A pretty village, Greeba has two chief claims to fame – its castle which is, in fact, two castellated houses (built in 1849 and designed by John Robinson) and one of its former occupants, the writer Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine.

The so-called castle stands at the foot of beautiful Greeba Mountain. Caine, who was born in Cheshire in 1853 to a Manx father and a Cumberland mother, spent much of his childhood with members of his father’s family in Ballaugh and became the best-paid novelist of his day in the late 19th century. He moved permanently to the island in 1894, initially renting the castle. After moving to Peel he later bought the castle and lived there until his death in 1931. A true Victorian celebrity, Caine’s fame put Greeba on the tourist map.