Peel Castle

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Peel Castle
Isle of Man Peel Castle.jpg
Peel Castle as seen from the swing bridge at the entrance to Peel harbour
Peel Castle
General information
Town or city St Patrick's Isle, Peel
Country Isle of Man
Construction started11th century
Completed1860
Client Magnus II of the Isle of Man
Design and construction
Architect(s)Several

Peel Castle (Cashtal Phurt ny h-Inshey in Manx Gaelic) is a castle in Peel in the Isle of Man, originally constructed by Norwegians. The castle stands on St Patrick's Isle which is connected to the town by a causeway. It is now owned by Manx National Heritage and is open to visitors during the summer.

Contents

The castle was built in the 11th century by Norwegians, under the rule of King Magnus Barefoot. While there were older stone Celtic monastic buildings on the island, the first Norwegian fortifications were built of wood. The prominent round tower was originally part of the Celtic monastery, but had battlements added at a later date. In the early 14th century, the majority of the walls and towers were built primarily from local red sandstone, which is found abundantly in the area. After the rule of Norway, the castle continued to be used by the Church due to the cathedral built there the see of the diocese of Sodor and Man but was eventually abandoned in the 18th century.

The castle remained fortified, and new defensive positions were added as late as 1860. The buildings within the castle are now mostly ruined, but the outer walls remain intact. Excavations in 1982-87 revealed an extensive graveyard as well as the remains of Magnus Barefoot's original wooden fort. The most spectacular finds were the 10th century grave of "The Pagan Lady" which included a fine example of a Norwegian necklace and a cache of silver coins dating from about 1030. The Castle's most famous "resident" is the so-called Moddey Dhoo or "Black Dog" ghost.

Peel Castle features today on the reverse side of the banknotes of the Manx Pound £10 notes issued by the Isle of Man Government. [1]

Peel Castle may occasionally be confused with Piel Castle, located on Piel Island, to the east across the Irish Sea. This particularly occurs in reference to the William Wordsworth poem describing Piel, spelling its name as 'Peele': especially as Wordsworth is documented as having visited Peel Castle, and wrote several times about the Isle of Man. [2]

Peel Castle has been proposed as a possible location of the Arthurian Avalon. [3] [4] [5]

St. Patrick's Isle from Peel Hill St. Patricks Isle - geograph.org.uk - 904031.jpg
St. Patrick's Isle from Peel Hill

Cathedral of St German (ruins)

The cathedral ruins located within the walls of Peel Castle are those of the former Cathedral of St German. [6] Like the structures throughout the castle grounds, the cathedral's roof is completely missing. Robert Anderson examined the ruins to determine what repairs were required to restore the cathedral, and he reported to the island's Lieutenant Governor in 1877. [7] However, none of the suggested repairs were carried out.

There is a pointed barrel-vaulted crypt below the chancel, measuring 34 feet by 16 feet by 9 feet high at the west end (10 × 5 × 3 metres), sloping to the entrance at the east. [7]

In the middle of the transept is the tomb where Bishop Rutter was interred in 1661. [7]

There is a cemetery in what was once the cathedral's nave.

In 1980 the parish of German, part of the Church of England's Diocese of Sodor and Man, was officially transferred to the newer Cathedral Church of St German on Albany Road in Peel.

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The Isle of Man or Mann, is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations and is the homeland of the Manx people, a Celtic ethnic group. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The government of the United Kingdom is responsible for the isle's military defence and represents it abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castletown, Isle of Man</span> Town in the Isle of Man

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peel, Isle of Man</span> Human settlement in the Isle of Man

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The Diocese of Sodor and Man is a diocese of the Church of England. Originally much larger, today it covers just the Isle of Man and its adjacent islets. Today, the bishop's office is in Douglas and the cathedral is in Peel. The diocese is not generally called either "Sodor diocese" or "Man diocese".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Patrick's Isle</span> Tidal island on the west coast of the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peel Cathedral</span> Church in Peel, Isle of Man

The Cathedral Church of Saint German or Peel Cathedral, renamed Cathedral Isle of Man, is located in Peel, Isle of Man. The cathedral is also one of the parish churches in the parish of the West Coast, which includes the town of Peel. Built in 1879–84, it was made the cathedral by Act of Tynwald in 1980.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piel Castle</span> Grade I listed building in Cumbria, UK

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Mark Hiddesley or Hildesley was an Anglican churchman. He served as vicar of Hitchin in Hertfordshire and later as Bishop of Sodor and Man between 1755 and 1772, where he encouraged Bible translations into Manx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greeba Castle</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishopscourt, Isle of Man</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Sodor and Man</span> Diocesan bishop in the Church of England

The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Cathedral Church of St German where the bishop's seat is located, is in the town of Peel. St German's was elevated to cathedral status on 1 November 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revenue stamps of the Isle of Man</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary of the Isle Church</span> Church in Isle of Man., Isle of Man

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Trinian's Church</span> Church in Isle of Man, Isle of Man

St Trinian's Church is the roofless ruin of a small chapel at the foot of Greeba Mountain, adjacent to the main A1 Douglas - Peel Road in the parish of Marown, Isle of Man. Referred to in the Manx language as a "Keeil Brisht", the church is the source of an ancient Manx folktale concerning the Buggane, a huge mythical ogre who lived on Greeba Mountain and who vowed that the church should never be completed.

References

  1. "Isle of Man". Ron Wise's Banknoteworld. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  2. William Wordsworth - Itinerary Poems of 1833 Isle-of-man.com; accessed April 2007; Wordsworth's lines on Peele Castle, though sometimes ascribed to Peel Castle, IoM, do in fact refer to the Peele at Foudrey near Barrow
  3. "Avalon's Location". www.electricscotland.com.
  4. Lorre Goodrich, Norma. King Arthur (1st Perennial library ed.). Harper & Row. ISBN   9780060971823.
  5. Norma Lorre, Goodrich (1987). Merlin. F. Watts. p. 2. ISBN   9780531150603.
  6. Coakley, Frances (2007). "The Ruined Cathedral of St. German, Peel, Isle of Man". A Manx Note Book: An Electronic Compendium of Matters Past and Present Connected with the Isle of Man. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 Anderson, Robert (1877). "Scheme for an Extensive Reparation of the Ruins of Peel Castle and St. German's Cathedral, Isle of Man". A Manx Note Book: An Electronic Compendium of Matters Past and Present Connected with the Isle of Man. Retrieved 16 August 2009.

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54°13′35.22″N4°41′56.76″W / 54.2264500°N 4.6991000°W / 54.2264500; -4.6991000