History & Haunting of: Looe Island (St. Georgies Island) ,Cornwall, England ,U.K St Georges Island, and historically St Michaels Island is a small island a mile from the mainland town of Looe in Cornwall An eerie ghost story is told by an old dressmaker who visited the island in 1850 and stayed overnight while working. The story was told in full by local author Elizabeth Shapcott in 1928. The story tells that a local dressmaker was called to the island to work and stay overnight with the couple who were currently living there. The husband was called to the mainland for business and was unable to return until the next morning, when he did he was met by the dressmaker who was desperately trying to escape the island. Blue Ghost According to the old lady, the evening before she had been sitting upon the seat at the top of the island sewing when she had an awful feeling she was being watched, that someone was standing directly behind her,she had heard noises, felt hair raising prickles on the back of her neck and became awfully paranoid about her surroundings, so she returned to the house and brought the young couples infant back to the top of the hill with her for company. The rest of the day moved on without incident, happy with her work she retired to the house for the night, on her walk down she felt the same uneasy feeling that someone was watching her from the top of the hill and she hurried indoors. About 9pm that night they retired, both sleeping in the same bed and the children in a cot in the same room. After sleeping soundly for some hours she was awakened suddenly - she heard no noise, but sleep entirely left her. The room had one door, beside the bed, nor was there any cupboard or recess, just plain walls, yet she stared around the room feeling something was out of place. Gradually, opposite the bed a bluish light appeared and a figure of a man emerged out of the wall, a very tall, aristocratic looking man with gray hair and very beautiful hands with long fingers (she remembered and noted this detail in particular). He slowly crossed the room, the bluish light surrounding him like a haze, and in the next few steps he disappeared through the opposite wall. She was almost paralyzed with fright and lay awake until the dawn broke. At dawn she got dressed and after finding everything apparently in order left in a hurry. Stories previous to the old dressmakers and many following it have told of seeing a bluish light flickering in intervals on the island, although no other account of seeing the ghost has been recorded. Some years after the event a skeleton was dug up quite close to the seat on top of the hill, it was found to be that of a tall man with very long fingers. No record has been found to explain who the remains once were or why the body was laid to rest here..... Due to the islands obvious connections with piracy and smuggling many people believe that the sightings and stories of past are more than simply myths; but may in fact be hoaxs and clever ruses put together to discourage people from visiting the island and uncovering its secrets. One ghost legend is that of a black man, seen wondering the island with blood covering his face. The sighting has been reported many times by different observers. Its it thought that he may have been a smuggler who was attacked and killed in a fight, possibly over withholding contraband or an argument over pay. theoldbridgehousehotel.co.uk/looe/looe-island/ The Team descend on a tiny Cornish island that legend says was once visited by Jesus Christ VIDEO HERE > https://youtube/watch?v=X5PdeyBZ7lw People have been living on Looe Island since the Iron Age. Evidence of early habitation includes pieces of Roman amphora as well as stone boat anchors and Roman coins. In the Dark Ages, the island was used a seat of early Christian settlement. The child Jesus was believed to have visited the Island with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, who traded with the Cornish tin traders. Therefore Looe Island became a place of pilgrimage for early Christians and a small thatched roofed chapel was built there during this time. In the later Medieval period, the island came under the control of Glastonbury Abbey. Lammana Priory was a priory on the mainland directly aligned to a small chapel on the Island consisting of two Benedictine monks until 1289 when the property was sold to a local landowner. The priory was replaced by a chapel served by a secular priest until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 when it became property of the Crown. From the 13th to the 16th centuries the island was known as St Michaels Island. After 1584 it became known as St Georges Island. Through the 17th and 18th centuries the island was a popular haunt for smugglers avoiding the British governments revenue cutters out of Plymouth and Falmouth. The Old Guildhall Museum in Looe hold information and research about the smuggling families of Looe Island and information is also available the more recent publications about the island. In the 20th century, Looe island was owned (and inhabited) by two sisters, Babs and Evelyn Atkins, who wrote two books: We Bought An Island .They chronicle the purchase of the island and what it was like to live there. Evelyn died in 1997 at the age of 87; Babs continued to live on the island until her death in 2004, at the age of 86. On her death, the island was bequeathed to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust; it will be preserved as a nature reserve in perpetuity. en.wikipedia.org/ Photo 1 by photofilecornwall.co.uk- Photo 2 3 & 4 by St Kilda alifetimeofislands.blogspot.co.uk/On the top of the highest point on the island (45 metres) there are a very few remains of St Michael’s Chapel. Photo 3 by St Kilda Babs Atkins grave in a peaceful spot on Looe Island. Photo 4 by St Kilda Smugglers Cottage
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:11:20 +0000
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