Samson, Isles of Scilly

The twin hills of Samson were formerly associated with breasts, in a similar way to the Paps of Jura in Scotland and the Paps of Anu in Ireland. There are large ancient burial grounds both on the North Hill and South Hill.[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7617 Samson, South Hill Chambered Cairn]. The Megalithic Portal.[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=6333306 Samson, North Hill]. The Megalithic Portal.

The first written evidence for the habitation of Samson comes from the Interregnum Survey of 1651–52, when it was recorded that:{{Cite book |last=Cowan |first=Zelide Teague |title=The Story of Samson |publisher=Englang Publishing |year=1991 |pages=4 |language=en}}

{{blockquote|"{{Sic|the Sampsons}} have been formerly occupied by one or two tenants and divers pieces of the same enclosed & improved as Arable ground. But the houses and inclosures are now fallen downe & ruin'd since the taking of Scilley from the Enemy so that the whole Island of Sampson doth now lay wast & is a Mountainous Rocky & Rugged peece of pasture & Arable ground now used only for some Goates and Conies."}}

The two most prominent families on Samson, the Woodcocks and the Webbers, allegedly first settled Samson after they came into conflict with two other local families, the Banfields and the Mumfords, who had ordered them to leave their homes and move to Hugh Town. The Woodcocks and Webbers instead opted to move to Samson.

During the 18th century, Samson was used as an unofficial penal colony by the Council of Twelve, the local administration at the time. Local "undesirables" would be banished to the island.

The island was inhabited until 1855, when the Lord Proprietor Augustus Smith removed the remaining population from the island. By this point, the population was found to be suffering from severe deprivation—particularly due to a diet of limpets and potatoes—and consisted of only two families: the Woodcocks and the Webbers. Smith then built a deer park on the island, but the deer escaped from their stone walled enclosure, and some attempted to wade across to Tresco (at low tide).{{Cite book |last1=Larn |first1=Richard |title=Augustus John Smith: Emperor and King of Scilly |last2=Larn |first2=Bridget |publisher=Shipwreck and Marine |year=2013 |isbn=978-095239-718-2 |language=en |author-link=Richard Larn}} By the 1880s the island was grazed by cattle, sheep and rabbits.{{cite news |last1=Anon |title=A Fishy Story and Fishing |work=The Cornishman |issue=597 |date=12 December 1889 |page=4}}

In August 1933 there was a major fire, which was put out by the staff of Major Dorrien-Smith, by digging ditches to stop it spreading.{{cite news|title=Heath Fire Threatens Farm House|work=The Cornishman and Cornish Telegraph|date=14 September 1933|page=8}}

In recent times the area has become a protected wildlife site. The island is home to many different birds, such as terns and gannets, and many wild flowers. In 1971 the island, along with the nearby islands of Green Island, Puffin Island, Stony Island and White Island, was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its biological characteristics.{{cite web|title=Samson (with Green, White, Puffin and Stony Islands) |url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002012.pdf |publisher=Natural England |access-date=11 February 2012 |date=12 December 1986}}

File:Samson from Porthloo, Scilly - geograph.org.uk - 1615481.jpg|Samson from Porthloo, St Mary's

File:Remnants on Samson - geograph.org.uk - 5094329.jpg|North Hill from South Hill

File:Chambered Cairn, North Hill, Samson - geograph.org.uk - 918026.jpg|Chambered Cairn on North Hill

File:Deer Park Wall and Cottage, South Hill, Samson - geograph.org.uk - 929094.jpg|Remains of the deer park wall on South Hill

File:Old Cottage on South Hill, Samson - geograph.org.uk - 455577.jpg|Remains of Cottage on South Hill

• 1669: one family[https://web.archive.org/web/20110717083713/http://www.trailbehind.com/Samson,%20Isles%20of%20Scilly/ Samson]. TrailBehind.com.
• 1715: only three men fit to carry arms
• 1751: two households
• 1794: six households
• 1816: forty people
• 1822: seven households (thirty-four people)
• 1851: three households{{cite web | url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kayhin/51919f.html | title=1851—Transcript of Piece HO107/1919 (Part 7) | publisher=Cornwall Online Census Project (Freepages, Ancestry.com) | access-date=9 May 2012}}
• 1855: Augustus Smith removed the remaining inhabitants who consisted of two families.

Boat trips to Samson are regularly available May through to September. There is no quay, so visitors disembark via a wooden plank. The remains of the old cottages can be explored,{{cite book | url=https://www.cicerone.co.uk/walking-in-the-isles-of-scilly-2 |last1=Dillon |first1=Paddy |title=Walking in the Isles of Scilly |date=2015 |publisher=Cicerone |page=67 |access-date=20 June 2024}} and there are also the remains of Smith's deer park and prehistoric entrance graves.{{cite web | url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7617 | title=Samson, South Hill – Chambered Cairn in England in Scilly Isles | publisher = megalithic.co.uk | access-date=9 May 2012}} There are no amenities or services available, but guided walks are led by local experts.{{cite web | url=http://www.scilly.gov.uk/events/event.htm?pk_events=258 | title=Scilly Walks Visits Samson | publisher=Council of the Isles of Scilly | date=3 October 2008 | access-date=9 May 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021081346/http://www.scilly.gov.uk/events/event.htm?pk_events=258 | archive-date=21 October 2007 }}

The island is featured in the children's story Why the Whales Came by Michael Morpurgo. In the book, Samson is under a curse that needs to be lifted.[http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/book.php?id=36 Why the Whales Came] review. ReadingMatters.co.uk. The island also featured in Armorel of Lyonesse by Walter Besant.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D0CE0D8133BE533A25752C1A96E9C94619ED7CF Mr. Besant's Story.; Armorel of Lyonesse. A Romance of To-day] review. August 11, 1890. New York Times. Webber's Cottage supposedly features in that novel as Armorel's house.[http://www.iknow-cornwall.co.uk/tourist_information/west_cornwall/isles_of_scilly/tresco_annet_scilly.htm Tourist information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202122845/http://www.iknow-cornwall.co.uk/tourist_information/west_cornwall/isles_of_scilly/tresco_annet_scilly.htm|date=2009-02-02}}. iknow-cornwall.co.uk.

In some medieval versions of the Tristan and Iseult story, Tristan defeats and kills the knight Morholt, uncle of Iseult and brother-in-law of the King of Ireland, at an island called St Samson which is now identified either with the Scilly Isles Samson or with an islet in the Fowey estuary.{{cite book |last=Hammer |first=Andreas |date=2007 |title=Tradierung und Transformation: Mythische Erzählelemente im Tristan Gottfrieds von Strassburg und im Iwein Hartmanns von Aue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qq7ZAAAAMAAJ&q=samson+scilly+chretien |location=Stuttgart |publisher=S. Hirzel |page=92 |language=de |isbn=9783777615080 |access-date=29 June 2022 }}

Dougie Blaxland's play Leaving Samson (1996) is about the last inhabitants and their removal from the island.{{cite web |title=Dougie Blaxland |url=http://doollee.com/PlaywrightsB/blaxland-dougie.php |website=Doollee |access-date=11 May 2022}}

{{Portal|Cornwall}}

• List of shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly
• Breast-shaped hill

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{{Isles of Scilly}}

{{SSSIs Cornwall biological}}

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Category:Uninhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly

Category:Celtic mythology

Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the Isles of Scilly

Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971

Category:Former populated places in Cornwall