Today we visited St Michael's Mount, built on a small Island just off Penzance and separated from the shore by a causeway accessible only at low tide.
An apparition of the Archangel St Michael is said to have been witnessed by fisherman in 495 and by the sixth century AD it's thought that the Mount was a thriving religious centre. After the Norman Conquest, the abbey was granted to the Benedictine monks of Mont St Michel in France.It became a site of pilgrimage.
The Mount was taken by force in 1193 and became a feudal home. In 1588 the first beacon was lit here to warn of the Spanish Armada. Unlike Kingston Lacy it withstood the attacks of Oliver Cromwell's army. It later passed into the hands of the St Aubyn family who still live here, though the property is now owned by the National Trust.
In the 15th Century the mount was granted to nearby monastery Syon Abbey.who sent three priests here to run services. Sunday services are still run in the church during Summer.

Library

Dining Room

St Michael and All Angels Church

 In the evening we went to the local outdoor theatre, the Minack Theatre, where teh Surrey Opera Company were performing Tosca. The theatre is an amphitheatre set into the cliff, with seating on terraces up the hillside. The performance was excellent. Both the orchestra and the cast were top rate and the weather was dry, though cloudy and not too cool.

Minack Theatre