Once upon a time, Ballaugh was the place of the lake. That’s the story of Ballaugh, a village in the Isle of Man. Today we’re exploring Ballaholly.
Ballaugh derives its name from the Manx Balley ny Loghey. It means “the place of the lake”. All that remains of this lake is the Ballaugh Curraghs. The lake measured up to a mile in length. It was drained about 300 years ago. The excavation of the silted-up Lhen Trench did the draining. During the last ice age, this trench was a meltwater channel. It flowed north to south from the melting ice front.
Ballaugh is a small village in the parish of the same name. It is in the sheading of Michael. The parish adjoins Jurby, Lezayre, and Michael. It also borders the Irish Sea. It stretches about 5 miles from north to south. The southern end includes part of Sulby Reservoir. To the west, it includes part of Bishopscourt. That was the former house of the Island’s Bishop.
In 1819, a nearly intact skeleton of an Irish Elk was discovered. Thomas Kewish and James Taubmann found it in Ballaugh. The Ballaugh Elk is now at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. An elaborate runic cross was found in Ballaugh in 1891. It dates to the 10th century. You can view it in Ballaugh Old Church.
Until the early 1950s, Ballaugh residents used local wells. Ballaugh was only connected to the water mains then. One well was in the rear yard of Ellan Vannin. It was a former coach house with stabling. In recent years, Ballaugh has expanded. New housing estates are north of the village centre.
Ballaugh is on the main A3 Castletown to Ramsey road. It is about seven miles west of Ramsey. The road crosses Ballaugh Bridge. This hump-backed bridge is in the village. It is accessible via the A10 and A13 roads. This happens when the TT Course is closed for racing.
Ballaugh once had a railway station. It was part of the Manx Northern Railway. This railway ran between St. John’s and Ramsey. The station operated from 1879 until 1968. Since then, the station has been demolished. The tracks have been lifted. A popular walking path now follows the old railway line.
Ballaugh School is the village’s primary school. It serves children between 4 and 11 years old. Currently, the school has about 80 pupils. After year six, pupils attend either Queen Elizabeth II High School or Ramsey Grammar School.
There is one pub in Ballaugh. It’s called the “Raven”. There is also a convenience store operated by Spar. It includes a post office. A mile east of the village is the Curraghs Wildlife Park. It is in the Ballaugh Curraghs wetland. The Ramsar Convention recognizes this wetland. The park has different animal exhibits and enclosures. In the 1960s, a pair of wallabies escaped. Now, at least 160 live wild in the Manx countryside.
Ballaugh is situated on the Snaefell Mountain Course. During the annual TT and Manx Grand Prix races, the village is a favorite spot for spectators. Ballaugh Bridge, the hump-backed bridge, is located here.
St Mary’s Church is the Church of England parish church in Ballaugh. There are two churches, the old and the new. The old parish church of Ballaugh was located in The Cronk. That’s about 1.5 miles north of the current village. In 1717, Bishop Thomas Wilson added a simple baroque front. The church was lengthened. In 1830, parishioners voted to relocate the church. They wanted a new, larger church closer to the village. The foundation stone was laid a month later. The cost to build the new church was about 1,714 pounds. The new church was last renovated in 1893.
Ballaugh has had a number of Methodist chapels. Ballaugh Primitive Methodist Chapel closed in 1969 and has since been demolished. The first Ballaugh Village Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built in 1778. In 1868, a new village Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built. The first chapel became a Sunday school. In 1999, the second chapel closed. Services went back to the hall. Ballaugh New Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built in 1898. Now, it is a garage. The Curragh Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was originally built in 1815. It closed in 1971. So ends our walk through Ballaholly, a place steeped in Manx history.