Guernsey Guernesey (French) Guernési (Guernésiais)
Jurisdiction of the Bailiwick of Guernsey
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "Sarnia Cherie"
Location of Guernsey (circled) in the Bailiwick of Guernsey (red)
Map of Guernsey within the Bailiwick
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Crown Dependency	Bailiwick of Guernsey
Separation from the Duchy of Normandy	1204
Capital and largest city	St. Peter Port 49°27′36″N 2°32′7″W / 49.46000°N 2.53528°W / 49.46000; -2.53528
Official languages	English Guernésiais French
Recognised regional languages	Sercquiais Auregnais[a]
Demonym(s)	Guernseyman Guernseywoman Giernésiais(e) [citation needed]
Government	Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Duke of Normandy[1][2]	Charles III
• Lieutenant Governor	Richard Cripwell
• Bailiff	Sir Richard McMahon
• Chief Minister	Lyndon Trott
Legislature	States of Guernsey
Area
• Total	62[b][3] km2 (24 sq mi)
• Water (%)	0
Population
• 2022 census	63,950[4] (207th)
• Density	965/km2 (2,499.3/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	£3.272 billion[5]
• Per capita	£52,531[5]
Currency	Guernsey pound[c] Pound sterling (£) (GBP)
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (BST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+44
UK postcode	GY1–GY8
ISO 3166 code	GG
Internet TLD	.gg

Guernsey (/ˈɡɜːrnzi/ ^ⓘ GURN-zee; Guernésiais: Guernési; French: Guernesey) is the second largest island in the Channel Islands, located 27 miles (43 km) west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited islands (Herm, Sark, Alderney, Jethou and Lihou) and many small islets and rocks. The Bailiwick has a population of 63,950,^[4] the vast majority of whom live on Guernsey, and the island has a land area of 24 square miles (62 km²).^[6]

Guernsey was part of the Duchy of Normandy until 1204, when the Channel Islands remained loyal to the English crown, splitting from mainland Normandy. In 1290, the Channel Islands were divided administratively and Guernsey became part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. During the Second World War, Guernsey was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany. After five years of occupation, the island was liberated on 9 May 1945, which is celebrated annually as Liberation Day.

Guernsey is administered as part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a self-governing dependency of the British Crown. The island is thus not part of the United Kingdom, although the UK government has certain responsibilities for the Bailiwick. The British monarch is the head of state^[7] and the head of government is the President of the Policy and Resources Committee. The jurisdiction's parliament and government is the States of Guernsey. The island is divided into ten parishes. It has one town called Saint Peter Port.

Guernsey's largest industry is financial services, followed by tourism and agriculture. The island is particularly well-known for its cattle. Guernsey's culture is strongly influenced by Britain, evident in its use of the pound sterling and the status of English as the primary native language. Norman and French culture also have an impact, such as the island's traditional language, Guernésiais. In addition, French writer Victor Hugo spent fifteen years in exile in Guernsey, where he wrote some of his best-known works.^[8]

Toponymy

The island's name, "Guernsey", like that of neighbouring "Jersey", is of Old Norse origin. The second element of each word, "-ey", is the Old Norse for "island",^[9] while the original root, "guern(s)", is of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly deriving from either a personal name such as Grani or Warinn, or from gron, meaning pine tree.^[10]

Previous names for the Channel Islands vary over history, but include the Lenur islands,^[11] and Sarnia; Sarnia for Guernsey, or Lisia (Guernsey) and Angia (Jersey).

