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Castle Down is a windswept plateau of maritime heath in the northern part of the island of Tresco, Isles of Scilly. The area has a number of designations including Castle Down (Tresco) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI); is part of the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; part of the Isles of Scilly Heritage Coast; and part of Plantlife's Isles of Scilly Important Plant Area. There are a number of Schedule Ancient Monument's ranging in age from Bronze Age cairns (or burial places) to castles built in the 16th and 17th centuries to protect the anchorage of New Grimsby harbour. == History == There is a long history of human habitation with 66 cairns (usually burial sites) dating to the Bronze Age. In addition, within of the southern boundary of the SSSI, there is an Iron Age field system, associated hut circles and large middens covering . The huts are to apart and have diameters ranging from to while the middens are up to long, wide and high. () The field system was reused in the 19th century. The artillery fort on the highest point of the west side of Chapel Down, and now known as King Charles's Castle (), was built between 1548 and 1554 in the reign of King Edward VI (1537–53). It was built to guard the northern, deep water approach, to New Grimsby harbour, although it proved to be badly sited to fire on ships below, or to withstand attack from the landward side. For a short time it was the main stronghold in the islands but was replaced by Star Castle on the Garrison, St Mary’s in the 1590s. It was later used as a quarry for the building of the nearby fort known as Cromwell’s Castle. The name, King Charle's, comes from the occupation by Royalist forces – the Parliamentarians took Tresco in 1651 by landing on the other side of the island.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/king-charless-castle/ )〕 In March, 1651 a Dutch fleet arrived off the islands demanding reparations from Royalist privateers. The Dutch threat was countered by Admiral Robert Blake who captured the islands from the Royalists in June. The round tower of Cromwell's Castle (), built on the site of a previous blockhouse, was completed the following year to guard the deep water approach to New Grimsby harbour. It was updated around 1740 with a platform built for cannon on the seaward side.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/cromwells-castle/ )〕 In 1652 the Parliamentary Survey of Scilly reported a row of shallow pits and spoil heaps () following, in part the line of a tin lode. The pits were mostly to deep with some shafts to . At the western end was an adit. The mining started in the 1640s and ended by 1652 and was said to be of no value. Piper’s Hole is a deep cavern reached by scrambling down the north coast cliff. The cave consists of a long boulder–filled passage leading to an underground pool. With the arrival of tourism in the 19th century a punt was kept there and was used to take tourists to the inner chamber.〔Parslow, R. (2007) ''The Isles of Scilly''. New Naturalist Library. London: HarperCollins〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Castle Down」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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