Monuments to visit Guernesey

After 18 months of extensive renovations, Hauteville House reopened in April 2019. To get your bearings, a French flag marks the large white house located on the heights of the city. The Paris City Council is responsible for the conservation of the site, attached to the mansion on the Place des Vosges in Paris.

After his departure from Paris following the coup d'état of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (future Napoleon III), the writer chose to go to the islands to remain close to France. After a stay in Jersey, he was forced to leave the island. His presence was indeed considered undesirable after he had defended a journalist who had strongly criticized the visit of Queen Victoria to Napoleon III. When he arrived in Guernsey, he bought this house in 1856 and stayed there until 1870. It was here that Victor Hugo wrote Les Travailleurs de la mer, dedicated to the inhabitants of Guernsey, La Légende des siècles and L'Homme qui rit. He also completed Les Misérables here. The decoration of the house is the work of the writer. It is based on contrast and organized abundance. Fascinated by second-hand goods and driven by an overflowing imagination, he decorated Hauteville House with Delft earthenware, chinoiseries, antique chests, mirrors, tapestries, oriental embroideries..

The first floor - the vestibule. It is very dark and the atmosphere is heavy. The hallway is divided into two parts and has many carved oak panels. Some of the scenes depicted are taken from his novel Notre-Dame de Paris.

The billiard room. At the time of the departure of his sons, Charles and François-Victor, he used it as a storeroom. On the walls hang copies of family paintings, the originals of which are in Paris, as well as drawings by the poet.

The tapestry room. Walls and ceilings are decorated with tapestries from Gobelins and Aubusson. A huge sideboard is fixed on the fireplace in Delft earthenware with blue and white decoration. The adjoining smoking room is decorated in the same way. The decoration is conceived from elements found by the poet, who designed the projects and entrusted the realization to the cabinetmaker Mauger.

The dining room. A large fireplace covered with earthenware bears the initials of Victor Hugo and HH. Between the two windows is the ancestor's chair, intended for the spirits. It bears the Latin inscription Absentus Advent (the absent are present).

Second floor. The red salon faces the blue salon. Victor Hugo liked to believe that every object in this room had belonged to royal personages, although there is no proof of this. In a play of contrasts and a theatrical atmosphere, the two monumental fireplaces face each other. A winter garden overlooking the blue salon allowed Hugo to observe the French coast when the weather was clear.

Second floor. The oak gallery. The chandeliers and woodwork were designed by Hugo. In the center of the room stands the fire tree. Hugo stored his manuscripts and papers here. The room is called "Garibaldi's room". Victor Hugo had invited his Italian colleague to join him, but he never came.

Third floor. Victor Hugo had installed his apartments in the attic. The look-out, from which he dominated the city, served as his study. The decoration is much more sober and on a human scale.

The garden is finally very pleasant, with its fountain and its camellias in particular.

The dolmen of Déhus is a dolmen with a gallery under a tumulus of 10 m length and 4 m width, dating from 2000 BC. It was discovered in 1930. The corridor leads to six small chambers and a larger "bottle-shaped" room, typical of many megalithic monuments in the region. A drawing is engraved in the stone, inside, and seems to represent a bearded man armed with a bow and arrows. Of more recent construction (1000 B.C.), it would seem to have been the magical guardian of the tumulus. A good excuse for a nice walk.

The Pleinmont Observation Tower is a five-story observation tower built by the German Army during World War II and used between 1942 and 1945. The tower was intended to defend the south and west coasts as part of the Atlantic Wall defense system and is still equipped with working rangefinders. You can also visit the barracks on the days the site is open.

Built during the Second World War to serve as a hospital for German soldiers wounded during the war in France and then during the Allied landings in Normandy, it is also a maze of tunnels dug by prisoners to protect the fuel tanks of German submarines from bombs. In three years, 2 km of galleries were dug by prisoners deported from Eastern Europe, who had to extract 60,000 tons of rock.

