St Martin's
St Martin's is one of the five inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago lying approximately 28 miles southwest of Land's End in Cornwall, England. It is the third largest of the islands and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful, boasting some of the finest beaches in the British Isles. The island stretches roughly two miles in length and is home to a small, close-knit community of around 100 to 130 permanent residents. It is a place of extraordinary natural beauty, unhurried pace, and genuine remoteness, attracting visitors who come seeking pristine beaches, wildflower meadows, clear turquoise waters, and a rare sense of escape from modern life.
The human history of St Martin's stretches back thousands of years, with evidence of Bronze Age settlement across the island. Ancient burial cairns and field systems speak to a landscape that has been shaped by human hands since prehistoric times. The island's name is derived from its medieval chapel dedicated to St Martin of Tours, a French bishop whose cult spread widely through early Christian Britain. For centuries the islanders subsisted through fishing, farming, and the hazardous trade of pilotage, guiding ships through the treacherous rocks that surround the archipelago. Wrecking — the salvaging of goods from ships driven onto the rocks — also formed an uncomfortable part of the island's economic life during difficult centuries.
Physically, St Martin's divides broadly between Higher Town and Lower Town, the two principal settlements, with a scattering of farms and cottages across its gentle hills. The landscape is remarkably open, with low-growing vegetation shaped by the Atlantic winds. The famous flower fields, where daffodils and other early spring blooms are cultivated commercially, add vivid colour to the island in late winter and early spring. The coastline alternates between dramatic granite outcrops and sweeping arcs of pale shell-sand beach, most notably the celebrated Par Beach and Great Bay, whose shallow, turquoise waters are genuinely tropical in appearance on a clear summer's day.
The surrounding seascape is spectacular. Looking out from St Martin's on a clear day you can see the neighbouring islands of Tresco, Bryher, and St Mary's, as well as the Eastern Isles — a scattering of uninhabited rocks and islets just to the south and east that form an important nature reserve and seal-watching destination. The waters between the islands are rich in marine life, including grey seals, dolphins, basking sharks, and a wealth of seabirds including puffins, shearwaters, and gannets. The island's wildflower meadows and hedgerows support rare insects and birds rarely found on the British mainland.
Visiting St Martin's requires planning and a spirit of adventure. The standard route is to fly or take the passenger ferry to St Mary's, the main island of the archipelago, from Penzance or from Land's End Airport. From St Mary's, an inter-island boat service operates to St Martin's, with the journey taking roughly twenty to thirty minutes depending on conditions. There is no car ferry; the island is explored entirely on foot or by bicycle. Accommodation is limited and books up well in advance, especially for the summer months between June and September. The season effectively runs from Easter through October, with most facilities closed in winter.
One of the island's most enchanting and little-known features is its remarkable clarity of light and air, something that has long attracted artists and photographers. The absence of light pollution makes the night sky on St Martin's spectacular, and the island has a growing reputation as a dark-sky destination. The island also has a small but acclaimed vineyard, the St Martin's Vineyard, which produces white wine from vines planted in the sheltered south-facing slopes — one of the most southwesterly and unusual wine-producing sites in the United Kingdom. The combination of mild winters, Atlantic breezes, and exceptional growing conditions in the Scilly microclimate makes this a genuinely surprising enterprise.
The island retains a character that feels entirely its own — neither a manicured heritage attraction nor a forgotten backwater, but a living community shaped by the sea and the seasons. The pub, the island shop, the small bakery, and the handful of guesthouses and self-catering cottages form the social fabric of a place where everyone knows everyone and visitors are welcomed with unaffected warmth. There is something quietly profound about spending time on St Martin's: the rhythms of the tides, the ferry schedule, the light changing over the water at evening, and the sound of the wind through the bracken all conspire to slow the mind in ways that are genuinely rare.