Where to live There’s the potential to build a hotel on Drake’s Island but, if rumours are to be believed, it already comes with some guests of its own A six-acre island off the coast of Plymouth Harbour has recently gone on the market and, as well as offering a unique development opportunity, comes with a few unexpected guests. Drake’s Island is named after Sir Francis Drake, who sailed from it when he set off to circumnavigate the globe in 1577. The island is steeped in military history and has protected Britain from French and Spanish invasion for over 400 years, evidenced by the fortifications, underground tunnels, barracks, ammunition stores and cannons that scatter its 6.
4 acres. It’s also been a religious site, a refuge and even a prison in the past. While the island might be completed surrounded by water, it’s relatively accessible, and is 600 yards from Plymouth Harbour, a short swim for a strong swimmer, or a 10-minute boat ride.
Once on the island, visitors access it via a jetty which has stairs that ascend to the elevated fortified area or, for those wanting more relaxing and less military history, apath that connects to a small private beach on the northern side. What’s more, according to the current owner, Morgan Phillips, who bought the island for £6m in 2019, the ghosts of 15 military men still haunt the island. “If you believe the mediums who come out here.
..they're all British squaddies,” he told MKFM .
“They are here to protect us. That's.