The ‘British Alcatraz’ didn’t become a prison — it was turned into a unique private island bolthole, and now it’s up for sale
Do you have a huge pile of unread books next to your bed? You almost certainly do, because as a visitor to the Country Life website, you’re fairly likely to love reading. And everyone — everyone — who loves reading also loves acquiring new books to read at slightly faster rate than they finish the ones they already have.
As a kid, this means a book or two hanging around. As an adult, your backlog will reach double figures, then multliple dozens, and — if left unchecked — can head into the hundreds, and beyond. At one point the pile of books on my bedside table grew so tall that it began to lean towards the sun, like a particularly large skyscraper. When it became an undeniable health hazard, some went to the charity shop (heartbreaking), some went into the back of a wardrobe (almost as bad). Not the bookshelves, of course, because they were already full-to-bursting.
The only real answer, I used to think, would be a stint in a high-security prison where there was no work, no recreation, nothing at all to do except to read. Six months would probably do the trick, but probably best to pencil in a year, and I reckon I could get through the lot before starting a new life unencumbered by everything I hadn’t yet got round to.
Now, though, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t need a stint in prison; all I need is £3 million to buy Thorne Island, in the waters off the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast.
Thorne Island isn’t a prison, and never has been, even though it looks like the British equivalent to Alcatraz — but the reason they look so similar is that both were military forts built in the 1850s.
Thorne Island was one of many sea forts built in the 1850s and 1860s by Lord Palmerston.
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It was only in 1933 that Alcatraz was bought by the United States Department of Justice for use as a Federal penitentiary. A year earlier, in 1932, Thorne Island had been bought at auction for just £90, as reported by Country Life, by Miss A.W.M. Pearson, who turned it into a hotel.
The Thorne Island Hotel was successful enough to keep it running for half a century, but the Pearsons sold it in 1989 and things started to go wrong. By 2000 it had began to fall into disrepair.
Thorne Island as it appeared in Country Life when for sale in 1989. The asking price at the time was £350,000.
(Image credit: Country Life / Future)
The place changed hands once or twice before eventually being bought by IT entrepreneur Mike Conners in 2017. Conners has ploughed a huge amount of time and money into the place: £2 million, according to the agents Fine & Country, to make it a place where you can truly get away from it all.
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
This 2½-acre private haven has five sea moorings, a jetty and a helipad — the latter coming in useful during the refurbishment work, with some 350 back-and-forth trips apparently needed to bring in the new materials and fittings for the island.
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
While the island isn’t far off the mainland, it’s far enough off to be entirely off the grid — but Conners and his son Ben have made the place completely self-sufficient for power and water with a series of renewable-energy facilities that make it feel very 21st century.
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
There are solar panels, air source heat pumps, sewage treatment facility, a rainwater collection with a 250,000-litre capacity (that’s probably about three day’s worth in south Wales) and a reverse-osmosis system to ensure a supply of clean, drinkable water.
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The accommodation within this Grade II*-listed coastal fort includes a modern, open-plan kitchen/family area, dining room and sitting room, five bedrooms and five bathrooms.
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
The sleeping areas can be reconfigured, according to the agents, to make this 8,000sq ft house able to cater for 20 overnight guests.
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
Traditional exposed red brickwork gives the rooms a warm, characterful feel.
There’s also a rooftop bar area, with a games room — and a space that was once the fort’s lookout on the western edge of the island has been turned into an office. There’s even a garden of sorts, with the outdoor courtyard laid to lawn.
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
All that remains is to decide what to use the place for. A boutique hotel? The ultimate Air BNB? A miniature prison? Or just a picture-perfect spot where you can finally catch up on all that reading…
Thorne Island is for sale through Strutt & Parker — see more details.
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
