More information : (SV 90111061) The site of possibly the earliest castle on St Mary's is suggested by Borlase, who describes a round hillock called 'Mount Holles' "which seems to have had a keep on top of it". His drawing shows the site as corresponding with the mound-like feature below the Garrison walls, shown on OS 6" 1963. (Source 1) O'Neil agrees that the rocky knoll astride the road from Hugh Town to the Garrison could be a likely site for the first castle in Scilly. A declaration of Ordnance in 1554 includes one culverin and one demi-culverin on the Hugh. These heavy pieces were perhaps mounted in the work known as 'Mount Holles' or 'The Folly'. (This is not one work as implied by Saunders, but two: see SV 81 SE 42). (Source 2) "Upon Mount Holles are the remains of an old fort. Guns were formerly on it, and a watch tower on the south side, the walls of which were stripped to build the lines." (Source 3) Borlase's drawing cannot be reconciled with the conventional representation by Cosmo in 1669, and on Lilly's plan of 1715 the fortification is shown as an angular walled battery, about 20.0m long and 12.0m wide overall (see illustration with SV 91 SW 152). (Source 4) Mount Holles is now cut across by a road and though it generally appears as a rise the mound is now a terraced garden encompassed by houses. No evidence of any fortification survives. (Source 5) A reference in the October 1661 `survey of the contents of His Majesties Castles and Garrisons' makes reference to `Mout Hughes Battery'. It details an estimate to lay a new timber floor and repair the slate roof in the guardhouse; also to lay a new timber floor in the Match Room. (Source 6)
It is difficult to visualise the location of this destroyed fortification, due to extensive later re-modelling and development of the area. Thomas describes its position as due east of King George's Battery, beyond the lane, surviving as 'a feature in a private garden' (7A) but it has subsequently been built over by dense modern housing. (7)
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