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Summary

The Garrison neck, from Well battery to Lower Benham battery was fortified in the Elizabethan period with a granite curtain wall, external dry ditch and glacis.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 15434: POST-MEDIEVAL BREASTWORK, CURTAIN WALL AND ASSOCIATED DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE GARRISON, ST MARY'S
• Listed Building (I) 62521: OUTER WALLS AND GATEWAY

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SV 81 SE 370
• National Record of the Historic Environment to Historic Environment Records data transfer
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1168921
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 7906.04

Monument Type(s):

• CURTAIN WALL (17th Century - 1601 AD to 1700 AD)

Full description

The Garrison neck, from Well battery (7906.09) to Lower Benham battery (7096.14), was fortified in the Elizabethan period with a granite curtain wall, external dry ditch and glacis; further batteries being incorporated at King George's battery (7906.11), the Duke of Leeds battery (7906.12) and Upper Benham battery (7906.13). The Well, King George's and Duke of Leeds batteries were rebuilt in the C18, when Jefferson's battery (7906.10) was added. A gateway (7906.05) and two sallyports (7906.06, 7906.07) give access to the defended Hugh and Star Castle (7902), a third sallyport connecting Upper and Lower Benham batteries (7906.08). A 1655 plan shows the wall with batteries and gateway, and continuous ditch between the coasts (b1). On a 1669 print it appears to be crenellated (b2). In 1742 gaps in the ditch are shown in front of King George's and Upper Benham batteries, and east from the latter to Porthcressa; a bridge across it to the gateway is also indicated (b5). Heath refers to Tovey's great early C18 improvement of the walls (b7). Troutbeck in 1796 notes the glacis extending 'about 50ft' outside the ditch, then fine grazing (b9). By 1822 some of this was dug for potatoes (b10). The 1888 OS shows no ditch between Well and King George's batteries or in front of the Duke of Leeds, but records a remnant outside Lower Benham (b12). In 1978 the OS found the wall to be uncoursed rubble, largely pre-1715 and possibly c1600 (h1). In 1993 the rubble granite was found to be large and medium sized with some smaller stones (h5). Between Well and Gateway batteries were sections of C18 rebuild, coursed medium sized granite blocks. The ditch, overgrown but open between the Duke of Leeds and Higher Benham batteries, is approx 0.5m deep outside and approx 1.0m deep inside where the exposed granite bedrock ran from the base of the wall. A large scale survey was made in 1991 (h4). The monument was included in the Schedule on 19/3/1998.

An architectural survey of the walls was undertaken in 2005-2006 (16); this was augmented by a photogrammetric survey of the eastern end of these defences, that could be destroyed in the next decade by severe storms, to provide a permanent record.

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Site history:
1: 1978. NJA/OS
2: 1982. UNKNOWN/EH
3: 1990. JOHNSON, N/CAU
4: 1991. UNKNOWN/EH
5: 1993. RATCLIFFE, J/CAU
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<1> UNKNOWN, 1655, A MAP OF THE HEW HILL THE CHEIFFE FFORTIFICATIONS, DD GO 575 (Unedited Source). SCO5445.

<2> Bowley, RL (Ed), 1980, The Fortunate Islands, 53 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5086.

<3> ROBYN, I, 1683, SCILLY ISLES OF TESORLINGES (Unedited Source). SCO5464.

<4> Lilly, C, 1715, A Plan of the Hugh (Unpublished document). SCO3869.

<5> UNKNOWN, 1742, A PLAN OF HUGH FORT ALIAS THE STAR CASTLE (Unedited Source). SCO5544.

<6> Tovey, A, 1750, A Plan of the Peninsula and Fortifications on St Mary's (Bibliographic reference). SCO4950.

<7> Heath, R, 1750, A Natural and Historical Account of the Islands of Scilly, 69, 73-74 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3486.

<8> Borlase, W, 1756, Observations on the Ancient and Present State of the Islands of Scilly (Bibliographic reference). SCO2883.

<9> Troutbeck, J, 1796, Survey of the Ancient and Present State of the Scilly Islands, 43, 44 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4965.

<10> Woodley, G, 1822, A View of the Present State of the Scilly Islands, 228 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5069.

<11> Birch, JF, 1974, Plan of the Garrison on the Island of Saint Mary, Scilly (Bibliographic reference). SCO2851.

<12> Ordnance Survey, 1880s, 1st Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4048.

<13> Ordnance Survey, 1900s, 2nd Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4050.

<14> O'Neil, BH St J, 1961, Isles of Scilly MOW Guide, 36-37 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4042.

<15> DOE, Listed Building Description (original DOE) (Bibliographic reference). SCO5173.

<16> Johns, C & Fletcher, M, 2010, The Garrison, St Mary's Isles of Scilly - Conservation Plan (Cornwall Event Report). SCO23708.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECO6309 - The Garrison, St. Mary's: Survey
• ECO3128 - Garrison Walls, Isles of Scilly, conservation plan

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