Castletown (, pronounced ) is a town in the Isle of Man, geographically within the historical parish of Malew but administered separately. Lying at the south of the island, it was the Manx capital until 1869. The centre of town is dominated by Castle Rushen, a well-preserved medieval castle, originally built for a Viking king.

History

Castletown is the former capital of the Isle of Man and site of the Tynwald, and can trace its roots back to 1090. The town has narrow streets and small fishing cottages. Castle Rushen (at the centre of the town) was originally built in 1265 for a Norse king, then fortified and added to by successive rulers between the 13th and 16th centuries. The castle has been used as a fortress, a residence for the Kings and Lords of Mann, the site of a mint and even a prison (past prisoners include a bishop and two newspaper editors). The town and castle were the site of a number of sieges and battles, especially during the years when control of the island passed between the Norse, Scots and English. Robert the Bruce laid siege to and captured the castle three times.

The history of the town and island is illustrated in four Manx National Heritage sites in the centre of Castletown: Castle Rushen, the Nautical Museum (in the secret passage-filled home of inventor, politician, banker and probable smuggler George Quayle), the Old Grammar School (originally a church from 1200 AD) and the Old House of Keys.

Fishing boats still go out to fish from the harbour. Commercial traffic to the port ended in the 1970s, although there has been an ongoing expansion of financial and industrial businesses in the area. The first telephones on the Isle of Man appeared in Castletown in 1901.

Castletown Civic Centre opened in 1989.

Politics Castletown is, along with Peel, Ramsey, and formerly Douglas (now designated a city) one of four town local authorities. They were all designated as towns by the Town Act 1852. Castletown became a local authority in 1883.

Until 2016 Castletown was also a House of Keys constituency, electing one Member of the House of Keys (MHK). The town's representative for 30 years until 2011 was Tony Brown, who was the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man after the 2006 Manx general election. He retired in 2011 and was replaced as MHK for Castletown by Richard Ronan. Since 2016 Castletown has been part of the Arbory, Castletown & Malew constituency.

In 1874, the House of Keys moved from Castletown to Douglas.

Demographics The Isle of Man Census 2011 lists the town's population as 3,097 (2006: 3,109) It is the fourth largest town on the island, after Douglas, Ramsey and Peel, but is also smaller than Onchan and Port Erin, which have the status of villages.

Geography and geology

The town lies on the northwest side of Castletown Bay. The opposite shore of the bay is the west coast of the distinctively-shaped Langness Peninsula. To the north-east are Ronaldsway Airport and industrial zone, and the village of Ballasalla; to the north-west the villages of Ballabeg and Colby; and to the west Port St Mary and Port Erin.

The older parts of the town are largely built of local grey limestone. At , a short distance to the south of the town, there are the remains of an ancient volcano and various other features such as fossils and thick sheets of limestone.

Transport Roads

The A3 road connects Castletown with Ramsey via St John's, while the A5 road (also known as New Castletown Road as opposed to the Old Castletown Road which takes a more rural route nearer the coast) connects the town with Douglas to the north-east and Port Erin to the west. The A25 road was the historical route to Douglas and is now bypassed by the A5. There are free electric car charging stations available in a car park in the centre of the town. The town has several car parks including one above the harbour close to the old school house, to the rear of the Castle Arms and off Victoria Road as well as dedicated parking for the local bank, supermarkets and the railway station.

Buses

Bus services operate through the town to Douglas, Port St Mary and Port Erin using route numbers 1, 2, 11 and 12; these run about every twenty minutes on weekdays and Saturdays with a less frequent service at weekends and after 6.00 pm. Some of these services (1c and 11b) do not run through the town but use the bypass road. These routes are the island's busiest, in part because they also serve Ronaldsway Airport just outside the town. A late evening service also operates on Friday and Saturday evenings, called the Hullad Oie (Night Owl), which charges premium fare rates. There are also occasional buses to Peel (Service No. 8) via Foxdale; all these buses are within the island's transport network Bus Vannin, a government-run service which replaced the railway-operated Isle of Man Road Services in 1976.

Railway

The town is also served by Castletown railway station, on the sole remaining section of the Isle of Man Railway, a narrow gauge steam-operated railway which now runs 15 miles from Douglas to Port Erin. The railway station is on the northeasterly edge of the town next to Poulsom Park and playing fields, and was at one time used to transport beer from the Castletown Brewery as well as cattle and other livestock; remnants of the cattle dock are still visible at the railway station, which is open seasonally between March and November as well as at weekends around Christmas; there is a small volunteer group, the Friends of Castletown Railway Station, who tend to the area in association with the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association, a local charity.

