Douglas: From settlement to city

What does 'city status' even mean, anyway?

Today, our Island’s capital will officially be declared a city.

We knew this was coming of course, but with a royal visit taking place later on, the status will become set in stone.

Douglas Borough Council applied for the status back in 2021, throwing its hat into the ring to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.

The Isle of Man’s most populous area had tough competition from the start though, going up against western rivals Peel in a quasi-western style shootout for the honour.

Known as the ‘Sunset City’ locally, and with its commissioners submitting a 47-page application, you’d think Peel had a pretty strong chance, but sadly for “the most Manx town on the Island”, Douglas scooped the prize to become the first crown dependency settlement to win the civic honour.

That news was met with mixed reviews from Manx Radio listeners at the time.

It was chosen for three main reasons – its royal links, namely through the RNLI, which this year is celebrating its 200th anniversary, the urban regeneration of the quayside area and its status as a ‘cultural hub’, for holding events like the annual Manx Music Festival (or, The Guild).

The 2022 Jubilee contest led to a record number of honours being bestowed, with eight new cities declared in the name of Queen Elizabeth II – the others being Colchester, Doncaster and Milton Keynes in England, Dunfermline in Scotland, Wrexham in Wales, Bangor in Northern Ireland and Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

DEFINITIONS

What makes a place a city, then?

A quick google search will tell you the UK parliament reckons it’s a few key factors.

1) It has a cathedral or a university.

First tick for Douglas then, as the Church of Saint Mary of the Isle was officially elevated to cathedral status late last year. It’s now a co-cathedral to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Merseyside.

2) It has a particular form of local government.

Second tick for Douglas! Our Island is of course made up of several local authorities, and our capital is no exception.

Previously known as Douglas Borough Council, one of the main changes we’ll likely see after city status is confirmed is the full move to rebranding the various associated signs and official correspondence from the commissioners to be signed “Douglas City Council”.

(It’s worth noting that they have already begun this change, and if you think you’ve spotted certain ‘city’ flags around the place, you’d be right, but a quick look at their website suggests there are still a few edits to be made!)

3) It has a large population.

If you’ve got your ‘city status’ bingo card at the ready – you can probably tentatively tick this one off too!

Okay, in relative terms, Douglas doesn’t have the biggest population in the world.

A glance at the capital cities of our nearest neighbours will tell you around 345 thousand people live in Belfast, whilst Edinburgh has around 488 thousand. Dublin has around 593 thousand, Cardiff has 361.47 thousand and – if we want to make an absolutely ridiculous comparison – if you head over to London, you’re looking at being amongst 8.80 million (although if you want to get really technical, ‘London’ actually contains two cities, but that’s an article for another day…).

But if we take a look at our little Island, it's safe to say Douglas is our biggest hub.

The 2021 Isle of Man Census Report stated that our Island’s population was 84,069 people. When you break that down by where we all live – Douglas came out on top, with 26,677 of us living there.

That’s around a 31% of our entire population!

(Ramsey was second, with 8,288, then Peel with 5,710.)

HISTORY

How did we get here?

Now it’s time for a quick-fire history lesson for you.

Douglas, of course wasn’t always our nation’s capital. That honour was once Castletown’s, with Castle Rushen dominating the skyline and providing protection for any would-be invaders.

The Ancient Capital remained so until 1869, when our parliament – Tynwald – officially moved north, to operate from Douglas instead.

Until the 18th century it was a small settlement, but trade links with Liverpool changed all that, and it became the main hub for our Island’s business, finance and legal services.

Living here has inspired everyone from poets to politicians, to a certain philanthropist who in 1824 established ‘a national institution for the preservation of life and property from shipwreck’ after witnessing a few too many shipwrecks off the coast here.

In 1832, an iconic Douglas landmark was built with the backing of Sir William Hillary, when the Tower of Refuge from Shipwreck was erected on St Mary’s Isle (Conister Rock) so that the site could stop wreaking for our mariners.

Jump forward a few decades and Loch promenade was built in 1876, giving the capital some of its iconic seafront scenery.

(PHOTO CREDIT: CULTURE VANNIN)

In the decades that followed Douglas became a holiday destination rivalling the best of them, with ‘magnificent’ hotels lining the promenade and people flocking from all over to pack them for the entire tourism season.

We could write thousands of words on the iconic horse trams and electric railway heading to and from our capital, or discuss the entertainment on offer for tourists and locals alike, but we’ll save you the time.

The city has also been the site of darker moments. It was home to internment camps during the world wars and was the site of the Summerland disaster which claimed the lives of 50 people.

It hosts our main transport link off the Island other than the airport in the form of the Ferry Terminal and is still the main hub for our business and financial communities.

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So, what does city status actually provide?

The short answer – not a lot. There are no major benefits attached with the honour, it is largely a sign of status.

The hopes of officials at least is that it will help ‘revive’ the capital, and will benefit the economy here, doubling down on the idea Douglas is our main financial hub.

CEREMONY

Today, Her Majesty Queen Camilla will preside over a ceremony at Douglas City Hall on after which she will unveil a commemorative plaque before meeting well-wishers outside.

She will then be escorted to Government House where she will be introduced to a number of representatives from local charities and community groups.

There are a number of road closures in place, you can find all the details you need HERE.