The fortifications of this castle are almost eight centuries old. When King John Lackland lost Normandy to France in 1204, Guernsey chose to remain loyal to the English king. The island was immediately threatened by the French and the islanders decided to build Castle Cornet to protect themselves. Construction began in 1206 and lasted nearly twenty years. During the Hundred Years' War, the French and the English fought bitterly over it and it passed from hand to hand several times, after fierce battles.

As military techniques progressed, the castle was constantly reinforced and modified. During the civil war that tore England apart, the governor of Guernsey, Peter Osborne, withdrew there and challenged the rest of the island who had sided with Cromwell. The castle had to endure a siege of nearly nine years, during which it received the invaluable support of Jersey, which remained loyal to its sovereign. More than 100,000 cannonballs were fired against the castle.

At the time of the restoration of royalty, it was the prison of Sir John Lambert, Cromwell's former general, who was feared to be taking over the succession. But Lambert had become peaceful again, and he spent his captivity lovingly landscaping the castle gardens, which can be visited today. In 1672, a dramatic accident occurred. During a violent storm, lightning fell on the ammunition depot, which exploded. The blast caused the keep to collapse, taking with it the dwelling where Lady Hatton, the governor's wife, was staying.

During the Napoleonic era, for fear of another French attack, Castle Cornet was modernized and armed with formidable cannons, which were never used. When hostilities between the English and French ended, the castle was used as an arsenal, prison and barracks. Its military function was abandoned until 1940, when the Germans invaded the island. The Germans concreted some parts of the castle in order to integrate it into their defense system, the Atlantic Wall.

The gardens are maintained with a very English care. The many rooms of the fortress present a wide variety of exhibits, 4 small museums are housed there: the Royal Guernsey Militia Museum, 201 Squadron RAF, the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Museum (former armory of the castle presenting a collection of weapons from the Middle Ages to the present) and a painting gallery, The Story of Castle Cornet Museum.

This Market Place, or French Halles, or Commercial Arcane (depending on the period), dates back to 1780. As the population grew, they soon became too small. They had to be enlarged, and the architect John Wilson was commissioned to build a new market with three halls: a fish market (1877), a vegetable market (1879) and a meat market (1822). From these halls, you can reach High Street, a pedestrian street, which, along with Le Pollet, is one of the main shopping streets of the island.

Granite menhir, 1.60 m high, dated to about 4000 B.C. Like the menhir of Castel Church, it would have been retouched in the Bronze Age (700 B.C.), to take on a more feminine appearance evoking, according to archaeologists, the grandmother or the goddess of fertility. According to Christian custom, this place was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. However, in the minds of the islanders, she remained the grandmother. The newlyweds bring her bouquets and coins to attract her favor.

This is a beautiful fortress(Stutzpunkt Rotenstein by its German name) dating from the time of the German occupation (and renovated since) which was supposed to guard the north of Vazon Bay as part of the Atlantic Wall. To the north, you will see the Martello Tower built in 1804. It is still possible to see remains of the original red granite fort. An interesting visit to imagine the living conditions of the Germans in a bunker.

There does not remain about it today more large-thing, but this fortress has a long history. Only the thick walls today are recognized. Its initial interest was to sit enthroned in the center of an island placed strategically well. This island is not today any more, water were driven out. The hill of the island was seems it occupied since the iron age with a fort going back to 600 av. J. - C. the medieval fort goes back him to 1400. Hutments were added to the 18th century (for the wars vis-a-vis the French) before being destroyed by the Germans in 1945.

Both a fortress and a three-story watchtower (which offers a superb view of the coastline from its top), the imposing Rousse Tower was built in the 19th century to defend the island of Guernsey from a possible French invasion and has since been fully restored and is equipped with replicas of five cannons. Even if today it is closed to the public for rehabilitation, one can take advantage of a walk in this beautiful corner of the island to have a look at it from the outside. Before you can enjoy it again.

