History and Archaeology

Isles of Scilly history covers over 4,000 years of occupation, from prehistory to the present day. The Islands strong and distinctive cultural identity draws its inspiration from a unique relationship between land and sea.

First visited by Mesolithic hunters and gatherers after the end of the last Ice Age some 10,000 years ago, the Islands were probably not settled upon permanently until the Bronze Age (2500-800 BC).

Although Scilly follows the same general archaeological trends as West Cornwall, from where it was originally settled, the insular character of the Isles of Scilly has always been an important factor in its development.

During prehistory relative isolation led to the intensification of certain traditions, for example the unique concentration of Bronze Age entrance graves – there are more than 80 compared with only about a dozen in Cornwall (Higher Innisidgen on St. Mary’s and Obadiah’s Barrow on Gugh are good examples) – and certain sites are unique to Scilly, such as the Romano-British shrine at Nornour, the Roman altar in Tresco Gardens and the recently discovered Iron Age sword and mirror burial on Bryher.

From Roman times long distance trade brought Scilly into the wider world, and during the post-medieval period it became strategically important in the defence of England, being successively fortified over a period covering almost three hundred and fifty years.

With the construction of the Star Castle in 1593 the focus of settlement on St. Mary’s moved from Old Town, where there are the remains of a medieval castle, to Hugh Town. Cromwell’s Castle on Tresco, built in 1651-2 and named in honour of Oliver Cromwell, has a particularly dramatic setting guarding approaches to New Grimsby.

An unusual aspect of Scilly history and archaeology is the presence of archaeological remains below high water, the result of low-lying land being submerged by a gradual rise in sea level. Today the Isles of Scilly comprise two hundred individual rocks and islands, but ten thousand years ago, at the end of the last ice age, the picture was very different.

Current thinking suggests that the archipelago may have consisted of a single land mass stretching from the Western Rocks to the Eastern Isles and from Peninnis to Shipman Head. As the ice sheets melted the sea level rose, and by 3000 BC submergence of low lying areas had led to the formation of a number of separate islands. The main one encompassed the modern islands of St. Mary’s, Bryher, Tresco and St. Martin’s, while St. Agnes, Annet and the Western Rocks constituted three smaller tracts of land.

Throughout later prehistory the sea continued to rise, but it was possibly not until the end of the Roman period that today’s islands began to appear. Even as late as the eleventh century AD most of the Scilly Isles would have been joined at low water. Whilst exact details of the submergence remains unclear, its undoubted occurrence is indicated by prehistoric and later sites lying between high and low water. Remains of houses, field walls and graves can be seen, with the best examples on the Samson Flats in Green Bay (Bryher), West Porth (Tean), and on either side of Carn Near (Tresco).

Although coastal erosion offers a continuing threat, most surviving monuments are remarkably well preserved having been largely constructed of granite, and lying mostly on uninhabited islands or areas of moorland not intensively used since the Bronze Age.

The downs and clifftops are generally well served by footpaths and covered by low heather or grass, making them very accessible to the public. Once in Scilly, the best place to find out about the history and archaeology is the Isles of Scilly Museum on the island of St. Mary’s.

Take a journey back in time on Scilly, book your flight to the Isles of Scilly with British International Helicopters, a stunning and convenient journey to an island paradise.