Burgh Island

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Burgh Island
Burgh Island from mainland.jpg
View from Bigbury-on-Sea
Burgh Island location.png
Geography
Location English Channel
Coordinates 50°16′47″N3°54′01″W / 50.27972°N 3.90028°W / 50.27972; -3.90028
Administration
Constituent country England
Shire county Devon
Shire district South Hams
Additional information
NB: Burgh Island is a tidal island

Burgh Island is a tidal island on the coast of South Devon in England near the small seaside village of Bigbury-on-Sea. There are several buildings on the island, the largest being the Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel. The other buildings are three private houses, and a pub, the Pilchard Inn, which dates to the 14th century. The island is strongly associated with writer Agatha Christie, who often visited and used the island and its hotel as a setting and inspiration for two famous novels: And Then There Were None (1939) and Evil Under the Sun (1941).

Contents

History

Archaeological discovery of tin ingots at the River Erme estuary wreck [1] show that the local area was a significant tin trading port in ancient times; it is unclear whether the ingots date from the Iron Age or Sub-Roman periods, however this discovery so close to Burgh Island has drawn comparisons with Diodorus Siculus's 1st century BCE text, more often associated with St Michael's Mount in Cornwall:

At this time we shall treat of the tin which is dug from the ground. Those who dwell near Belerium, one of the headlands of Britain, are especially fond of strangers, and on account of their trade with the merchants they have a more civilised manner of living. They collect the tin after the earth has been skillfully forced to yield it. Although the land is stony, it has certain veins of earth from which they melt and purify the metal which has been extracted. After making this into bars they carry it to a certain island near Britain called Ictis. For although the place between is for the most part covered with water, yet in the middle there is dry ground, and over this they carry a great amount of tin in wagons [...] Thence the merchants carry into Gaul the tin which they have bought from the inhabitants. And after a journey of thirty days on foot through Gaul, they convey their packs carried by horses to the mouths of the Rhone River. [2]

The island has been known by various names over the years. Early records and maps mention it as St Michael's Island. The name later changed to Borough Island, eventually shortened to Burgh. As late as 1947 an Ordnance Survey map refers to the island as Borough Island. [3] In 1908 a postcard produced by Stengel & Co Ltd of London referred to it as Burr Island. [4] A map published in 1765 shows "Borough or Bur Isle". [5]

The remains of the former chapel Hew and cry hut, Burgh Island.JPG
The remains of the former chapel

It is believed a monastery was established on the island, most of the remains of which may lie beneath the current hotel. The ancient Pilchard Inn's history dates to 1336 and may have started life as the guest lodgings for the monastery. [6]

A small, possibly transient, population of fishermen occupied the island following the dissolution of the monastery, specialising in pilchard fishing. [7] There are the remains of a chapel atop the island, which later became a "huers hut" — a place where fishermen would make a "hue and cry" call to inform other fishermen of shoals of pilchards. [8] During this period, smuggling, wrecking, and piracy were common, benefiting from a natural barrier for half the day. [9]

Fear that German landing forces might use the island as a beachhead during World War II resulted in the area's fortification with anti-tank defences and two pillboxes, positioned on both sides of the causeway. [10] [11] An observation post was also established on the summit to monitor the coastline. [12] [13]

A beach house was built for Agatha Christie as a writer's retreat and still exists on the island. [14]

The hotel

Burgh Island at Sunset.jpg
Burgh Island at sunset, viewed from Thurlestone

Burgh Island is well-known today as the location of a restored 1930s Art Deco-style hotel. [15]

Notable setting and visitors

Burgh Island is closely linked to Agatha Christie, as it served as the inspirational setting for Soldier Island ( And Then There Were None ) and for the setting of the Hercule Poirot mystery Evil Under the Sun . The 2002 TV adaptation of Evil Under The Sun used the island as a filming location. In 1994 an episode of the television series Lovejoy was set and filmed on the island, entitled Somewhere - Over the Rainbow? [16] Several scenes from the BBC's 1987 dramatisation of Christie's Miss Marple mystery, Nemesis, were also filmed in the hotel. [17]

The hotel, with its Art Deco styling, was also a bolt hole in the 1930s for some of London's rich and famous, including Noël Coward. [17] The hotel has had many other famous visitors, from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to The Beatles. [14]

The island was also the location for GMTV's Inch-loss Island slimming feature in 2008, as it was for the original series in 2001. The climactic scene of the 1965 British film Catch Us If You Can (featuring The Dave Clark Five) takes place at the island. [18] [16]

English singer-songwriter Ben Howard's 2012 EP was named after the island. [19]

Transport

The sea tractor is used to ferry visitors to the island during high tide Burgh Island sea tractor in the water.jpg
The sea tractor is used to ferry visitors to the island during high tide
Photograph of the Burgh Island in Devon sea tractor used to move passengers from the mainland to the tidal island. Burgh island sea tractor at low tide.jpg
Photograph of the Burgh Island in Devon sea tractor used to move passengers from the mainland to the tidal island.

