Chapel of St Michael, St Michael's Mount, Cornwall

Pilgrim routes aplenty find focus at this singular rocky landmark, including the 125-mileCornish Celtic Way and a one-day route fittingly called St Michael’s Way

Highlights

• Vision of St Michael the Archangel
• Scene of miracles and pilgrimage
• Former monastery

St. Michael the Archangel is said to have been revealed here to a group of Cornish fishermen in 495. Such angelic appearances are rare in Britain, and the site was afterwards said to be the scene of miracles. A monastery was built in due course and it became one of Cornwall’s most visited holy places.

The monastery was converted into a castle in 1425 and is now run by the National Trust. The Mount has become a busy tourist attraction, and its spiritual significance is not immediately obvious. However, there is a chapel in the castle that still holds services, and you can still visit the clifftop where the Archangel appeared.

The first part of the rocky path up to the castle is known as the Pilgrims’ Steps, a steep walk to the top of the 91m summit. Just before you enter the castle, there are some battlements on the right overlooking the sea with a row of cannons. The furthest battlement is known as St Michael’s Chair, a rocky cliff edge where the apparition was seen.

A more recent story claims that the ‘chair’ is the highest turret of the castle, though it was obviously built hundreds of years after the apparition. A related tradition says that the first one of a newlywed couple to sit in the chair will have the upper hand in marriage – an enchantment also told of St Keyne’s Well.

Given its prominence, it is safe to assume that the Mount had some sort of religious community during the early Celtic era. Whether this was a hermitage or a monastery, we do not know.

The first concrete evidence of religious activity dates from 1044 when St. Edward the Confessor gave the Mount to its French counterpart Mont Saint-Michel, a Benedictine monastic order. As a foreign-owned religious house, the monastery was closed during the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.

The church is in the middle of the castle complex. You need to enter the National Trust property if you want to visit it. The church building is mostly 14th century, and on our visit was much less busy than the rest of the castle.

St. Michael appears in the Bible as the agent of good, fighting Satan and his demons, often depicted with a sword. He is therefore a suitable patron saint for places which were converted from paganism to Christianity, representing the vanquishing of dark forces.

Directions

Car park at the start of the causeway: Kings Road, Marazion TR17 0EN

www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk

www.nationaltrust.org.uk (search for Michael’s Mount)

W3W: exhales.trackers.blues

GPS: 50.1163N 5.4789W

St Michael’s Mount becomes an island at high tides when small boats run regular shuttle services to and from it. At low tide, you can walk over the causeway or sands. The castle and its church are open six days a week (not Saturdays), from late March to the end of October, 10:30 am–5 pm (10 am–5:30 pm in July and August). For more information and ticket prices see the National Trust website or call 01736 710265. Church services are held at 11:15 am on Sundays from spring to the end of September.