St Michael's Mount, Cornwall

St Michael's Mount, meaning "hoar rock in woodland",also known colloquially by locals as simply the Mount is a small tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water. As a tidal island it is 500 metres from the mainland.  You can walk out across the cobbled causeway or hop aboard a boat and in minutes you’ll be there.

The population of this parish in 2011 was 35. The island is a National Trust property run in partnership with the St Aubyn family who have lived there since 1659.

The earliest buildings, on the summit, date to the 12th century, the harbour is 15th century and the village and some summit buildings were rebuilt from 1860 to 1900, to give the island its current form.

We were commissioned in the Spring by Mary St Levan of the St Aubyn family to make an Oak Rockabye for her and her husband’s private garden there, which we were delighted to take on.

The fun really started for us once the Rockabye was complete and we started to organise delivery and installation.  Access to the island by vehicle is dependent on the tides, so we were to meet the Mount’s Head Gardener Lottie Allen the night before installation to transfer the bench to a Mount vehicle so that they could take it across the Causeway.  Garry Earley, the building manager, installed large granite setts bedded in cement on the site, prior to our arrival with the Rockabye.    Martin and Celia duly delivered the Rockbye into the safe hands of the Estate staff, fully expecting to help with the mammoth task of hauling it up the hill in the garden to its final resting place.

But….they walked across the Causeway the following morning, muscles at the ready, only to find the amazing Mount staff had beaten them to it, and here is the Rockabye, ready to be enjoyed by the St Aubyn Family  for many years to come.