St Michael's Mount

About St Michael's Mount

Rising from the waters of Mount's Bay on a great granite crag, St Michael's Mount is arguably the most recognisable landmark in Cornwall — part castle, part island, part legend. At high tide it stands cut off from the mainland, a striking silhouette against the sky; at low tide, a cobbled causeway opens up, letting visitors walk across just as pilgrims have for centuries.

The island offers sweeping panoramic views across the bay to Land's End and the Lizard Peninsula, a small working harbour lined with cottages, shops and a café, and a spectacular castle rising above sub-tropical terraced gardens. It's genuinely a full day out — history, folklore, gardens, coastline and castle all packed onto one small tidal island.

Legends of the Mount

St Michael's Mount is as rich in folklore as it is in history. Local legend holds that the island was built by the giant Cormoran, who would wade ashore to steal cattle and sheep from farms around Marazion. According to the tale, a local boy — later known as Jack the Giant Killer — dug a deep pit on the Mount's northern slope while the giant slept, then lured Cormoran down the hillside at dawn. Dazzled by the low morning sun, the giant tumbled into the pit and was killed, and the boy became a local hero. The well said to mark the spot is still visible today, beside the main pathway up from the harbour.

The Mount also has a place in Arthurian and Celtic legend, appearing in tellings of Tristan and Isolde as the location where clothes were bought for Queen Isolde, and it's believed to be the "guarded Mount" referenced in Milton's poem Lycidas. Its religious significance dates back further still: Cornish legend holds that St Michael the Archangel appeared to fishermen on the Mount's western rocks in 495 AD, giving the island its name and its long association with pilgrimage.

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History

St Michael's Mount's history stretches back to the Iron Age, when it's believed to have served as a trading post — possibly the island of "Ictis" described by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus, where Cornish tin was carried out across the causeway at low tide to waiting merchants.

In 1044, Edward the Confessor granted the Mount to the Benedictine Abbey of Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, drawing on the striking resemblance between the two tidal islands. A priory was established on the Mount in 1135. Its dramatic, defensible position later saw it pressed into military use more than once — seized during the 12th century while Richard I was away on Crusade, fortified during the Wars of the Roses and the Cornish Rebellion, and held briefly by Royalist forces during the English Civil War before surrendering to Parliamentarian troops in 1646.

Sir John St Aubyn bought St Michael's Mount in 1660, beginning three centuries of peaceful private ownership. What had originally been an occasional summer residence became a permanent family home in the 18th century, when the St Aubyns added a new wing with Georgian and Victorian interiors — fine plasterwork, period furniture and notable art and armour collections. In 1954, the 3rd Lord St Levan gave St Michael's Mount to the National Trust, together with an endowment; the St Aubyn family retain a long lease and continue to live in the castle today.

Visiting Information

Tide times, opening days, admission prices and boat availability change daily and seasonally — always confirm details on the official St Michael's Mount website before setting out.