Tower of Refuge
From ManxWiki
The Tower of Refuge is a stone sanctuary in the design of a 13th Centuary castle built upon Conister Rock near the entrance to Douglas Harbour in 1832. The driving force for the construction of the tower was Douglas resident, Sir William Hillary, founder of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
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History
William Hillary moved to the island in 1804 and lived at Fort Anne which was located on the hillside overlooking the entrance of Douglas Harbour. From his window he was able to see boats struggle to reach the harbour during storms. At high tide Conister Rocks were submerged and ships often ran aground on them.
By 1824 Hillary had come up with the idea of forming a crew of lifeboat men who would be prepared to row out and rescue shipwrecked sailors, the idea that led to the founding of what we now know as the RNLI.
Although Hillary was unable to swim himself, he took part in the rescues and in 1830, following the wreck of the St. George, he urged that a lighthouse or some kind of sanctuary should be built, but the Harbour Commissioners at the time refused to do anything as the islet was in private ownership. Undeterred Hillary launched a public appeal to raise the money needed to build a shelter, and with the help of a number of donations the cost of £254:12s was met, of which Hillary paid over £80.00.
Designed by architect John Welsh the two storey tower was built in 1832 and once completed was stocked with food and water and ready to offer shelter to those who needed it until such a time that a safe rescue could be carried out.
Since the tower was built there have been no further wrecks on the rocks.
The name 'Tower of Refuge' came from a poem by William Wordsworth when he wrote:
"Blest work it is of love and innocence,Spare it ye waves, and lift the mariner
- A Tower of Refuge built for the else forlorn,
- struggling for life, into its saving arms."
Renovation
Following inspections of the tower that found it suffering from years of abuse from the weather and tides, the Department of Transport have undertaken a programme of repair consisting of cleaning up and repointing the stonework.
To aid access to the tower a causeway was constructed that can be used at low tide and a concrete jetty has also been added for when the tide is in.
Visiting the Tower
Prior to the renovations it was possible to walk out to the tower at very low tides using the sewage outfall pipe that passes close to the rocks. The building of the causeway has made it much easier to walk out although there have been a number of occasions when the Coastguard have had to assist people back to the shore who were not watching the incoming tide well enough. The tower is accessible at all tide times using small craft although there isn't a mooring point.
The tower consists of an open archway with steps leading up to an elevated balcony and a doorway into the tower. Inside is a staircase that leads to an upper level. There is evidence in the inner walls where timber joists once supported the upper floor/roof from where mariners could ring a bell to summon help.
