St Martin's Isles of Scilly
Stunning flowers from a stunning location
St Martin's is one of the smaller islands that make up the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall. The islands enjoy a frost free climate and are home to a host of exotic plants, colonies of seabirds and rare marine life. In recognition of its special qualities, the Isles of Scilly was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1975 and is protected as a National Landscape.
Our farm
Churchtown Farm is in the main settlement on St Martin's, Highertown. As the name suggests is right next to the Church but we have land dotted across the whole island. There has been a working flower farm at Churchtown for well over 100 years. Tucked behind the tall hedges, that protect the farm from Atlantic gales, is a hive of activity sending gift boxes of island grown scented flowers all over the country.
Enjoy a virtual tour of St Martin's
St Martin's is 2 miles long, about 1/4 mile wide and has a resident population of about 130. The one surfaced road runs from Hightown Quay to Lowertown Quay and there are plenty of footpaths that crisscross the island. The biggest attraction on St Martin's is the stunning scenery, particularly the many white sandy beaches dotted all around the coast. From Easter to October the island welcomes people coming on holiday to enjoy island life but even in the height of summer the island rarely feels crowded.
LIFE ON A SMALL ISLAND
People are often intrigued by day to to island life. We've tried to answer the most commonly asked questions.
FOOD, UTILITIES & FUEL
There is a well stocked general store and post office, a bakery and plenty of produce sold from honesty stalls. Many people place orders online from the Co-op on St Mary’s that are shipped to St Martin's on a Friday. Obviously food with a longer shelf life can be ordered online and shipped from the mainland.
Our electricity comes from the mainland, as well as quite a lot of roof top solar panels. Water comes from a mixture of private wells and a small water system managed by South West Water.
Fuel for vehicles, like anything else we use, comes in by freight boat and has to be collected from one of the two quays.
SCHOOL, HEALTH & EMERGENCY SERVICES
Island children go to the small two room primary school on St Martin’s. Weather permitting, once a week the primary aged children travel to St Mary's to do subjects better taught in larger groups such as sport and music. For secondary school they weekly board on St Mary’s until yr 11 after which most travel to the mainland to finish their education.
The doctor visits once a week and there is a small hospital and dentists on St Mary’s. For more complex medical treatment people travel to hospitals in Devon and Cornwall.
The island has a fire brigade, a coastguard team and ambulance first responders. We even have our own island barber.
THE UNEXPECTED
Our little island home has a few surprises tucked away. The Isles of Scilly enjoys amazing dark skies. To make the most of this a group of islanders have built an observatory and they hold regular events to share their fascination with the stars.
The uninhabited islands to the East of St Martin's are home to a large colony of Atlantic grey seals. During the summer you can take a guided trip to go snorkelling with seals. This is an amazing chance to interact with these curious marine mammals. In the winter we are often visited by whales, which can be regularly spotted from the North side of the island.
Other little treasures are the a vineyard and rum distillery, both of which do tours but make sure to check the times of these before you arrive.
SPORTS
St Martin's has a tennis court, an island sports hall with a gym, a cricket green and a couple of gigs - traditional 6 oared rowing boats. We are quite a sporty lot, unsurprisingly quite a lot of time is spent on and in the water and the hall is used for a wide range of activities. In the summer each Island, often with the help of visitors, musters a cricket team for a series of matches. But the sport that Scilly is most famous for is gig rowing. Over the first May bank holiday every year the Islands host the World Pilot Gig Championships. Hundreds of crews come for a weekend of racing and fun. To find out more about this spectacle click here. Throughout the summer the island gigs competed in series of weekly races. St Martin's has two gigs the Dolphin and the Galatea so you know who to cheer for!
WHAT'S IT LIKE IN THE WINTER?
Quiet! There are only one or two boats left on their moorings and none on the beach. The shop is closed in the afternoons and the pub is open at most one evening a week. In the winter, because there are no visitors, quite a few people have more time on their hands so there tend to be more community events - island quiz nights are popular. At Churchtown Farm our winters are really busy with the winter scented narcissi season. We do 20% of our annual business in the 2 weeks before Christmas, things calm down little in January but then Valentines' and Mothers' Day see a spike in flowers orders.
The Day Mark
At the far east of St Martin’s is what looks like a giant red and white rocket. This iconic St Martin’s landmark was built as a navigational mark to help ships avoid the treacherous rocks that lie north and east of St Martin’s. Although ships now have many navigational aids it is still maintained as a shipping mark by Trinity House.
Dotted across St Martin’s is evidence of those who have lived here before us, from ancient burial sites to the relatively modern remains of old glass houses that were used to force early daffodils. The flower farms no longer use additional heat, having found varieties of scented narcissi that flourish outdoors from October to Easter.
We have put together a collection of our favourite videos featuring the Isles of Scilly for you to enjoy.
Our community website
St Martins' residents are a talented lot. There are a number of artists and small businesses you can discover via our community run a website - stmartinsscilly.co.uk. The website is also a great place to start if you want to find out more about St Martin’s or are thinking about planning a visit.