In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hugh Town like this:
HUGH-TOWN, the capital of the Scilly Isles; on a sandy isthmus of St. Mary's Island, between St. Mary's Pool and Port Cressa. The peninsula running out from the isthmus rises to an elevation of 110 feet; has the kind of character designated by the Celtic word "heugh;'' and probably gave rise to the name Hugh-Town. ...
The town has a crooked main street of stone houses; an excellent harbour in the Pool; a pier 430 feet long, reconstructed in 1835-8; two good inus; and a church built in 1835, in the pointed style, with a tower, and with memorials of those who perished in the wreck of three men of war, in Oct. 1707, under Sir Cloudesley Shovel. A previous church stood ½ a mile distant; is now partly a ruin; yet is still used for the burial service. The Star Castle, a fortress erected in the time of Elizabeth, and probably taking its name from a star like saliency of its eight angles, crowns the neighbouring peninsula; and the garrison, with batteries, park, and promenade, is in the vicinity of the castle. A telegraph to Land's End was laid in Sept. 1869. Pop., 1,532. Houses, 282.
Hugh Town through time
Hugh Town is now part of Isles of Scilly district. Click here for graphs and data of how Isles of Scilly has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Hugh Town itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Hugh Town, in Isles of Scilly and Cornwall | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20956
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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