The Parade

Named "The Parade" because it is said to have been used as a training ground for soldiers garrisoned at Castletown, the area in front of you has had a varied past.

This was a prehistoric settlement located for safety on a promontory. Naturally protected on three sides by cliffs and by the fast flowing waters of the Sound, only the approach from land was vulnerable. To block off that neck of land, the people who lived here dug ditches and mounded the earth up into ramparts. These formed protective and defensive banks of earth, some of which were faced with stone.

Three banks were constructed with a narrow entrance route through the middle. Over the centuries the banks have collapsed and the ditches have begun to fill up leaving the rounded earthworks you see here.

When a cafe was built here over a hundred years ago, it cut into the ramparts and caused considerable damage to the archaeological site. The cafe was demolished and following investigation by archaeologists, the banks have been carefully restored to their 19th century appearance.

The area has long been a place for recreation. During the early 20th century, the Parade was used by local residents for egg rolling races at Easter. These eggs were hard boiled in water with gorse flowers to give them a rich yellow or yellow-brown colour.