Royal letters patent from Henry III granting safe passage and protection to Reginald, King of Man, following his homage to the English Crown. The document is presented in both English translation and original Latin, drawn from the Manx Society's Monumenta de Insula Manniae. It establishes the feudal relationship between the English Crown and the Manx king and includes a defensive clause promising military aid against rebels.
Royal letters patent granting protection to Olaf (Olave), King of Mann, permitting him to travel to Norway under royal licence. The document is recorded in the Foedera (treaty records) under Henry III's reign. It demonstrates the diplomatic status of the Manx crown and its relationship to the English crown during the medieval period.
Royal letters patent issued by King Henry III granting protection to Olave, King of Mann, to travel to Norway with royal licence. The document includes parallel English and Latin versions, with a command to the Justice of Ireland to maintain and defend Olave. This source illuminates early medieval relations between the English Crown and the Kings of Mann, and Olave's diplomatic independence.
A 1292 legal document recording the auditors' declaration that competitors in the Scottish succession dispute (Bruce, Balliol, and others) had concluded their pleadings, allowing King Edward I to proceed to judgment. The document names Mark, Bishop of Man, as one of the witnesses/ecclesiastical advisors present at Berwick on Tweed, confirming Man's ecclesiastical connection to the Scottish crown during the medieval period.
A formal legal document from 1292 recording auditors' certification that competing claimants to the Scottish throne (Robert Bruce, John Balliol, and others) had concluded their pleadings before King Edward I at Berwick-on-Tweed, allowing the King to proceed to judgment. The document is significant for Manx history as it mentions Mark, Bishop of Man, as one of the witnesses/judicial officers present, establishing the Isle's ecclesiastical participation in major medieval British constitutional proceedings.
An archive of correspondence between Governor Edward Smith, Lt. Governor Richard Dawson, and George Aust (Westminster agent for Manx affairs) covering administrative, financial, and constitutional matters on the Isle of Man in the post-Revestment period. Topics include copper coinage, revenue accounts, water bailiff appointments, harbour management, customs duties, and interactions with the Duke of Atholl. Includes supporting documents on revenue surplus, harbour infrastructure, and Atholl's reserved rents.
Historic estate and coastal district on the southern side of Ramsey Bay.
Robertson’s survey of the principal estates of Maughold noted that Lewaigue had formerly been the chief estate in the parish, but by the end of the eighteenth century had been divided into several portions.
The shore was also considered as a possible solution to Ramsey’s poor harbour. Robertson argued that an excellent harbour could be made at Port Lewaigue by carrying a quay from the land to the Carrick, or rock, in the corner of the bay. He estimated the complete work at about £5,000 and suggested that shipowners using both channels might subscribe if government took the lead.
Lewaigue later became associated with the Christian family and with a substantial body of supernatural tradition. W. Walter Gill recorded stories of a White Lady seen on Lewaigue Bridge and around the farm. In one account she entered the house and walked upstairs in front of a woman who was so frightened that she left Lewaigue and moved to Creg-ny-Mult.
Gill connected the apparition with Christian Lewaigue. Another story placed a supernatural encounter at Dreem-y-Jeeskaig, where an evil spirit was said to have resisted several attempts to lay it until Christian Lewaigue was called. After a second encounter the spirit was not heard again, although Gill’s informants said Christian was never the same afterwards.
By 1929 proposals for expanding Ramsey’s water district included Lewaigue.
Leyton on Victoria Road is registered as an 1890s Arts and Crafts house. Beyond this register description, no further verifiable historical detail about its architect, first owner or design history could be confirmed from available sources.
Parish in the north of the Isle of Man, extending from the northern plain into the Sulby valley.
Lezayre formed part of Ayre Sheading with Andreas and Bride. The parish stretched inland from the district around Ramsey and contained the valley of the Sulby, one of the largest river systems on the Island.
The Sulby river was important enough for a new bridge to be specifically included in the eighteenth-century programme of bridge building. The Act of Tynwald of 1739, which levied a penny annually on inhabitants between sixteen and sixty for bridge repairs, listed a bridge over the Sulby in Lezayre as the first of the new bridges to be constructed.
Milntown, the principal seat of the Christian family, lay in the parish. The family produced generations of Deemsters and other officers, and William Christian, Illiam Dhone, was a younger son of Deemster Ewan Christian of Milntown.
The parish was predominantly agricultural. Its lower ground formed part of the fertile northern plain, while the upper Sulby valley ran into the central hills. The road through the valley provided one of the principal routes between Ramsey and the west.
Sulby was also a fair centre. Robertson's eighteenth-century list records two fairs there in June.
Kirk Christ Lezayre, the parish church at Churchtown, was registered as a protected building in 1991. It is the mother church of the parish of Lezayre, standing near the site of a former Cistercian priory that was once a cell of Furness Abbey; the nearby chapel of ease, St Olave's, was built in Ramsey town itself in 1861 as a more convenient place of worship for parishioners living closer to the harbour.
46 names listed; First World War.
11 names listed; Second World War.
Red sandstone cross on octagonal pillar, mounted on octagonal red sandstone bases. The sandstone is from Bankend Quarries, Cumbria. White marble plaques affixed to bases. On a ledge at the front of the pillar, there is a white marble statue of a soldier.
The Lezayre Parish War Memorial is situated at the junction of the main Ramsey to Sulby road and the Churchtown Loop Road and stands on part of the Farrant Ballakillingan estate. Records of the history of the memorial and names of all the fallen in the two world wars are lodged with the Local Authority, Lezayre Parish Commissioners and may be inspected at their office. Over a long period of years the Parish Commissioners have undertaken responsibility for the maintenance of the memorial.
The memorial was unveiled on Wednesday 23 May 1923 by the Lieutenant Governor. It was dedicated by the Lord Bishop. The unveiling of the Second World War commemorative tablets was performed on Sunday 23 September 1951 by His Excellency The Lieutenant Governor. The dedication was given by The Right Reverend The Lord Bishop. Guard of Honour by the Royal Air Force, Jurby. The memorial was designed by Ewart Crellin (1887-1950) and made by Mr Edward Christian, J.P., C.T.C. sculptor of Ramsey.
The Lezayre Parish War Memorial, standing at the junction of the Ramsey-to-Sulby road and the Churchtown Loop Road on part of the former Ballakillingan estate, commemorates 46 men of the parish who died in the First World War and a further 11 who died in the Second. It takes the form of a red sandstone cross on an octagonal pillar, built from Bankend Quarries stone with white marble plaques and a marble statue of a soldier, dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man on 23 May 1923, with the Second World War names unveiled in 1951. It was granted protected status in 2021.
A broken head of a ring cross, each face carved with interlaced celtic cross, kept in Kirk Christ Lezayre church porch. It was found in 1879. It measures 53.3 centimetres x 35.6 centimetres x 15.2 centimetres.
This fragment was found at the parish vicarage in 1879. Each face shows the remains of the head of a 'Celtic' cross within a ring. On one side, a device of four continuous triquetras occupies the centre and neck: traces of knotwork survive in the limbs. On the other side, a large central boss is decorated with a four-fold, double-beaded ring design: traces of knotwork again survive in the limbs.
