Holiday cottages & wedding venue
The Location
Ballavolley offers you a stunning wilderness location to experience the countryside in a luxury environment.
❖ Situated within 30-acres, adjacent to an area of special scientific interest (ASSI), ensconced within the Ballaugh Curragh.
❖ Stunning countryside views over fields and lush meadows frequented by a variety of wildlife – and even wallabies at dawn and dusk!
❖ Resident wildlife including a rescue swan, dabbling ducks, Indian runner ducks and 4 timid pet cats.
❖ Natural hay meadow from late May to the end of August with wild orchids on display throughout June in the ASSI fields. A rich haven of flora and forna can be enjoyed throughout the summer months.
❖ Enchanting woodland area, with a magnificent oak at its centerpiece. Bluebells, wild garlic, ferns, and foxgloves blanket the area from mid-April to late May, then natural woodland for the rest of the year. An idyllic setting for magical memories and picture-perfect photographs.
❖ Large informal pond with bird baskets, miniature ornamental wooden bridge and jetty.
❖ Wide entrance to the grounds with a turning circle for coaches, including ample height clearance for a double-decker bus.
❖ Car parking on hard standing for up to 32 vehicles, and field parking for a further 50 cars
❖ Fire Pit area with log stump seating
❖ Secret woods with fairy lights that lead the way around
The Tales of Ballavolley
The Manx Elk Discovery
Ballavolley has taken the history of the Gaint Elk and used the history as inspiration in elements of the renovation of Ballavolley.
From the Stags on the entance walls, the decor inside the cottages to our Ballavolley emblem.
In 1819 Thomas Kewish, a blacksmith, and James Taubman, a local brewer, discovered a nearly perfect skeleton of an extinct “elk” in a marl pit at Ballaugh, Isle of Man.
It was the first complete skeleton of this species to be discovered in the world and appears to be the only Pleistocene vertebrate known to have lived on the island.
Kewish reassembled the bones and put the specimen on display.
The Duke of Atholl claimed this unique specimen for himself which caused Kewish to smuggle the skeleton to England. The Duke's men eventually caught up to him and gave the bones to Edinburgh University Museum. After many years in storage there, it is now once again on display.
Interesting Fact
Ballaugh was only connected to the water mains in the early 1950s!
Until then most residents used the local wells, including one situated in the rear yard of Ellan Vannin, a former coach house with stabling beside the yard.
Ballavolley's Previous Residents
We have stories to tell about our previous residents we can't wait to tell you. We are collecting some interesting information at the moment to share with you soon...
Interesting Fact
An elaborate runic cross dated to the 10th century was discovered in Ballaugh in 1891. Manx runestones
It can be viewed in Ballaugh Old Church.
ASSI & RAMSAR
The word 'Ballaugh' loosely translates to 'place of the lake'.
21 acres of land at Ballavolley has been recognised as an area of special scientific interest (ASSI) owing to it's unique land features; being the home of a diverse number of birds and flowers as well as it's traditional farming and fishing practices since first settlement on the Island. Although this is a private area, not open to the general public, guests staying at our holiday cottages are welcome to walk around the area and experience the peace and quiet the area has to offer. you may also see rare flora and fauna, including wild archids, birds of prey and wallabies are dusk and dawn.
The Ballaugh Curraghs is all that remains of this lake.
The lake, which measured up to a mile in length, was drained by the excavation about 300 years ago of the silted-up Lhen Trench which, during the last ice age, is believed to have been a meltwater channel flowing north to south from the melting ice front!
