In the windswept wilderness of Druidale sits a lone roofless house with a tragic past.
If you leave the Mountain Road on to Beinn-y-Phott Road and then turn off onto Druidale Road, you head into the heart of the Manx landscape.
Snaefell can be seen in the distance while Slieu Freoaghane looms over. As your travel along the lane you come to a dip and just above is the mysterious Montpelier House.
It is not quite your typical rustic-looking tholtan with many of the walls still rendered. But that grey exterior provides an ominous look as it perches on the slope a short distance from Montpelier Woods.
I decided to visit the intriguing building which still remained in use up until the 1960s when it was used as a summer camp by scouts and students.
The entrance to Montpelier House (Media IoM)
After parking up in the dip, I walked up the hill and arrived at the spot. Perhaps aptly, there is a sign for Montpelier in the shape of a gravestone.
I clambered over a stile and walked over to the building. It is little more than a shell now with no roof, windows or fittings.
But the structure itself still looks sturdy enough. Nature has taken over in many ways, but the layout is still distinct with fireplaces and chimneys in situ.
You can peer through the glassless windows to get a fine view of Snaefell in the distance.
Snaefell visible through the glassless window of Montpelier House (Media IoM)
There are still signs which show the building had two storeys. There are bits of metal strewn around but I had no idea what they once were.
I then stumbled on a rather bizarre sight. Placed in the corner was a doll-sized skeleton dressed in some kind of ball gown, perhaps to make it look like some kind of sinister mermaid.
It was both disturbing and amusing in equal measure. I visited in mid-November so it could have been some Halloween prank.
There was some kind of room at the back, but the walls have all but disappeared.
A doll-size toy skeleton left in the fireplace of Montpelier House by a prankster (Media IoM)
There is also an outbuilding that appears to have been a toilet. Running water in the countryside was not available back when Montpelier was at its pomp.
The surrounding land was purchase by Sam Brooke and used as a hill farm known as Druidale.
His son John emigrated to Australia in the 1850s. But, on his return, he married and established a family and taking over Druidale, his father Sam having moved to Ballacoraige, Ballaugh. John later moved to Cronk Ould farm outside Ballaugh.
John built Montpelier House and later he became an MHK. He used to travel to the House of Keys in Castletown on horseback and he would need to leave the evening before to get there on time. The house was incorporated into the Druidale Estate in 1950.
It is still possible to get a sense of the layout of Montpelier House (Media IoM)
There is a macabre history linked to the house at the surrounding area.
One of the last dwellers was shepherd Norman Beaver – a successful sheepdog trialler – who died here in a snowstorm in 1938 aged 49 years.
He suffered from appendicitis, and no one could get to him in time. When they arrived, he was already dead and had to be removed by a sled. He was later buried in Kirk Michael.
Montpelier House at Druidale (Media IoM)
Ash trees surround the property which were thought to ward off evil spirits, but it did not appear to be that effective.
The Druidale area was where the body of Corinne Bentley was disposed of in the early 1990s after she was killed by Tony Teare with a Stanley knife. He sentenced to hang – the last person in the island to receive such a punishment. However the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment with a minimum 12-year term.
Regardless of the area’s dark history, it remains a beautiful and atmospheric spot.
Sadly, I visited shortly before the sun was going down so I did not get the chance to wander through Montpelier Woods which look stunning so I will have to make a return trip soon.
One of the fireplaces at Montpelier House (Media IoM)