MOC: The Tower of Refuge (micro scale MOC)

[greg3]

Not sure if this the right place to post this... please move it if it not.

The Tower of Refuge sits on Conister Rock (also known as St Mary's Isle) a rocky reef near the entrance to Douglas Harbour in the Isle of Man. It was the brainchild of Sir William Hillary who had helped establish the first organised and trained lifeboat service in 1824 (later to be known as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution). In 1830, a ship called the St George struck Conister rock during a fierce storm and Hillary (now aged about 60) took command of the Douglas lifeboat in the rescue of the crew. During the rescue he was swept overboard and had to cling to the rock until he could be picked up, along with all the St George's crew and passengers. Following this, Sir William proposed the building of a structure on the rock to act as a warning and to provide shelter for shipwreck survivors awaiting rescue. The tower was completed in 1832, and cost £254 (a combination of public donations and Hillary's own money). It was designed by John Welch and was stocked with food and water to allow shipwrecked sailors to sit out even the worst storm (a bell allowed them to summon help).

Since its construction, no ship has been wrecked on the rock (which now lies much closer to land following development of the harbour and seafront) At low spring tides the rock and tower can be reached by foot but at high tide the rock is completely submerged and just the tower can be seen.

The tower got its name after William Wordsworth wrote a poem about it during a visit to the Isle of Man...

The feudal Keep, the bastions of Cohorn.

Even when they rose to cheek or to repel

Tides of aggressive war, oft served as well

Greedy ambition, armed to treat with scorn

Just limits; but yon Tower, whose smiles adorn

This perilous bay, stands clear of all offence;

Blest work it is of love and innocence,

A Tower of refuge built for the else forlorn.

Spare it, ye waves, and lift the mariner,

Struggling for life., into its saving arms!

Spare, too, the human helpers! Do they stir

'Mid your fierce shook like men afraid to die?

No; their dread service nerves the heart it warms,

And they are led by noble HILLARY

The model itself is my first attempt at a micro scale building (building in this scale was harder than I thought!) I'm pretty pleased with tower itself but I'm still experimenting with the sea (want to make a stormy version!!)

Ref pic (taken from my window earlier this week)

Thanks for looking!

Edited May 26, 2012 by Rufus
Indexed

[Rufus]

Wow, that's tiny. I mean the real thing is tiny! But kudos to you for cramming so much detail into a micro-scale MOC.

I like how you've made the triangle shape with minimal gaps!