Archaeology

Items

Union Mills
Modern mineral spring. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 marks the site of a spring, together with the annotation, 'Chalybeate Spring'. The spring, a source of naturally occuring iron-rich water, was publicised in the 19th century, but was covered over by the construction of the railway line between Douglas and Peel, which opened in 1873.
Union Mills
Modern watermill. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 depicts a watermill at this location, annotated as 'Union Mills (Corn & Woollen)'. The mill complex as shown is extensive, and most of the building is still standing, though altered and in multiple occupation as a series of workshops. The mill at the north end of the complex, closest to the main road, was partially demolished to improve road safety, but part of the wall still extends eastwards from behind the bus stop. This appears to have been the corn mill, whilst the buildings to the south are the textile mills which eventually extended over the overflow leat.
Union Mills
Modern watermill. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 depicts a watermill at this location, annotated as 'Union Mills (Corn & Woollen)'. The mill at the north end of the complex, closest to the main road, served as the corn mill. It was partially demolished to improve road safety, but part of the wall still extends eastwards from behind the bus stop.
Union Mills
Modern watermill. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 depicts a watermill at this location, annotated as 'Union Mills (Corn & Woollen)'. The southern part of the complex was the woollen mill. This is still standing, though altered and in multiple occupation as a series of workshops. The complex was eventually extended over the overflow leat.
Union Mills
Modern mill leat. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 depicts a mill leat at this location, annotated as 'Mill Lade'. The leat is led off from the River Dhoo at SC3483577650 and extends for 570m; there is no sluice shown governing the inflow. The lower part of the leat, closer to the mill, is up to 11m wide, showing that it was, in effect, a linear millpond. The original course of the leat is still traceable today. Drainage is maintained by a ditch cut to the south of the course of the leat, which eventually joins the former overflow sluice and exits under the workshops and into the river close to the main road bridge. The grid reference is located at the midpoint of the mill leat for indicative purposes.
Union Mills
Modern overflow leat. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 depicts an overflow leat, presumably governed by a sluice, leading from the main leat under the textile mill and exiting into the river close to the main road bridge. The grid reference is located at the midpoint of the overflow leat for indicative purposes, at a point where it is joined by a modern drainage ditch.
Union Mills Burial Ground
The findspot of a small stone disc found 'in a lintel grave at union mills' given to the museum by William Cubbon in 1924. It may indicate the presence of an otherwise unidentified burial ground here.
Union Mills Methodist Chapel War Memorial (IOM_NIWM_BRA_00011)
Painted on glass, five segments divided by lead strips (similar to a stained glass window). Held together in a wooden frame. Segments 4 and 5 list eight names with details of regiment or ship.
Union Mills Mineral Water Factory
The site of a 19th century mineral water factory.
Upper Colby River Flax Mill
This has been identified as the site of a flax mill. Some stones have been noted in the area, but it is not known whether they are the remains of the mill or of another structure.
Upper Glen Rushen Flint Scatter
The findspot of a Mesolithic or Neolithic flint scatter.
Upper Glen Rushen Flint Scatter
The findspot of a Mesolithic or Neolithic flint scatter.
Upper Glen Rushen Flint Scatter
The findspot of a Mesolithic or Neolithic flint scatter.
Upper Glen Rushen Shieling Mounds
Three shieling mounds of probable medieval date which are shown on a distribution map produced by Gelling. They may be associated with a shieling noted near SC 23557500.
Upper Glen Rushen Shieling Mounds
A scattered group of fourteen shieling mounds is shown at this location on Gelling's distribution map. It is an accessible site, situated on the east side of the Glen Rushen river, immediately to the south of the bridge on the road from the Round Table to Dalby. A few mounds can be clearly seen from the road, and there are a number more which are further away and rather less conspicuous. Long parallel banks which represent the marks of cultivation can also be seen at this location.
Upper Grangey Horsewalk
The site of a post-medieval horse engine.
Upper Howe Horsewalk
Modern horsewalk. The Ordnance Survey First Edition 1:2500 map of 1868 shows a horsewalk at this location. The structure no longer survives.
