Hango Hill

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Open access all year round with no admission fee; donations to Manx National Heritage welcome. English Heritage membership is not needed here.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Parking is in a lay-by right alongside The Promenade next to Hango Hill, with room for three to four cars; if it is full there is a small car park another 150 m along The Promenade on the right-hand side. Neither the MNH page nor the access guide gives a tariff or says the parking is free, and no Isle of Man Government source was consulted, so the status is recorded as unknown. There is a steep kerb between the lay-by and the mound.

Driving pin: the Google listing 'Hango Hill' (54.076667, -4.638333), which matches the Wikidata position; the MNH access guide's map reference SC 2760 6780 and a second Google listing sit about 130 m further east along the same road. From Castletown Square (about five minutes): Victoria Road (A5), right at the roundabout towards Ballasalla and Douglas, past the railway station and garage, bear right at the second roundabout onto Shore Road, after 180 m left onto The Promenade, and Hango Hill is on the right after about 500 m. From Douglas (25 to 30 minutes): A5 past the airport and King William's College, left at the roundabout onto Shore Road, then as above.

By bus: Douglas to Castletown routes 1, 1A, 2, 2A, 11, 12 and 12A (35 to 40 minutes from Douglas, about 25 from Port Erin); alight at the Janet's Corner housing estate, use the pelican crossing, walk to the roundabout, bear left for 180 m, turn left and follow The Promenade for 500 m.

About

Hango Hill is a grassy mound on the shore road between Castletown and Derbyhaven. It began as a Bronze Age burial mound; the sea has eaten away much of it, exposing Bronze Age and later Christian burials, and finds including a Bronze Age axe head are in the Manx Museum. The broken walls on top belong to a post-medieval summerhouse, and the mound later served as a gun battery during and after the War of the Spanish Succession. It is best known as the execution place of Illiam Dhone, William Christian, who negotiated the Island's surrender to Parliament in 1651 and was shot here after the Restoration, a traitor to the Derby family and a patriot to the Manx nationalists who gather here each year. Cared for by Manx National Heritage, the site is open ground with a railing along the shore. Reviewers find it atmospheric, even spooky, with views over the beach and out to sea. One tip: mind the steep kerb between the lay-by and the mound.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Hango HillSee opening notes

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open access; the site is available to visit all year round with no admission fee. Donations to Manx National Heritage are welcome. The land is not owned by MNH and visits are at your own risk.

No toilets or visitor facilities. The site is open ground with a railing along the shoreline to prevent falls; from the lay-by the way onto the mound is obvious, but watch for the steep kerb beside the road. Vehicular access to the roadside only.

Hango Hill hosts an annual nationalist gathering commemorating Illiam Dhone.

Observe the Isle of Man Country Code: wear stout footwear and be prepared for changes in weather.

Photo: the ruined summerhouse walls on Hango Hill seen from the east, with the plaque, the shore railing and the beach curving towards Castletown. Otter, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isle_of_Man_-_Hango_Hill_20240222_seen_from_the_east.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.