History

Early history

Around 6000 BC, rising seas created the English Channel and separated the Norman promontories that became the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey from continental Europe.^[12] Neolithic farmers then settled on its coast and built the dolmens and menhirs found in the islands today, providing evidence of human presence dating back to around 5000 BC.^[13]

Evidence of Roman settlements on the island, and the discovery of amphorae from the Herculaneum area and Spain, show evidence of an intricate trading network with regional and long-distance trade.^[14] Buildings found in La Plaiderie, St. Peter Port dating from 100 to 400 AD appear to be warehouses.^[15] The earliest evidence of shipping was the discovery of a wreck of a ship in St Peter Port harbour, which has been named Asterix. It is thought to be a 3rd-century Roman cargo vessel and was probably at anchor or grounded when a fire broke out.^[16] Travelling from the Kingdom of Gwent, Saint Sampson, later the abbot of Dol in Brittany, is credited with the introduction of Christianity to Guernsey.^[17]

Middle Ages

In 933, the Cotentin Peninsula, including Avranchin, which included the islands, were placed by the French King Ranulf under the control of William I. The island of Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Duchy of Normandy.^[17]

About the year 1030, the fleet of Robert, Duke of Normandy, which was to support the claim of his cousins Alfred and Edward to the English crown against Canute, was scattered by a storm, and was driven down the Channel to Guernsey. The Duke was taken to St. Michael's Abbey. In gratitude for the abbot's hospitality, he gave all the lands within the Close of the Vale to the abbot forever as fief of St. Michael, with permission to extend this to the northwestern part of the island as soon as settlers could be found to clear and cultivate the land; and he gave them engineers and workmen to complete the castle of St. Michael and to erect such other forts as were deemed necessary.

Around the middle of the eleventh century, Guernsey was beset by a new breed of pirates who built a castle called Le Château des Sarrasins in the centre of the island near the present church of Catel; Duke William of Normandy (later the Conqueror) commissioned his Esquire Sampson d'Anneville to fight them. As a reward, in 1061 he received half of the western part of the island under the title of Fief d'Anneville. Sampson attracted a number of emigrants from Normandy to settle on his feudal estate, and Duke William distributed lands in Guernsey to other Norman landowners, such as the estates of Sausmarez, Les Bruniaux de St. Martin, Mauxmarquis, Rohais, etc.

Most of Guernsey was soon cultivated, and around this time the island was divided into ten parishes. Each free fief had a manorial court to hear disputes between tenants, and the Abbot of St. Michael and the Seigneur d'Anneville had the right of high jurisdiction and the privilege of trying and executing criminals, respectively, so that the civil order of the island was fully regulated even before the Norman conquest of England.^[18]

In 1204, when King John lost the continental portion of the Duchy to Philip II of France, the islands remained part of the kingdom of England.^[19] The islands were then recognised by the 1259 Treaty of Paris as part of Henry III's territories.^[20]

During the Middle Ages, the island was a haven for pirates that would use the "lamping technique" to ground ships close to the island. This intensified during the Hundred Years War, when, starting in 1339, the island was occupied by the Capetians on several occasions.^[17] The Guernsey Militia was first mentioned as operational in 1331 and would help defend the island for a further 600 years.^[21]

In 1372, the island was invaded by Aragonese mercenaries under the command of Owain Lawgoch (remembered as Yvon de Galles), who was in the pay of the French king. Owain and his dark-haired mercenaries were later absorbed into Guernsey legend as invading fairies from across the sea.^[22]

Early modern period

As part of the peace between England and France, Pope Sixtus IV issued in 1483 a papal bull granting the "Privilege of Neutrality'", by which "the Islands, their harbours and seas, as far as the eye can see," were considered neutral territory.^[23] Anyone molesting Islanders would be excommunicated. A royal charter in 1548 confirmed the neutrality. The French attempted to invade Jersey a year later in 1549 but were defeated by the militia. The neutrality lasted another century, until William III of England abolished the privilege due to privateering activity against Dutch ships.^[24]

In the mid-16th century, the island was influenced by Calvinist reformers from Normandy. During the Marian persecutions, three women, the Guernsey Martyrs, were burned at the stake for their Protestant beliefs,^[25] along with the infant son of one of the women. The burning of the infant was ordered by Bailiff Hellier Gosselin, with the advice of priests nearby who said the boy should burn due to having inherited moral stain from his mother.^[26] Later on, Hellier Gosselin fled the island to escape widespread outrage.^{[citation needed]}

