Work to strengthen mount causeway

Visitors cab cross the causeway at low tide to visit St Michael's Mount

Work is being carried out to strengthen the causeway which links St Michael's Mount to the Cornish mainland.

The National Trust said the work would include the replacement of the cobbles, on which people walk.

Recent research has revealed the causeway was only constructed on sand and shale, making it very susceptible to weathering by the sea.

The work will be done in autumn and spring over the next three years when the causeway is exposed at low tide.

Benedictine priory

Thousands of visitors use the causeway every year to explore the medieval castle and church.

Formerly a Benedictine priory, fortress and a place of pilgrimage, it became the private residence of the St Aubyn family in 1659.

In 1954, the family went into partnership with the National Trust and opened the castle and its grounds to the public.

According to legend, St Michael's Mount was built by a giant called Cormoran, who would wade ashore to snatch livestock from local farms.

When a reward was offered to kill the giant, a boy called Jack rowed over to the mount when Cormoran was sleeping.

Legend says you can hear the giant's heartbeat if you stand on the stone

Jack dug a deep pit halfway up one side, then woke the giant by blowing on a horn.

Cormoran came running down, but blinded by the rising sun he did not see the pit and fell into it.

There is a heart-shaped stone on the island at the end of the causeway and, according to legend, if you stand on it you can still hear the giant Cormoran's beating heart. This will not be replaced.

Rob Abernethy, spokesman for the National Trust and the St Aubyn family, said: "The causeway was built in the 19th Century from stones gathered from the foreshore, and recent research has shown that it was only constructed on sand and shale.

"This explains why it's so susceptible to the action of the sea and why it's vital that we act now to protect it in the long term."

Introducing a concrete base, with steel reinforcement on the branch leading to the Chapel Rock landing stage, has proved very successful and this will now be undertaken along the entire causeway.

Mr Abernethy said the causeway running across the sands from Marazion was an essential link for visitors and for the community who lived on the island and the work had been planned to cause as little disruption as possible.

"The result will be a much stronger causeway, but one which will look exactly as it does now," he said.