Port St Mary

Port St Mary (Manx: Purt le Moirrey). The village takes its name from the former Chapel of St Mary (Manx: Keeill Moirrey) which is thought to have overlooked Chapel Bay in the village. It is a coastal village in the south of the Isle of Man. Its population is 1,913 according to the 2006 census.

Geography and communications

Port St Mary is located on the south-western part of the island with Port Erin located nearby. A railway station lies just north of the main part of the village, one of the stops on the surviving section of the Isle of Man Railway between Douglas and Port Erin. Steam trains operate on the line several times a day during the summer season, and stop at Port St Mary. The village is served by Bus Vannin services to Port Erin, Castletown, Douglas and Onchan.

Recreation

Once a major fishing and trading port, the village is still popular with tourists and fishermen, especially during the summer. The inner harbour, with its pier created in 1812 [1], is tidal and dries out from half-tide. The outer harbour, created when the Alfred Pier was built in 1882 [2], is accessible at all tide states - unique amongst the Manx ports. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has had a lifeboat and station in Port St Mary since 1896. The current lifeboat, the Gough Ritchie II, lies to a permanent floating mooring inside the outer breakwater.

The village is home to the Port St Mary Golf Links, the Island's sole 9-hole golf course, and also Scoill Phurt le Moirrey, a primary school opened in 1993-1994. The Isle of Man Yacht club is also based at Port St Mary harbour.

Chapel Bay, a sandy beach in the upper part of the village is used for recreation and bathing in the summer months.

Churches and other notable buildings

Port St Mary Town Hall is an imposing stone building situated on the village's Victorian promenade at the upper end of the village and houses local government offices and a tourist information point. The hall itself is currently awaiting restoration. The building is thought to stand on the site of the original Keeill Moirrey.

The Anglican St Mary's Church lies in the centre of the village and is a chapel of ease dedicated to Mary of Nazareth lying in the parish of Rushen and diocese of Sodor and Man.

Just north of St Mary's is the Port St Mary site of the Living Hope Community Church (formerly known as Port St Mary Baptist Church). The current church building was built in the early 2000s on the site of the former Port St Mary Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, which was completed in 1895, closed in 1970 and was demolished in 2000.^[1]

In the lower part of the village, near the port, lies the current Port St Mary Methodist Chapel, built in 1903 as a Primitive Methodist chapel and known as Mount Tabor. Another smaller former Wesleyan chapel, on the High Street, opened in 1835 and was demolished in the 1970s, with the village's garden of remembrance and war memorial occupying the site.

Port St Mary is served by St Columba's Catholic Church, which lies just outside the village and which is shared with Port Erin. It is a chapel of ease in the parish of St Mary's with St Columba's in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

There are two pubs in the main part of Port St Mary, the Albert and the Bay View Hotel, which has recently been refurbished. The Station Hotel, which lies adjacent to Port St Mary railway station outside the main village, is now a gastropub.

Local government

Port St Mary became a village district for local government purposes in 1890, for which Port St Mary Commissioners are responsible. The local government district lies adjacent to the village district of Port Erin and the parish of Rushen.

Famous residents

• Quintin Gill MHK (born 1959), Politician and Member of the House of Keys.
• Juan Watterson MHK (born 1980), Politician and Member of the House of Keys.
• Mollie Sugden (1922–2009), Actress lived here for several years before returning to the United Kingdom.

References

External links

• Information about Port St Mary
• Multimap
• Isle of Man Yacht Club