Towers....

[curiouswombat]

I put this post together for photo_scavenger, but then thought to share it here too.

This small building is known as The Tower of Refuge;



And here it is by day;



For a little of the history of both building and name

As you can see the tower stands on a small rock.

It is clearer in this one, that it is not very far from the town of Douglas - and that the rock is submeged when the tide is in.



Now imagine the rock without the tower, the tide as it is in that third picture, the weather as it is in the middle one - and no sheltering harbour wall.

Under those conditions, many boats and ships foundered on the Conister Rock over the years - and even though the people of Douglas could often hear their cries as the ship broke up and they were unable to get to the shore. Eventually Sir William Hilary (he of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution) who lived for some years in Douglas in a house very near where I took that third picture, decided that if a stone sheltering building stood on the rock, with the means to light a fire, and a stock of food and drinking water, in the upper room, then anyone who was shipwrecked there could wait out the storm until rescue came. He contributed most of the money himself, the rest was raised by public subscription, and in 1832 the Tower was complete.

It didn't really need to look like a small castle - but why not?

Of course, fewer ships ran aground on the rock once it was easier to see where it was - with it now having a small castle on it - but as you can see from this picture from the Wiki Commons of the sailing ship Progress, they still did at times.





I have no idea whether the crew/passengers of Progress needed to make use of the tower, or not.






And then I remembered that I'd actually taken another picture especially for the prompt earlier in the week when I was in Ramsey. And so, especially for Tolkien fans, I give you








Those two towers are actually not on the same structure - the one with the red stripe is on the southern stone pier - which you can see clearly, but the second is at the end of the northern equivalent, with the harbour entrance between them.

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

I wonder if your city leaders realize that you are a treasure? I'm certainly wanting to visit, and I bet I'm not the only one!

They should pay you something. Doncha think?

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all those photos :-)

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Neat bit of history and pretty pics, thanks!

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

The tower on the rock looks very nice. :)
And yes, you make a great advertisement for your island. ;)

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

There's a castle very similar to that in the bay at St Aubin, Jersey. I think it's bigger, but the impression is very similar. I don't know if it's an island thing or a bay thing, but for an inlander like me, it's intriguing!

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

What a lovely little mini-castle. Thank you for the history behind it as well. Without kn owing that one would think it were much older.

You know that we WILL visit one day.
:)

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

So it served, more or less, as a type of lighthouse for the sailors. Interesting and much prettier than most lighthouses.

Thanks for that.

[empresspatti.livejournal.com]

You live in the most remarkably beautiful place.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

The two towers! Brilliant!

There are two farms across the road from each other, each with a tall silo, that I call the Two Towers. I'd love to photograph them but unfortunately there's not a safe place to pull over for a quick snap.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing; it seems like I learn something every time you post one of these!

[lindi.livejournal.com]

Lovely pics, the first pic looks like something from LOTR
xx

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

The Tower of Refuge looks sooooooooo charming sitting on top of that small rock surrounded by water like that!

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Wonderful pictures, as always. *laughs at the two towers*

The story about the building of the Tower of Refuge reminds me of a similar story about the islands in the Great Barrier Reef. The British Navy planted coconut trees and released goats on the larger ones, so that ship-wrecked sailors would have something to eat until they were rescued.