A red-and-white striped tower called the Daymark marks the highest point on St Martin’s, built in 1683 to help ships get their bearings among the rocks offshore. Around 135 people live on the island, spread between Higher Town, Middle Town and Lower Town; Higher Town has the island’s shop, a bakery and a small vineyard, the most south-westerly in England. Boats from St Mary’s land at Higher Town quay, or at Lower Town when the tide is low. The beach at Great Bay is one of the best in Scilly, a long curve of white sand with the Eastern Isles beyond, where boat trips go to watch grey seals hauled out on the rocks. At the north end, a stony causeway crosses to White Island at low tide, and at the south end, Chapel Down has a scatter of Bronze Age cairns, stone burial mounds, on its heath.
