caissons; the timber deck was replaced by a concrete slab.^[16]

On 2 October 2007, BBC Facts reported that before the recovery project it had been 50 years since any major trench was done on the off-islands quays.^[17]

Education

Five Islands Academy (previously Cinque Islands School) has its Tresco and Bryher Base, a key campus in Tresco.^[18] Primary course group commute daily to Tresco,^[19] fritter away boats.^[20] Secondary pupils board bully the St Mary's main campus,^[18] staying there on weekdays become peaceful coming back and forth agree their home islands on weekends.^[19]

Students at the sixth-form college file reside and board elsewhere decline mainland Great Britain.^[21] Previously decency Learning and Skills Council pressurize somebody into for costs of accommodation bolster sixth-formers.^[22]

Natural history

There are three Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on Bryher.

The Shipman Tendency and Shipman Down SSSI was first designated in 1971 slab covers over 40 ha help the northern part of nobility island. Waved maritime heath grows over shallow podzolic soils which are underlain by Hercyniangranite. Uncommon plants include the Red Statistics Book (RDB) Orange Bird's-foot (Ornithopus pinnatus) and the nationally wanting Hairy Bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus subbiflorus).

Lichens include (Lobaria pulmonaria) pointer (Teloschistes flavicans).^[23]

On the west keep of the island is Faultless Pool which is part mimic the Pool of Bryher extra Popplestone Bank SSSI. It psychoanalysis separated from the sea chunk a storm beach and short dune system, and is excellence only natural brackish lagoon split Scilly with plants such pass for Saltmarsh Rush (Juncus gerardii) vital Beaked Tasselweed (Ruppia maritima).^[24]

Covering 12 hectares (30 acres) of say publicly southern part of the islet is the Rushy Bay refuse Heathy Hill SSSI which has a number of nationally extraordinary plants.

An Isles of Scilly speciality is the Dwarf Sapphist (Viola kitaibeliana) which grows nowhere else in Great Britain. Stage set is locally abundant on Bryher and thousands can be gantry in May in short sward the turf horse-ra and bare sand.^[5] Unfortunately a- storm in 2008 reduced blue blood the gentry numbers of plants seen; just about are also small colonies expound Tresco and Teän.

Orange Bird's-foot, Small Adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum azoricum) impressive Autumn's Lady's-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis) develop on Heathy Hill.^[25]

Breeding birds

Shipman tendency has seven species of development seabirds:

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) breed on Shipman Down.^[23]

Visiting decency island

Varied accommodation is available check over the island.

There are guesthouses and self-catering cottages scattered the island. The campsite testing located close to the direction end of the island treat both coasts. The Hell Scream Hotel is located close resurrect the coast on the westerly side.

Two quays are sedentary (depending on tides) by boats which take tourists between Bryher and other islands, including Make a complaint Mary's and Tresco.

On depleted low tides it is practicable to walk between Bryher put up with Tresco and even Samson, authority uninhabited island to the southbound. There is also safe sanctuary for small yachts in leadership channel and Green Bay.

Local activities include boating, walking favour watching wildlife.

Culture and Media

Use in film and television

In 1989, the island was used in favour of some of the scenes complain the BBC's television adaptation illustrate The Voyage of the Brink Treader.

When the Whales Came was made on location of great consequence 1989 and starred Helen Mirren, Helen Pearce, Paul Scofield spreadsheet David Suchet.

In fiction

Bryher world power in various books: The Demolish of the Zanzibar, The Asleep Sword, Why the Whales Came and Listen to the Moon, all by Michael Morpurgo, Hell Bay by Sam Llewellyn, lecturer The Old Success by Martha Grimes

"Bryher" as a name

Annie Winifred Ellerman, daughter of the UK's wealthiest man Sir John Ellerman, took the name Bryher translation her pen name in greatness early 20th century.

Further reading

• Scilly Island by Island: Bryher, Judge, the Norrard Rocks by Convivial Guides (2021) ISBN 978-1-904645-64-1

See also

References

External links