The island is approximately 270 yards (250 m) from the mainland at Bigbury-on-Sea and is approachable on foot at low tide. [15] At high tide, the sea tractor, which is operated by the hotel, transports passengers back and forth. [17] The original vehicle was constructed in 1930 (see 1933 photo); the current third generation tractor dates from 1969. [20] The vehicle drives across the beach with its wheels underwater on the sandy bottom while its driver and passengers sit on a platform high above. Power from a Fordson tractor engine is relayed to the wheels via hydraulic motors. [21]

Footpaths

The island has an extensive network of footpaths and the owner until 2003 was a keen hiker who welcomed walkers. The new owners, however, erected signs closing footpaths and obtained an exemption from the public "rights to roam" enabled in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The exemption was overturned, except for the routes closest to the hotel, in 2006. [22]

Sale

In April 2018, the owners of the island, Deborah Clark and Tony Orchard, announced that the island had been bought by "Project Archie", a joint venture between Bluehone Capital and Marechale Capital, for an undisclosed sum. [23]

In May 2023, the island went up for sale again. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agatha Christie</span> English mystery and detective writer (1890–1976)

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Christie's best-known characters and has been portrayed numerous times on screen. Her first appearance was in a short story published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927, "The Tuesday Night Club", which later became the first chapter of The Thirteen Problems (1932). Her first appearance in a full-length novel was in The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930, and her last appearance was in Sleeping Murder in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torquay</span> Town in Devon, England

Torquay is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Hams</span> Local government district in Devon, England

South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Totnes, although the largest town is Ivybridge. The district also contains the towns of Dartmouth, Kingsbridge and Salcombe and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivybridge</span> Town in Devon, England

Ivybridge is a town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about thirteen miles east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England and Wales and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road. There are two electoral wards in Ivybridge East and Ivybridge West with a total population of 11,851.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenway Estate</span> In Devon, former house of Agatha Christie

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<i>Evil Under the Sun</i> 1941 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

Evil Under the Sun is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October of the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Erme</span> River in south Devon, England

The Erme is a river in south Devon, England. From its source on Dartmoor it flows in a generally southerly direction past some of the best-preserved archaeological remains on the moor. It leaves the moor at the town of Ivybridge and continues southward, passing the settlements of Ermington, Modbury and Holbeton. Near Holbeton it becomes a ria and empties into the English Channel in Bigbury Bay, between the rivers Yealm and Avon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea tractor</span>

A sea tractor is a motor vehicle designed to travel through shallow seawater, carrying passengers on a platform elevated above a submerged chassis. The sea tractor was most popular during the early 1930s, as a unique way to give scenic tours to patrons of waterfront hotels and resorts. In other applications, sea tractors were used simply as a ferry through shallow waters. The use of sea tractors has declined since, as boats, ferries, and other aquatic vessels often serve the same function much more efficiently and comfortably.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bigbury</span> Village and civil parish in south Devon, England

Bigbury is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 582, compared to 260 in 1901, and decreasing to 500 in 2011. The southern side of the parish lies on the coast, and it is surrounded clockwise from the west by the parishes of Ringmore, Modbury, Aveton Gifford, and on the opposite bank of the estuary of the River Avon, Thurlestone. Road access to the parish is via the A379 and the B3392. The parish council meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm in Bigbury Memorial Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining in Cornwall and Devon</span> Mining in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon

Mining in Cornwall and Devon, in the southwest of Britain, is thought to have begun in the early-middle Bronze Age with the exploitation of cassiterite. Tin, and later copper, were the most commonly extracted metals. Some tin mining continued long after the mining of other metals had become unprofitable, but ended in the late 20th century. In 2021, it was announced that a new mine was extracting battery-grade lithium carbonate, more than 20 years after the closure of the last South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Challaborough</span> Village in south Devon, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bigbury-on-Sea</span> Village in Devon, England

Bigbury-on-Sea is a village in the South Hams district on the south coast of Devon, England. It is part of the civil parish of Bigbury which is centred on a small village of that name about a mile inland. Bigbury-on-Sea village is on the coast above the largest sandy beach in South Devon facing south to Bigbury Bay. The tidal island of Burgh Island lies about 270 yards offshore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantham</span> Village in Devon, England

Bantham is a coastal village in south Devon, England. It is in the South Hams district and lies on the estuary of the River Avon a quarter of a mile from the sea at Bigbury Bay.

