Living on the Calf - Beaghey er y Cholloo

Evidence for the early inhabitants on the Calf includes prehistoric worked flints, Early Christian graves and defences dating from 1651-1713 such as the gun emplacement on the Burroo.

Calf Crucifixion Stone

An outstanding example of Early Christian art was found on the Calf of Man in 1773 when field walls were being built. The Calf of Man Crucifixion Stone is believed to date from around 800-850 AD and probably derives from an Early Christian chapel known as a keeill. Such chapels were often established in places which were isolated and remote. The priests who lived and worshipped here would certainly have been separated from life on the Isle of Man.

The stone, a piece of local slate, is part of the central panel of an altar frontal on which is carved in low relief a crucifixion scene portraying the still-living Christ since his eyes are open. His robed figure is flanked by the spear-bearer, who would originally have been balanced by the bearer of a sponge soaked in vinegar on the other side.

Visitors,owners and tenants

Occasional references to the Calf appear in ancient records. During Elizabethan times, an unnamed fugitive is said to have taken refuge on the Calf after having killed a woman in a fit of jealousy. In the seventeenth century, Thomas Bushell, an associate of the English Lord Chancellor Francis Bacon, hid on the Calf for three years after being accused of taking bribes in court cases and threatened with imprisonment in the Tower of London.

Over the centuries the Calf has been occupied by a series of owners and tenants, who farmed and exploited its wildlife. The strategic importance of the islet, and the value of the Manx Shearwaters on it, were such that in the period of the Norse Kingship it is likely to have remained in royal hands. From the 15th century it is believed to have been held by the Stevenson family, being taken back in 1644 by James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby when defences were being prepared against the Parliamentary forces. After the Restoration, the Lords of Mann retained the islet until the Duke and Duchess of Atholl granted a lease to John Quayle in 1773 and he was the first tenant to be able to make use of the island for agriculture. The Calf then passed to the British Crown in 1828 and was subsequently sold to William Leece Drinkwater in 1832. Through his descendants it finally reached the Cary family of Castletown. From 1909 to 1932 the Maddrell family lived on the Calf.

In 1937, F.J. Dickens bought the Calf from Joshua Popplewell and gave it to the National Trust. From 1951 the land was leased to the Manx National Trust, until ownership was transferred to the Trust in 1986; the Calf now forms part of the lands administered by Manx National Heritage.

Buildings

The buildings on the Calf include the two 1818 lighthouses and their smithy; the newer lighthouse built in 1968, the derelict cottage known as Jane’s House and the 1878 farmhouse (now the Bird Observatory) with its farm yard, water mill and silo.

Farming

A boat from either Port Erin or Port St Mary was used to transport sheep to and from the Island. Sheep have been grazed on the Calf from an early date and a small flock of Manx Loaghtan sheep now grazes there. Manx National Heritage has preserved this breed since the 1950s. ‘Loaghtan’ means ‘mouse brown’ and described the colour of its fleece. Both rams and ewes are horned, rams having four or even six horns.

Cow Harbour can be seen just across the Sound. When the island was farmed, cattle were swum across to the harbour at slack water, when the currents were least dangerous. They were fastened to a rowing boat by a rope from the stern to their horns, in order to guide them safely to the landing. Other harbours on the Calf are Grant’s, Cary’s and South Harbour.

Several attempts to establish red deer on the Calf of Man were not successful.

Traces of old-style cultivation in the form of "lazy beds" exist near South Harbour and on the bend of the track between Gibdale and Cow Harbour.

Please see the Visitor Information page for details of opening hours.