Upper Lighthouse, Calf of Man
Lighthouse. This lighthouse, together with its twin nearby, was built in 1818 for the Northern Lighthouse Board to the designs of Robert Stevenson, one of the Board's most famous engineers. The two lighthouses worked in tandem, indicating to passing ships if they were in danger of colliding with the Chicken Rock nearly 2km to the south. The Stevenson lighthouses were replaced by a lighthouse on the Chicken Rock itself in 1875, after several difficult years of construction. More recently a modern light, warning of the dangers of the Calf of Man itself rather than the sinister reef to the south, was installed close to the old Stevenson towers in 1967, but this was decommissioned in 2007 as unnecessary in the modern age of satellite-enabled navigation and global positioning. The Chicken light was upgraded at the same time so that its light is visible from a distance of 21 miles. In common with many of the NLB's installations, each lighthouse was attached to a keeper's house, with adjoining garden and other basic facilities. The buildings are now maintained as nesting sites for birdlife in keeping with the status of the Calf of Man as a nature reserve and bird observatory.
Upper Sartfell Shieling Mounds
Three medieval shieling mounds were identified in this area by P.S. Gelling. They were associated with a small, sub-rectangular enclosure.
Vaaish
Prehistoric flint scatter. A single worked prehistoric flint was recovered from Vaaish by CH Cowley, from 'Craine's'. Two farmsteads called Ballavaish stand within a short distance of each other. It is not clear which of them was occupied by the Craine family at the time Cowley collected his finds. The grid reference relates to a point midway between the two farms for indicative purposes only. The antiquary Charles Harry Cowley was an avid collector of worked flint and coarse stone artefacts revealed by agricultural activity, mainly on farms located around Peel, and occasionally from further afield. He was active from 1900 until 1943. His entire collection of artefacts, together with a daybook cataloguing his discoveries, was later donated to Manx National Heritage.
Vaaish Flint Site
C H Cowley recovered flints from the Vaaish on several occasions, including a number of pieces of Neolithic Ronaldsway type.  Garrad (1978) draws specific attention to an unidentified location on the Vaaish, abbreviated to "A'ngh".  The name 'Aitnagh' appears elsewhere within Cowley's daybook and may refer to the same locality. In the absence of further detail, the grid reference provided is centred on the Vaaish for indicative purposes only.
Victoria Cottage
A post-medieval house in Laxey.
Victoria Road House, Douglas
Victoria Road House is a two storey building is constructed of masonry walls, cement rendered, with a slate covered hipped roof over a basically rectangular plan form. The house is set in a large urban garden with views across Douglas Bay contained by a high cement rendered elevation carried the full two storey height to the eaves whose soffit is decorated with rather widely spaced mouldings. A 'heavy' porch marks the main entrance in advance of the projecting panel and columns. No interior inspection has been carried out. masonry wall only punctuated at the front entrance. The general facade is marred by a poorly detailed garage addition at the front to Victoria Road. There are pilaster columns at the corners and on either side of the entrance projection in the front elevation carried the full two storey height to the eaves whose soffit is decorated with rather widely spaced mouldings. A 'heavy' porch marks the main entrance in advance of the projecting panel and columns. No interior inspection has been carried out. The house appears to be in a poor state of repair. There are no immediately commending aspects to the property and no information of historic significance has been forthcoming.
Villa Marina
The Villa Marina complex consists of the octagonal Royal Hall, the arcade and the enclosed gardens and ancilliary buildings. The main entertainment Hall is a plain octagonal brick structure the equivalent of three storeys high with a tiled roof with a small cupola on top. The arcade consists of a long single storey concrete covered walk along a considerable portion of which are small shops paralleling the walkway culminating with a twin row of small shops at right angles to Marina Road at the southern end fronting onto a covered pedestrian arcade. The fenestration of the structure is open sided toward the sea, the roof acting as an elevated promenade from the enclosed gardens the concrete tiled balustrade to which is on top of the twin supporting doric-type columns at pavement level which are periodically reinforced by enlarged rectangular abuttments. The gardens themselves are intensively landscaped and include the provision of recreational and entertainment not facilities for the public. No detailed interior inspection has been made. The complex is important in terms of 'townscape' in that it provides the break in an otherwise continuous succession of tourist accommodation along the promenades of Douglas. Thus there is relief in terms of scale by means of the long single storey covered walk which also enables visual relief by allowing green foliage to be seen on the landward side.