<i>And Then There Were None</i> 1939 mystery novel by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, who described it as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as Ten Little Niggers, after an 1869 minstrel song that serves as a major plot element. The US edition was released in January 1940 with the title And Then There Were None, taken from the last five words of the song. Successive American reprints and adaptations use that title, though American Pocket Books paperbacks used the title Ten Little Indians between 1964 and 1986. UK editions continued to use the original title until 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgh Island Hotel</span> Building in Burgh Island, Devon

The Burgh Island Hotel is a hotel on Burgh Island, Devon in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing in Cornwall</span> Economic activity

Fishing in Cornwall, England, UK, has traditionally been one of the main elements of the economy of the county. Pilchard fishing and processing was a thriving industry in Cornwall from around 1750 to around 1880, after which it went into an almost terminal decline. During the 20th century the varieties of fish taken became much more diverse and crustaceans such as crab and lobster are now significant. Much of the catch is exported to France due to the higher prices obtainable there. Though fishing has been significantly damaged by overfishing, the Southwest Handline Fishermen's Association has started to revive the fishing industry. As of 2007, stocks were improving. The Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee is one of 12 committees responsible for managing the corresponding Sea Fisheries District. The Isles of Scilly Sea Fisheries Committee is responsible for the Scilly district.

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

Ictis, or Iktin, is or was an island described as a tin trading centre in the Bibliotheca historica of the Sicilian-Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the first century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringmore</span> Village in Devon, England

Ringmore is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district, on the coast of Devon, England. The population taken at the 2011 census was 208.

Between 1991-1992 an archaeological site containing tin ingots was uncovered close to West Mary's Rocks in Devon, England. Examination of the site revealed that these ingots may represent a wreck site, or the lost cargo from a ship. The ingots are believed to have been made before 1000 BC, during the later stages of the British Bronze Age. The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 24 November 1993. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England. The ingots found here are an important source of knowledge for prehistoric tin.

References

  1. ↑ "Erme Ingot". Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Siculus, Diodorus. "Historical Library" – via Wikisource.
  3. ↑ Ordnance Survey Sheet 20/64 Scale 1:25,000 1947
  4. ↑ Stengel & Co Ltd, London EC; card reference E32111; The Warren from Burr Island
  5. ↑ Donn, Benjamin (1765). "A map of the county of Devon, 1765. Section SX64". Devon Libraries Local Studies Service. Devon County Council. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  6. ↑ Nicholls, Royston (28 December 2020). "Burgh Island - Agatha Christie's 'Soldier Island'". Euro Tour Guides. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "Burgh Island Former Chapel". National Churches Trust. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Burgh Island Galleries". The BBC . Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  9. ↑ Admin. "Burgh Island - Attractions near - in South Hams - Devon". SouthHams.com. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  10. ↑ Heritage Gateway (2015). "World War II Pillbox on the east of Burgh Island". Historic England. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  11. ↑ Heritage Gateway (2022). "Second World War Pillbox on North-East of Burgh Island". Historic England. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Council of British Archaeology (2002). "Defence of Britain Archive". Archaeological Date Service. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Burgh Island Observation Post". 10 August 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Agatha Christie's beloved Burgh Island on the Devon coast is for sale for £15m". House & Garden. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  15. 1 2 "The Tidal Island That Inspired Agatha Christie". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  16. 1 2 "Lovejoy" Somewhere - Over the Rainbow? (TV Episode 1994) - IMDb , retrieved 11 December 2020
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Agatha Christie inspiration Burgh Island for sale at £15m". BBC News. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  18. ↑ "Filming Locations for John Boorman's Catch Us If You Can in London and Devon". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  19. ↑ "The Burgh Island EP by Ben Howard".
  20. ↑ "Activities & Things To Do At Burgh Island". Burgh Island. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  21. ↑ "Burgh Island in Devon | Coast & Beach Guide". Coast Radar. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  22. ↑ Staff writer (2 December 2006). "Walkers are free to use island paths". Western Morning News . p. 30.
  23. ↑ Finch, Hannah (12 April 2018). "Devon's iconic Burgh Island has been sold". devonlive. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
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