St Michael's Mount

St Michael's Mount (Cornish: Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning grey rock in the woodland) is a tidal island in Mount's Bay, near Penzance, in Cornwall, England. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a causeway of granite setts, passable (as is the beach) between mid-tide and low water. It is managed by the National Trust, and the castle and chapel have been the home of the St Aubyn family since around 1650. Historically, St Michael's Mount was an English counterpart of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France, which is also a tidal island; it has a similar conical shape, though Mont-Saint-Michel is much taller. It is one of 43 unbridged tidal islands accessible by foot from mainland Britain. Part of the island was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1995 for its geology. Sea height can vary by up to around 5 metres (16 ft) between low and high tide.