Located at the place called L'Ancresse, this dolmen is a place of worship of 12 meters in length which also dates from the Middle Neolithic period (around 4500 years B.C.). Discovered in 1977, the tumulus, delimited by granite blocks and dry stone walls, has been partly reconstructed. During the excavations, more than 35,000 remains were found on the site, such as flints, ornaments, tools and numerous pieces of pottery. Some of these remains are on display at the Guernsey Museum in St. Peter Port.

North of the Fouaillages, at the top of a small hill overlooking Pembroke Bay, the dolmen of La Varde is a remarkable megalithic structure. It is a covered walkway dating from the Neolithic era, 11 meters long and one of the most impressive on the island. It was discovered in 1811 and dates back to 2500 BC. During the excavations, human bones, flints, stone tools and numerous pieces of pottery were also discovered. A site that we strongly advise to discover during a walk.

Located at the place called Catioroc, the dolmen of Trépied is a corridor tomb, with a V shape. Even today, it is well preserved although almost buried, situated in a very beautiful setting on a hillock perched above the Perelle Bay. A legend tells that in the 17th century, the witches and magicians of the island of Guernsey used to meet there regularly to celebrate their black masses, which usually took place on Fridays at night. The dolmen dates back to the beginning of the Neolithic period.

Rebuilt after being destroyed by a storm, the site of Perelle Battery, a short distance from Fort Richmond, is interesting because it shows how, at the beginning of the 18th century, the oldest military batteries (it was built in 1816) were reinforced for a better protection of the island of Guernsey. Perelle Battery has two twenty-pound cannons. It can in any case be the object of a nice walk on a nice day. And the panorama offered by this historical site is superb.

Here are the remains of a small fort at the southern end of Rocquaine Bay. It was built as early as 1680 on a rocky promontory protected by large stone walls and enlarged as time went on. The fort was extensively restored in 1842 and retained its three cannons overlooking Rocquaine Bay at the southwestern end of the island. It was therefore part of the last major works undertaken on the coast in the 19th century, as the southeast coast is naturally protected by high cliffs. A very pleasant stop during a walk in the area.

Also called Ivy Castle by the islanders, this 13th century castle was one of the first defenses of Guernsey. It stands a little behind Belle Grève Bay. Fallen into ruin in the 14th century, it was restored during the 18th century and used by the Germans as a bunker during the Occupation. They installed an anti-aircraft battery there. After the liberation of the islands, it was largely restored again in the 1970s. It is now classified as a historical monument by the States of Guernsey, the island's parliament.

This fort was conceived at the end of the 18th century, in 1780 to replace Castle Cornet which had become very vulnerable to the technical progress of artillery at that time. Fort George ensured the defense of the harbor of Saint-Peter-Port and Guernsey from the beginning of the 19th century. Located on the heights of the main town of the island, it also had a choice location. And today it offers a superb view of the Guernsey coastline.

Property of the De Sausmarez family for eight centuries, this 18th century manor house has been remodeled many times. The visit of the hall and 3 rooms allows to admire family portraits, furniture, tapestries and various objects of the period. In the garden, where subtropical plants grow, sculptures by international artists are exhibited. Other activities include a garden tour, a children's train, exhibitions, a local market, miniature golf, stores, a children's playground and the Tea Garden. Two apartments are also available for rent.

The bay, very easy to approach, and its small harbor were protected by this large tower located on the heights of the coastline, and which was supposed to prevent the enemy from entering the lands of Guernsey. The tower is still standing today and in a fairly good state of preservation. The tower is open to tourists from time to time and tours are organized by volunteers. Find out more on the Guernsey Museums website or on the Facebook profile of Saints Bay Loop Tower 14. Notice to all old stones lovers!

The states meet on the last Wednesday and Thursday of the month, except in August. To attend a session, contact the tourist office. The Royal Court House was built in Chausey granite in 1799, then enlarged in 1822 and 1904. It is the seat of the Guernsey Parliament and the Court House. It also serves as the Bailiff's office and the RegistryOffice. The Registry Office (visit upon request) holds a valuable collection of documents.