Editing Looe Island (section)

==History==
[[File:Trelawny-coat-of-arms-2.gif|thumb|right|110px|Trelawny arms]]
People have been living on Looe Island since the Iron Age. Evidence of early habitation includes pieces of [[Roman Britain|Roman]] [[amphorae]] as well as stone boat anchors and Roman coins.<ref name="looe dig report">{{cite web |last1=Wessex Archaeology |title=Looe, Cornwall Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results |url=https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/sites/default/files/68734_Looe%20Cornwall.pdf |website=www.wessexarch.co.uk |publisher=Wessex Archaeology Limited |access-date=21 June 2020 |date=February 2009}}</ref> A number of late prehistoric or Romano-British finds have been made in the vicinity of the island, including a large bronze ingot found by divers south of Looe Island, which has led a number of people to suggest the island is possibly [[Ictis]], the tin trading island seen by [[Pytheas]] in the 4th century BC and recalled by Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC. A small hoard of eight late Roman coins was recovered in 2008. These coins were recovered from one of the shallow ditches forming a 'pear shaped enclosure' which encompassed the top of Looe Island and the later Christian chapel site. All eight coins date to the late 3rd or early 4th century AD.

In the [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]], the island was used a seat of early Christian settlement. The child Jesus was believed to have visited the Island with his uncle, [[Joseph of Arimathea]], who traded with the Cornish tin traders. Looe Island was already a place of pilgrimage for early Christians before the creation of this story and a small thatched roofed chapel was built there during this time.

In the later [[medieval period]], the island came under the overall control of [[Glastonbury Abbey]], with the [[Lammana Priory|Prior of Lammana]] being directly responsible for its governance; the island's chapel was under the care of two Benedictine monks until 1289 when the property was sold to a local landowner. The priory was replaced by a domestic chapel served by a secular priest<ref>Orme, Nicholas (2007) ''Cornwall and the Cross''. Chichester: Phillimore; pp. 30–31, 35, 38</ref> until the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1536 when it became property of the [[The Crown|Crown]]. From the 13th to the 16th centuries it was known as St Michael's Island but after the dissolution of the monasteries, it was rededicated in 1594 as St George's Island.<ref>[[Weatherhill, Craig]], ''Place Names in Cornwall and Scilly'', Wessex Books, 2005</ref>

Through the 17th and 18th centuries the island was used by [[smuggler]]s to avoid the British Government's revenue [[Cutter (boat)|cutter]]s out of [[Plymouth]] and [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]]. The [[Old Guildhall, Looe|Guildhall Museum]] in Looe holds information and research about the smuggling families of Looe Island and information is also available in the more recent publications about the island.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Looe |url=https://www.coastaltimetripping.com/looe |access-date=2022-05-17 |website=COASTAL TIMETRIPPING |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the Second World War, Looe Island was for a time renamed as 'H.M.S St. George', following the dropping of a probable parachute mine which resulted in a large crater in the summit. It was believed the island was mistaken for an Allied ship. The incident was recorded in ''[[The Cornish Times]]'' under the headline "H.M.S St. George. Nazi Airman's Direct Hit Off Looe – Another 'Success' for the Luftwaffe". The article continued "H.M.S St. George is still riding peacefully at her anchorage in Looe Bay, after being bombed recently by a Nazi air-raider in what would seem to have been an attempt to sink her. Although St. George has occupied the same berth for millennia, and is as well-known to inhabitants and visitors to Looe as the palms of their hands, no one has determined to what particular class of battleship she belongs, indeed all are familiar with the shapely hulk lying seaward of Hannafore as Looe Island (or, cartographically St. Georges Island)".<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Cornish Times 01/12/1940.}}</ref>

In 1965 the island was bought for £25,000 ({{Inflation|UK|25000|1965|r=-2|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) by two sisters, Babs and Evelyn Atkins.<ref>{{cite news|last=Adkins|first=Frankie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/22/you-notice-how-full-of-life-it-is-how-looe-island-became-a-wildlife-success-story-aoe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622121509/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/22/you-notice-how-full-of-life-it-is-how-looe-island-became-a-wildlife-success-story-aoe|title=Just two people – but millions of inhabitants: the tiny Cornish island where nature is thriving|date=22 June 2023|work=[[The Guardian]]|accessdate=22 June 2023|archivedate=22 June 2023}}</ref> They wrote two books chronicling their purchase and subsequent life on Looe; ''We Bought An Island''{{refn|(1976, {{ISBN|0-245-52940-3}})}} and its sequel ''Tales From Our Cornish Island''.{{refn|(1986, {{ISBN|0-245-54265-5}})}} Evelyn died in 1997 at the age of 87; Babs continued to live on the island until her death in 2004, at the age of 86. On her death, the island was bequeathed to [[Cornwall Wildlife Trust]]; it will be preserved as a [[nature reserve]] in perpetuity. Today the wardens for Cornwall Wildlife Trust live on the island and manage it for the benefit of wildlife.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/claire-lewis/looe-island-nature-highlights-winter-special|title=Looe Island Nature Highlights: Winter Special &#124; Cornwall Wildlife Trust}}</ref> The adjoining islet, formerly known as Little Island,<ref>{{citation|title=Cornwall LIII.NW & SW (includes: Duloe; Lansallos; Looe.)|publisher=[[Ordnance Survey]]|year=1908|url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/101439008}}</ref> now renamed '''Trelawny Island'''<ref>{{cite book|title=The Looe Island Story|url=https://www.polperropress.co.uk/uploads/lookinside/Looe_Island_lookinside.pdf|isbn=9780954913724|publisher=Polperro Heritage Press|year=2005|page=3}}</ref> and connected by a small bridge, was bequeathed by Miss Atkins back to the [[Trelawney Baronets|Trelawny family]], who previously owned Looe Island from 1743 to 1921.<ref>''Looe Island Then And Now'' Clarke, Carolyn United pc Verlag {{ISBN|3710310466}} p12</ref>