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Summary

A four sided fortified enclosure with corner batteries or buttresses is shown on high ground towards the south east corner of the Hugh on C17 and C18 maps.

Protected Status: None recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SV 81 SE 42
• National Monuments Record: SV 81 SE 542
• National Record of the Historic Environment to Historic Environment Records data transfer
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1538864
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 303617
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SV81SE 30
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 7900.16

Monument Type(s):

• FORTIFIED BUILDING (Undated)
• ARTILLERY FORT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

A four sided fortified enclosure with corner batteries/buttresses is shown on high ground towards the south east corner of the Hugh on C17 and C18 maps.

A The 1652 Duchy survey refers to an "old fort called the follye which is onely the old walls and shedderd within for the quartering of soldiers, situate towards the south end of the Hugh hill" and valued at one pound (b1). A map of 1655 locates it and shows a square enclosure with apparently circular bastions at the cardinal points (b2). Lilly's 1752 plan shows an approx 20m square fort with walling approx 4.0m thick and each angle enclosed by a square headed buttress approx 5.0m square (b3). A 1742 plan shows and entry on the north west side and a centrally placed rectangular building whose short wall was opposite the entrance, the whole was marked "ruins of an old barrak" (b4). There is no further documentary or cartographic reference to the site; it is not shown on the 1888 OS map (b5). A 1554 declaration of ordnance on Scilly includes a culverin and a demi-culverine on Hugh, and it is possible that these pieces may have been mounted on 'The Folley' or possibly also 'Mount Holles' (10).

A 1978 OS field visit failed to find traces in an area of rough vegetation and scrub (h1), as did ICS/CAU field visits in 1984 and 1988 (h2, h3) but there seems to be every possibilty that remains will have survived (Parkes, C. Pers. Comm. 1994). A suggestion (h1) that the site may be visible on the 1669 drawing "stell maria" (see b6) may be discounted as the feature referred to is the Lookout/Beacon (7903.07) (Parkes, C. Pers. Comm. 1994).

The site was visted in 2005-06 (8), and surveyed in 2008-2010 (9, 10). The latter survey recorded slight earthworks, less than 0.1m high, were noted on a cleared area of the hillside to the south east of the 1890s Woolpack Battery. They seem to be the footings of a square buiding with external features at approximately the location of 'The Folly', although the orientation is not as shown on historic maps. The current NMR reference for this site is SV81 SE 542, although it was previously recorded under SV 81 SE 42, at a conjectural grid reference (SV 8989 1015).

Prior to the 1994 revison of the Garrison defences SMR, this site was recorded under PRN 7426.

--------------------------------
Site history:
1: 1978. NJA / OS
2: 1984. RATCLIFFE, J / ICS, CAU
3: 1988. RATCLIFFE, J / ICS, CAU
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<1> Pounds, NJG, 1984, The Parliamentary Survey of the Duchy of Cornwall, PT 2, 37 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4153.

<2> UNKNOWN, 1655, A MAP OF THE HEW HILL THE CHEIFFE FFORTIFICATIONS, DD GO 575 (Unedited Source). SCO5445.

<3> LILLY, C, 1715, A PLAN OF THE STAR CASTLE ON ST MARY'S ISLAND AT SCILLY (Unedited Source). SCO5501.

<4> UNKNOWN, 1742, A PLAN OF HUGH FORT ALIAS THE STAR CASTLE (Unedited Source). SCO5544.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1880s, 1st Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4048.

<6> Bowley, RL (Ed), 1980, The Fortunate Islands, 53 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5086.

<7> Johns, C & Fletcher, M, 2010, The Garrison, St Mary's Isles of Scilly - Conservation Plan, Site 131 (Cornwall Event Report). SCO23708.

<8> Bowden, M, 2011, Isles of Scilly Military Defences, 1540-1951: Earthwork Sites and Minor Features, 15, 21 (Cornwall Event Report). SCO25530.

<9> Bowden, M and Brodie, A, 2011, Defending Scilly (Bibliographic reference). SCO29932.

<10> Miles, TJ and Saunders, AD, 1970, King Charles’s Castle, Tresco, Scilly, 4 (Article in Journal). SCO8073.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECO3128 - Garrison Walls, Isles of Scilly, conservation plan
• ECO3819 - Isles of Scilly Military Defences, 1540-1951 (Ref: RDRS 56-2011)

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