The Tower of Refuge stands on St Mary's Rock (Conister Rock), a reef in the middle of Douglas Bay, and was built in 1832 at the instigation of Sir William Hillary, founder of the RNLI's forerunner organisation, who had personally taken part in several rescues of sailors wrecked on the rock, most dramatically the loss of the RMS St George there in November 1830. The rock had belonged to the Quane family until Attorney General John Quane presented it to Hillary so that a refuge could be built for the crews of vessels wrecked there. Designed by the architect John Welch and built for £255 (£181 raised by public subscription, the balance covered by Hillary himself), the structure consists of three linked castellated towers and remains a landmark of Douglas Bay to this day.