St Michael's Mount
St Michael's Mount is a tidal island in Mount's Bay near Penzance, Cornwall, connected to Marazion by a causeway of granite setts passable at low tide. Edward the Confessor granted the site to the Benedictine monks of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, and the castle's earliest structures date to the 12th century. Colonel John St Aubyn purchased the mount in 1659; his descendants, the Lords St Levan, still reside there.
In 1954 the 3rd Baron St Levan transferred the island to the National Trust while retaining a 999-year lease on the castle. A narrow-gauge railway built by miners around 1900 still hauls supplies up the steep gradient from harbor to castle, replacing the packhorses it made redundant.
Visitor information
- Location
- Cornwall, England
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Tier
- S (The absolute cream of the castle crop)
- Coordinates
- 50.116, -5.4772
- Official site
- http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/
Frequently asked questions
- Where is St Michael's Mount?
- St Michael's Mount is in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom (approximately 50.116, -5.4772).
- Can you visit St Michael's Mount?
- Yes — St Michael's Mount is open to visitors; see the official site at http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/ for hours and tickets.
- What tier is St Michael's Mount on the Castle Atlas?
- St Michael's Mount is rated S tier on the Castle Atlas — The absolute cream of the castle crop.
- What can you see at St Michael's Mount?
- St Michael's Mount is a tidal island in Mount's Bay near Penzance, Cornwall, connected to Marazion by a causeway of granite setts passable at low tide. Edward the Confessor granted the site to the Benedictine monks of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, and the castle's earliest structures date to the 12th century. Colonel John St Aubyn purchased the mount in 1659; his descendants, the Lords St Levan, still reside there.
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