Castle Down

Castle Down is a windswept plateau of maritime heath in the northern part of the island of Tresco, Isles of Scilly. The area has a number of designations including Castle Down Site of Special Scientific Interest; is part of the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; part of the Isles of Scilly Heritage Coast; and part of Plantlife's Isles of Scilly Important Plant Area.

Photo: John Rostron, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Places of Interest Nearby

Highlights include Cromwell’s Castle and King Charles’s Castle.

Cromwell’s Castle

Castle

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.

Cromwell's Castle is an artillery fort overlooking New Grimsby harbour on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. It comprises a tall, circular gun tower and an adjacent gun platform, and was designed to prevent enemy naval vessels from entering the harbour. Cromwell’s Castle is situated 1,300 feet west of Castle Down.

King Charles’s Castle

Ruins

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.

King Charles's Castle is a ruined artillery fort overlooking New Grimsby harbour on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. Built between 1548 and 1551 to protect the islands from French attack, it would have held a battery of guns and an accompanying garrison, designed to prevent enemy vessels from entering the harbour. King Charles’s Castle is situated 1,100 feet west of Castle Down.

Northwethel

Islet

Photo: Richard Croft, CC BY-SA 2.0.

St Helen's is one of the fifty or so uninhabited islands in the archipelago of the Isles of Scilly and has an approximate area of 0.1885 square kilometres.

Places in the Area

Nearby places include Piper’s Hole and Old Grimsby.

Piper’s Hole

Locality

Photo: Simon Leatherdale, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Piper's Hole is a sea cave located on Tresco, an island of the Isles of Scilly. The name Piper's Hole can also refer to another, more minor, sea cave in the Isles of Scilly, located on Penninis Head, St Mary's.

Old Grimsby

Village

Photo: David Lally, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Old Grimsby is a coastal settlement on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, England. It is located on the east side of the island and there is a quay.

New Grimsby

Village

Photo: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Grimsby is a coastal settlement on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, England. It is located on the west side of the island and there is a quay, as well as a public house, The New Inn, and a small art gallery.

Castle Down

Type: Castle
Description: plateau on Tresco, in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England
Categories: plateau, tourist attraction, and tourism
Location: Tresco, Isles of Scilly, West Country, England, United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland, Europe
View on OpenStreetMap

Latitude

49.96318° or 49° 57′ 47″ north

Longitude

-6.34419° or 6° 20′ 39″ west

Elevation

112 feet (34 metres)

Open location code

8CXMXM74+78

GeoNames ID

6285798

Wikidata ID

Q5050061

This page is based on GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia.

We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Castle Down from above in high-definition satellite imagery.

In Other Languages

From Cebuano to Swedish—“Castle Down” goes by many names.

Cebuano: “Castle Down”
Swedish: “Castle Down”

Places with the Same Name

Discover other places named “Castle Down”.

Localities in the Area

Explore places such as Gimble Point and Dolphin Town.

Nearby Places

Explore places such as Beef Neck and Tresco Abbey Garden.

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