St Agnes, Isles of Scilly

The lighthouse of 1680

The island's most notable landmark is its lighthouse, which has been converted into living accommodation as the tower no longer contains a light. St. Agnes lighthouse was the second to be built in the western approaches (after the Lizard lighthouse of 1619); it was also only the second lighthouse station to be established by Trinity House (after Lowestoft in 1609).[2]

In 1680 Trinity House began a survey of the coasts of England as it was known that the contemporary charts were inaccurate; the Isles of Scilly was plotted ten miles to the north. On 24 May that year, Trinity House was given permission to erect and maintain one or more lighthouses on the islands. St Agnes was chosen as it is the most westerly of the inhabitable islands and close to the collection of rocks, tidal flows and currents, now known as the Western Rocks.[3]

The lighthouse was built in 1680 and stands 74' above the ground, and 138' above mean high water; the incorporation of gun ports in the structure of the tower is an unusual feature.[2] A plaque records the original construction by Captains Hugh Hill and Simon Bayly (builders of the 1676 Lowestoft lighthouse). There were two protests against the building of the St Agnes light: officials from the Isle of Wight complained that they would lose revenue from harbour dues and victualling as shipping would prefer to use the Isles of Scilly, and the Governor of Scilly objected on the grounds that he would lose money from wrecks.[3] Earlier petitions to build a lighthouse on St Agnes (submitted by private individuals and companies in 1665 and 1679) had been refused.[2]

A rare surviving cresset (left) from the coal-fired lighthouse; now in Tresco Abbey Gardens.

The light was first lit on 30 October 1680; it was provided by coal burned within a brazier atop the tower. By 1756 the brazier was set within a lantern structure made up of 16 sash windows, roofed, with multiple chimneys.[4] The lighthouse was coal fired until 1790, when it was converted to oil: twenty-one Argand lamps with reflectors, mounted on a three-sided revolving array.[2] This 'very novel and ingenious operation' represented an innovation in optic design which was subsequently adopted in other lighthouses, including those at Cromer and Flamborough Head.[5] In 1806 the lantern structure at the top of the tower was rebuilt (as seen today)[2] to accommodate an enlarged three-sided revolving array of 30 lamps, each with a 21-inch reflector.[6]

After the completion of Bishop Rock Lighthouse in 1858, St Agnes's lost its status as a landfall light and England's westernmost lighthouse. It was, in any case, prone to fog (due not least to its inland location). In 1880 the optical equipment was upgraded:[7] it now consisted of fourteen reflectors and lamps (two-wick mineral oil burners), arranged (in two tiers, three above and four below) on opposite sides of a revolving square frame.[8] The speed of rotation was increased, to give a flash every thirty seconds (rather than, as previously, every minute).[7] In 1911 the St Agnes lighthouse was decommissioned, having been superseded by Peninnis Lighthouse (a 17-metre-tall black and white steel lattice tower situated on the southern extremity of St. Mary's island). The old lighthouse tower continues to be maintained as a daymark for shipping.

A rock formation on the southwest side of St. Agnes that looks like an elephant

Other landmarks include a standing stone known as the Nag's Head (probably a natural formation). In 1707, many of the sailors who had drowned in the great naval disaster off the Isles of Scilly were reputedly buried on the St Agnes playing field.[9]

Troytown maze

The Troytown Maze is said to have been laid out by the son of the lighthouse keeper in 1729, but may be much older. Although called a maze it is strictly a labyrinth with a convoluted path to the centre via seven rings. It is the only one outside Scandinavia made of beach pebbles, which may indicate it to be of Viking origin. References in the Norse sagas tell of raiders coming to Scilly as late as the mid-12th century. Any buried evidence of its origins may have been destroyed during an unofficial rebuild in 1988.[10]

St Agnes is visited by birdwatchers, particularly during the ″Scilly season″ of September and October. Among the many vagrant birds which have been found here around this time are the following, which were all ″firsts″ for Britain:

• Northern waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis) found at Covean on 30 September 1958 and stayed there until 12 October 1958.[19]
• Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) near Big Pool on 19 September 1962.[20]
• Blackpoll warbler (Setophaga striata) discovered in the Parsonage garden on 12 October 1968 and remained on the island until 25 October 1968.[21]
• Europe's first hooded warbler (Wilsonia citrina) at Big Pool from 21 September 1972 to 23 September.[22]
• Semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) first found at Porth Killier on 9 October 1978 and stayed around on Periglis until 9 November 1978.[23]
• Europe's first magnolia warbler (Setophaga magnolia) in Barnaby Lane on 27 and 28 September 1981.[24]
• Eastern Bonelli's warbler (Phylloscopus orientalis) in 1987.
• Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) at Wingletang Down on 7 October 1987.[25]
• Short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) in 1999.

In addition:

• a yellow-browed bunting (Emberiza chrysophrys) in 1994 was Britain's fourth.
• a cream-coloured courser (Cursorius cursor) in 2004 was the first to be seen in Britain for 20 years.[26]

Among rare vagrants recorded at other times of year are the following:

• Blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops superciliosus) on 22 June 1951; a first for Britain.[27]
• Britain's fifth and Scilly's first Balearic woodchat shrike (Lanius senator badius) at Troy Town from 21–27 April 1999. (Accepted by the BBRC)[28]
• a little bustard (Tetrax tetrax) in March 2002.
• a killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) in November 2003.