Peel Castle, PeelLeaving Tynwald Hill we were waiting for our next bus to take us onwards to Peel. A sidestreet had another bus and we noticed a bus there so rushed across.
It was a short ride to Peel as we were already on the outskirts. It was built up in Victorian times from the style of houses. The original settlement is the Castle on its own partial island.
The bus lets off at St Germain's church across from the Town Hall. It was Sunday service and we could hear the bells ringing.
The grounds are also interesting as there are many historical features incorporated.
Making our way the seafront we could see the imposing Castle and had beautiful clear weather. We had decided not to go inside as entrance is 9 pounds and it is just ruins. There is a viewing hill from which you can see a span of the castle.
Nearby is the House of Manannan Museum. When we went to buy tickets she explained there was a pass for 30 pounds which includes entrance to Peel Castle as well as Laxey Wheel and Castle Rushen which we planned to visit in Castletown tomorrow. The pass actually saved money and was valid for 14 days had we planned a longer trip.
There are more sites to visit had we had extra days so it really worth it. Later we tried to research these sites but many are not accessible by bus and you would need a car or more time which we did not have.
The House of Manannan told Manx history from Viking settlers upto the Victorian tourism boom. It was the crossroads of all the adjacent territories (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, as well as Viking sailings)
There is a large Viking ship which forms a sculpture outside the museum where sailors are pulling the ship with ropes
Since we had the pass we went back to Peel Castle. It was quick to explore on foot but maybe not worth a single ticket had we not had the pass.
Again we had perfect weather for scenic shots. The ground was very spongy from all the rabbit holes, though we did not see any peek out.
See also Vlog (9 mins) - https://youtu.be/LR0186l-8hs
2025-05-22