Island of Jersey
Jersey lies in the Bay of Mont St Michel and is the largest of the Channel Islands. It has been an island for approximately 8,000 years and at its extremes it measures 10 miles east to west and six miles north to south.
The Channel Islands are situated
in the Gulf of St Malo and,
although closer to France, are
part of the British Isles.
Jersey, the largest and most
southerly Channel Island, is
less than one hour’s flying time
from England yet enjoys a much
milder climate year round. Set
in the sparkling waters of the
Bay of St. Malo, Jersey is only
14 miles from the coast of
France.
Jersey is an ideal holiday
destination, where you will find
the best things in life. Golden
sweeps of sand and coves fringe
the coast – providing you with a
beach for every day of your
holiday. Inland, you can lose
yourself in the multitude of
pretty country lanes where the
cyclist and pedestrian have
priority so that you can stroll
or pedal in safety.
Brief
History
Jersey possesses a fascinating
and complex history stretching
back over a thousand years. Its
very landscape - Norman style
farmhouses, narrow winding
lanes, small fields and French
street names - reflects its
entwinement with the fates of
two great nations: Britain and
France.
Jersey lies in the Bay of Mont St Michel and is the largest of the Channel Islands. It has been an island for approximately 8,000 years and at its extremes it measures 10 miles east to west and six miles north to south.
Pre-history
Even Jersey's prehistoric period
has left a rich legacy. Remnants
of a great French forest that
existed over 10,000 years ago,
when the Island was part of the
continent, can still be seen
today at St Ouen at low tide.
Flints and crude stone tools
were left by hunters in La Cotte
à la Chèvre (Goat's Cave), on
the north coast of St Ouen,
while La Cotte de St Brelade is
one of the most important
Palaeolithic sites in Europe. La
Hougue Bie, another impressive
prehistoric burial chamber,
houses a Neolithic passage grave
built around 3,000 BC.
The earliest evidence of human activity in the island dates to about 250,000 years ago when bands of hunters used the caves at La Cotte de St Brelade as a base for hunting mammoth. There was sporadic activity in the area by nomadic bands of hunters until the introduction of settled communities in the Neolithic period, which is marked by the building of the ritual burial sites known as dolmens. Archaeological evidence shows that there were trading links with Brittany and the south coast of England during this time.
Early centuries AD
Christianity is thought to have come to the Island in Roman times. But it was St Helier, Jersey's own hermit and martyr, who truly put it on the Christian map, in the sixth century. St Helier lived and preached at a site just south of Elizabeth Castle, and is thought to have been murdered by Saxon pirates. Six hundred years later, the oratory, now known as the hermitage, was built on the rock in his honour. Jersey's size and location had always made the Island vulnerable to pirates. But it was Viking marauders from the north, or Normans as they were called, who made the most significant impact. Throughout the ninth century, they plundered the Island, and were only stopped when the French King Charles the Simple struck a bargain with their chief, known as Rollo.
Norman rule
In exchange for peace, Rollo got the lands around Rouen, later known as Normandy. And it was in this bargain that the seeds of Jersey's association with France were sown. Rollo's son, William, was to become Duke of Normandy, and on gaining the title incorporated the Channel Islands into the duchy. A great deal of Jersey's laws, landscape and customs date back to the period of Norman rule between 933 and 1204. And it was of course this same William who conquered England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, forging the Island's links with the English Crown.
Although part of the Roman world we know very little about the island until the eleventh century. Various Celtic saints such as Samson and Branwaldr were active in the region and Charlemagne sent his emissary to the island which was called Angia in 803. The island took the name Jersey as a result of Viking activity in the area between the ninth and tenth centuries. The Channel Islands remained politically linked to Brittany until 933 when William Longsword, Duke of Normandy seized the Cotentin and the islands and added them to his domain. In 1066 Duke William II of Normandy defeated Harold at Hastings to become king of England however he continued to rule his French possessions as a separate entity. The islands remained part of the Duchy of Normandy until 1204 when King Philippe Auguste of France conquered the duchy from King John of England. The islands remained in the personal possession of the king and were described as being a Peculiar of the Crown.
English rule
Norman rule lasted until 1204, when a descendant of William, King John, decided to wage war with France - and lost. The Channel Islands then had to pledge allegiance either to England or to France - and sided with England. But this pledge of allegiance came at a price. Over the centuries that followed, England and France were often at war with each other. So not only was the Island endangered by its own proximity to the French mainland, but it also had to serve as a first line of defence against a French invasion of England. Fortifications against the French can be seen all over the Island. Mont Orgueil Castle was constructed on the orders of King John himself to guard the Island's east coast.
