• Glens
• National Glens
• Ballaglass Glen
• Ballure Glen
• Colby Glen
• Dhoon Glen
• Elfin Glen
• Glen Helen
• Glen Maye
• Glen Mooar
• Glen Wyllin
• Groudle Glen
• Laxey Glen
• Lhergy Frissell & Claughbane
• Molly Quirk's Glen
• Port Soderick
• Silverdale Glen
• Tholt-y-Will Glen
• Tynwald Arboretum
• Private Glens
• Public Glens
• Hills & Mountains
• Islands
• Nature reserves
• Parishes
• Plantations
• Rivers
• Roads
• Towns
• Villages

Bishopscourt Glen

The Bishop's Glen is opposite the entrance to Bishopscourt, between Ballaugh and Kirk Michael. Access is by bus or car, with parking on the roadside.

Bishopscourt was once home to the Bishop of Sodor and Man. This narrow glen consists of about 14 acres and stretches for about half a mile towards the hills. It has many interesting features such as two small lakes, an artificial mound called "Mount Aeolus" with an interesting history, a cave and a carved stone seat.

Bishop Wilson described the glen in 1698 as being in a ruinous state and devoid of trees. Bishop Wilson can be credited with being one of Mann's first conservationists, planting many thousands of trees against the judgements of locals who insisted the Island was far too windy and exposed for them.

The Forestry Board purchased Bishopscourt glen in 1963 from the Hon. Dame Monica Margaret Salmond for £400.

Mount Aeolus
On the 28th February 1760, just off the coast of Ballaugh, the English Fleet was involved in a victory over the French, who were under Admiral Thurot. Thurot had been a smuggler and had intimate knowledge of the Western coast of Britain. He was commissioned by the French to attack English shipping in the Irish Sea and had command of three naval vessels. One of the French warships, "Le Marechal Belleisle" was captured and destroyed by Captain John Elliot and his Royal Navy Ship "The Aeolus". Thurot's body was washed up at Kirkmaiden on the coast of Galloway and he was buried there, but parts of the "Belleisle" were washed ashore almost at the feet of Bishop Hildesley who placed them on the mound which is on the right of the entrance to the glen and which he artificially terraced and named "Mount Aeolus" after Elliot's Ship. The remains of the Belleisle have long since rotted away and the two small cannon which had also been placed on the mound have disappeared. A stone now marks the site. Some of the Belleisle's timbers were also used in the construction of a cottage at Bride known as "Thurot's Cottage".

The Cave
The shaping of the cave of the winds and the erection of the gothic well are rightly or wrongly accredited to the wife of Bishop Murray. Local tradition has it that Bishop Murray took refuge in a rock crevice in the glen at the time of the potato (tithe) riots.

Near the cave is a stone with the inscription "Creg-yn-Ushag" (meaning rock of the bird), "lead me to the rock that is higher than I". This inscription is presumed to date from around 1880.

Guide books from the 1800's point out that the mossy seat in the cave will seat two people.

Tourists
According to the old tourist guide books, the Bishop's Glen was decorated with "neatly painted boards on which are specimens of the wit of former bishops".

Around the late 1800s it was said that an old Manx hermit lived here with only a Bible for comfort and indeed when the visitors came along to view the glen, he was always in situ, only to disappear when they had left! Some hermit. Maybe he was the same one who appeared in Glen Maye whenever there were visitors about.

Mill Pond
The ornamental mill dam once fed the old mill on the side of Bishopscourt Farm and has been home to many ducks ("with their yalla legs") and even swans. The remains of the old "double" water wheel still lie against the mill wall.

Epitaphs
The following are epitaphs, which were placed by Bishop Hill, on boards, erected in various parts of the glen to commemorate pets who sadly had departed this life.