Air

The island's only commercial airport, Ronaldsway Airport, is 2 km (just over one mile) northeast of the town and is served by both Bus Vannin and Castletown railway station as well as local taxi services. There is a closer railway station, small request stop at Ronaldsway Halt. The airport runways and aprons spread over the area to the edge of the grounds of King William's College and close to the Janet's Corner local authority housing estate. The airport was first used as an airfield in 1928, with passenger services to the United Kingdom commencing in 1933. Commissioned as HMS Urley (Manx for Eagle) by the Admiralty in June 1944, with accounts handled by HMS Valkyrie, flying recommenced on 15 July 1944. The terminal building was significantly modified, reopening in its present form in 2000.

Footpaths

The southern end of the Millennium Way long-distance footpath is at Castletown close to the entrance to Poulsom Park and is signposted to that effect near Alexander Bridge beside the roundabout for the bypass road. The Raad ny Foillan ("way of the gull") long distance coastal footpath, opened in 1986 which was designated as Heritage Year on the island, and runs along the coast in the town. It is 102 miles (164 km) in length and forms a complete loop around the coast, waymarked with signs showing a gull on a blue background. Shorter paths around the town included a dedicated surfaced path around the perimeter of Poulsom Park and a trail between the town and Scarlett Point which is part of the coastal footpath and serves the visitor centre there.

Education

Private King William's College is a private school. Founded in 1668 with funds from the Bishop Barrow Trust, it opened in 1833 with 46 boys. It is now co-educational, with about 500 pupils. The college has two sites in the town: the main estate is near the shore of Castletown Bay at the end of the main airport runway, and the Buchan School, the college's junior school, is in the Westhill area of Castletown, about from the main campus.

Secondary Castle Rushen High School, a co-educational secondary state school in the south-west of the town

Primary There is one primary school located in the town, Victoria Road School, which originally opened as a boys' school in 1895, with a girls' school in Hope Street. The old grammar school in the town, which later became a chapel, is now an exhibit of a Victorian period schoolroom, part of the Story of Mann. This is open to the public between Easter and November and can be found close to the castle and the Old House of Keys.

Churches

Church of England On the town square is Old St Mary's Church, the original parish and garrison church, which is now office accommodation. It once had a spire, but this was lost in the early 1900s.

The new St Mary's Church is located on the harbour. It was consecrated in 1985 when the congregation moved from the Garrison (Old St Mary's) Church in Castletown Square. The new church can be found in Hope Street, to the side of Thirtle Bridge. Known as St Mary's on the Harbour, it is the parish church of Castletown.

Malew Church is located about one mile north of the town on the A3 road towards St John's, a road which forms part of the Billown Circuit. The church's name is derived from its original dedication to the early Celtic saint, Saint Moluag, who is said to have converted the Picts to Christianity in the west of Scotland. Malew Church has its own graveyard, unlike the churches in the town; the minor bend around the church grounds has the title Church Bends on the racing circuit.

St Thomas' chapel is the school chapel at King William's College, and was built in 1878, and consecrated on 28 January 1879. Designed by local architect James Cowle, it features a scissor-braced roof, canopied stalls, wall paintings, and stained glass windows. Windows commemorate T. E. Brown, an old boy of the college. The chapel is staffed by a Church of England priest who is employed by the college and licensed by the Bishop of Sodor and Man.Chapel outlined, with pictures, at the College website .

Catholic St Mary's Roman Catholic Church is on Bowling Green Road, near Janet's Corner. It was built in the 1820s; it was the first post-Reformation Catholic Church to be built on the island. It is the third church in the town to be dedicated to St Mary the Virgin ("Our Lady of Rushen"). It has two intricate and colourful Celtic Revival/Art Nouveau windows, which depict the Annunciation and the Resurrection. These were made by the Clarke Brothers of Dublin.

Methodist Castletown Methodist Church on Arbory Street, founded in 1932, is part of the Methodist Church in the Isle of Man, which in turn is part of the British Methodist Connexion. It can trace its history back to the visits of the founder of Methodism John Wesley to the town in the 18th century. It is sometimes known locally as Arbory Street, formerly to distinguish it from the Malew Street chapel when the former was the Wesleyan Methodist and the latter the Primitive Methodist Chapel.

Sport

Football Castletown Metropolitan F.C. play in the Isle of Man Football League and are based at the Castletown Football Stadium, Malew Road. Formed in 1904, the club is one of the most successful on the Isle of Man. They have been champions of the Isle of Man League eight times, including three consecutive seasons from 1922–23 to 1924-25 and won the Manx F.A. Cup seven times.

Rugby There are two Rugby Union football clubs in the town; both play in the Manx Shield:

Castletown R.U.F.C. are based at Poulsom Park. The club now has permanent changing facilities. These were officially opened in October 2006 and built with the support of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), Manx Lottery Trust, Manx Sports Council, Castletown Commissioners and the members of the team. With the newly formed Castletown Rugby Union Football Club Limited, the club has secured the tenure on the pitch at Poulsom Park, having taken on a lease from the Castletown Commissioners.

Southern Nomads R.U.F.C. are based at King William's College.

Cricket Castletown cricket club is based at King William's College and is a member of the Isle of Man Cricket Association.

Golf