Elizabeth Castle, named after the Tudor English Queen, was built in the 16th century to defend the growing town of St Helier. And in the 1770s, the coastline was literally littered with a series of 'Martello' towers, designed to protect the Island from the threat of French invasions. These defences were penetrated by the French on several occasions. In 1461 French troops seized Mont Orgueil Castle itself and ruled the Island from it, with great severity, for seven years. In 1781 a French expedition landed at La Rocque one January night and marched right into St Helier without a shot being fired against them. It was only the bravery of an English officer, Major Pierson, that prevented further French occupation.
During the sixteenth century the islanders adopted the Protestant religion and life became very austere. The increasing use of gunpowder on the battlefield meant that the fortifications on the island had to be adapted and a new fortress built to defend St Aubin's Bay. This was named after the queen by Sir Walter Raleigh when he was governor. The island militia was reorganised on a parish basis and each parish had two cannon which were usually housed in the church - the St Peter cannon can still be seen at the bottom of Beaumont Hill.
The production of knitwear reached such a scale that it threatened the island's ability to produce its own food and so laws were passed regulating who could knit with whom and when. The islanders also became involved with the Newfoundland fisheries at this time. The boats left the island in February/March following a church service in St Brelade's church and they wouldn't return again until September/October. During the 1640s England was split by Civil War and hostilities spread into Scotland and Ireland as well. Jersey was divided and while the sympathy of islanders lay with Parliament the de Carterets held the island for the king.
The future Charles II visited the island in 1646 and again in 1649 following the execution of his father. The Parliamentarians eventually captured the island in 1651 and in recognition for all the help given to him during his exile Charles II gave George Carteret a large grant of land in the American colonies, which he promptly named New Jersey.Towards the end of the seventeenth century Jersey strengthened its links with the Americas when many islanders emigrated to New England and north east Canada. The Jersey merchants built up a thriving business empire in the Newfoundland and Gaspé fisheries. Companies such as Robins and the Le Boutilliers set up thriving businesses.
The eighteenth century was a period of political tension between Britain and France as the two nations clashed all over the world as their ambitions grew. Because of its position Jersey was more or less on a continuous war footing.
During the American Wars of Independence there were two attempted invasions of the island. In 1779 the Prince of Nassau was prevented from landing at St Ouen's Bay but two years later in 1781 a force lead by Baron de Rullecourt captured St Helier in a daring dawn raid but was defeated by a British army lead by Major Peirson. A short lived peace was followed by the French revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars which when they had ended had changed Jersey for ever. The number of English speaking soldiers stationed in the island and the number of retired officers and English speaking labourers who came to the islands in the 1820s saw the island gradually moving towards being an English speaking culture.
Jersey became one of the largest wooden shipbuilding areas in the British Isles building over 900 vessels around the island. In the late nineteenth century island farmers benefited from the development of two luxury products - the Jersey cow and the Jersey Royal. One was the product of careful and selective breeding programmes the other being a total fluke.
Jersey and New Jersey
The relationship between the Island and the American state of New Jersey can be traced back to the English Civil War. King Charles II twice took refuge in Jersey, first as Prince of Wales and then as exiled King of England. The Island's loyalty was rewarded when King Charles gave Smith's Island and some neighbouring islets off Virginia to Sir George Carteret with permission to settle. Sir George renamed them New Jersey. The original venture failed but a grant from the Duke of York in 1664 gave Carteret, Lord of the Manor of St Ouen, joint ownership of the territory now known as New Jersey.
World War II
The occupation that was to leave the greatest mark on Jersey's landscape - and psyche - was that mounted by the Germans between 1940 and 1945. Despite the heroism shown in rescuing British troops at Dunkirk, Churchill decided that the Channel Islands could not be defended and declared them demilitarised. Once again, the islanders were faced with a terrible dilemma. Should they evacuate to England leaving homes and loved ones behind, or stay and face a very uncertain future?
In round figures some about 8,000 islanders were evacuated, 1,200 islanders deported to camps in Germany and over 300 islanders being sentenced to the prison and concentration camps of mainland Europe (20 died as a result). While some 40,000 stayed many did leave to join the armed forces. Under Hitler's direct order, an elaborate system of fortifications was built in both Jersey and Guernsey during the occupation. Their remains are still very much in evidence today. Slave labour from countries as widely dispersed as Spain, Russia, Poland and the Ukraine was used, with workers subjected to the most appalling conditions. If they escaped, islanders who sheltered them faced punishment as severe as that meted out to the prisoners themselves. The moving story of the German occupation is most effectively told at the Jersey War Tunnels.