Jurby

Parish of Jurby
Details
Area: 18.1 km²
Population: 797 (census 2011-03-27/28)
Sheading: Michael
Parish Church: Kirk Patrick
Industry: Agriculture

Jurby (Manx: Jourbee) is a parish in Michael Sheading in the Isle of Man and has 659 residents, according to the 2006 census, (2001 census 677). The parish is one of three divisions of the sheading of Michael. The other two are Ballaugh and Michael.

It is largely an agricultural district on the north-north-western coast of the island but also has an industrial park on the old RAF Jurby Airfield.

Subdivision

Jurby is subdivided into five treens:[1]

  1. Sertfell
  2. Knoksewell
  3. Dalyott
  4. Slekby
  5. Le Soulby

Landmarks

Airfield

Jurby Airfield was originally used as a Royal Air Force training base in World War II. During the 1950s it was used as a training camp for Officer cadets on short term commissions in the RAF. The course lasted 3 months. Part is now used as an industrial and retail estate. The old runways and taxiways now form the Jurby motorcycle race track.

The grassland surrounding the airfield harbours a fine range of wildflowers, as the land has never been ploughed. Skylarks can be heard in summer when there are no races on.

Museums

A museum dedicated to transport in the Island, the Jurby Transport Museum, is housed in an old aircraft hangar.

Another museum nearby, the Isle of Man Motor Museum, was officially opened by the Lieutenant Governor on 22 May, 2015.[2][3]

Church

A tiny 8th century chapel dedicated to St Cecilia (the patron saint of music), was Jurby's first recorded church. St Cecilia's Day on 22 November was the parish festival day. There are several Viking carved crosses and gravestones within the church. Medieval objects have occasionally been excavated when new graves were prepared in the church grounds.

In medieval times the church was part of the Whithorn diocese in SW Scotland. This caused some political trouble when the English and Scots were at war; the Bishop invited the Scottish clergy of Jurby to visit him and was criticised by English authorities for fraternising with the enemy.

The present Jurby Church (St Patrick's) was built during the war with help of RAF Jurby. There are a number of war graves, for British, Commonwealth and Polish servicemen. They died mostly from aircraft training accidents.

The Church is set on a headland on the coast and there are dramatic South views to Peel, North to Scotland, and inland across the rural North of the Island, towards the hills. There are also fine sunsets towards Ireland.

Prison

The Isle of Man Prison operated by the Isle of Man Prison Service is located at Jurby.

See also

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ isle-of-man.com: Treens and Quarterlands
  2. ↑ "Motor museum opens its doors". IOM Today. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Father and son open Isle of Man Motor Museum in Jurby". BBC News. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jurby.

Coordinates: 54°21′09″N 4°30′29″W / 54.35250°N 4.50806°W / 54.35250; -4.50806

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, September 29, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.