During the English Civil War, Guernsey sided with the Parliamentarians. The allegiance was not total, however; there were a few Royalist uprisings in the southwest of the island, while Castle Cornet was occupied by the Governor, Sir Peter Osborne, and Royalist troops. In December 1651, with full honours of war, Castle Cornet surrendered—the last Royalist outpost anywhere in the British Isles to surrender.^[27][28]

Wars against France and Spain during the 17th and 18th centuries gave Guernsey shipowners and sea captains the opportunity to exploit the island's proximity to mainland Europe by applying for letters of marque and turning their cargo ships into privateering vessels.^[29][30]

By the beginning of the 18th century, Guernsey's residents were starting to settle in North America,^[31] in particular founding Guernsey County in Ohio in 1810.^[32] The threat of invasion by Napoleon prompted many defensive structures to be built at the end of that century.^[33] The early 19th century saw a dramatic increase in the prosperity of the island, due to its success in the global maritime trade, and the rise of the stone industry. Maritime trade suffered a major decline with the move away from sailing craft as materials such as iron and steel were not available on the island.^[34]

Le Braye du Valle was a tidal channel that made the northern extremity of Guernsey, Le Clos du Valle, a tidal island. Le Braye du Valle was drained and reclaimed in 1806 by the British Government as a defence measure. The eastern end of the former channel became the town and harbour (from 1820) of St Sampson's, now the second biggest port in Guernsey. The western end of La Braye is now Le Grand Havre. The roadway called "The Bridge" across the end of the harbour at St Sampson's recalls the bridge that formerly linked the two parts of Guernsey at high tide. New roads were built and main roads metalled for ease of use by the military.^[35] Infrastructure was funded by creating money debt-free starting in 1815.^[36]

Contemporary period

During the First World War, about 3,000 island men served in the British Expeditionary Force. Of these, about 1,000 served in the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry regiment formed from the Royal Guernsey Militia in 1916.^[37]

From 30 June 1940, during the Second World War, the Channel Islands were occupied by German troops. Seventeen thousand people from Guernsey's total population of 41,000 were evacuated to England prior to the German occupation.^[38] The evacuees included 80 per cent of Guernsey children who lived with relatives or strangers in Great Britain during the war. Most children returned home after the war ended in 1945.^[39] The occupying German forces deported over 1,000 Guernsey residents to camps in southern Germany, notably to the Lager Lindele (Lindele Camp) near Biberach an der Riß and to Oflag VII-C in Laufen. Guernsey was very heavily fortified during World War II, out of all proportion to the island's strategic value. German defences and alterations remain visible, particularly to Castle Cornet and around the northern coast of the island. Guernsey and Jersey were both liberated on 9 May 1945, now celebrated as Liberation Day on the two islands.^[40]

During the late 1940s the island repaired the damage caused to its buildings during the occupation. The tomato industry started up again and thrived until the 1970s when the significant increase in world oil prices led to a sharp, terminal decline.^[41] Tourism has remained important.^[42] Finance businesses grew in the 1970s and expanded in the next two decades and are important employers.^[43] Guernsey's constitutional and trading relationships with the UK are largely unaffected by Brexit.^[44]

Geography

Situated in Mont Saint-Michel Bay at around 49°35′N 2°20′W / 49.583°N 2.333°W / 49.583; -2.333, Guernsey, Herm and some other smaller islands together have a total area of 71 square kilometres (27 sq mi) and coastlines of about 46 kilometres (29 mi). Elevation varies from sea level to 110 m (360 ft) at Hautnez on Guernsey.^[45]

There are many smaller islands, islets, rocks and reefs in Guernsey waters. Combined with a tidal range of 10 metres (33 feet) and fast currents of up to 12 knots, this makes sailing in local waters dangerous. The very large tidal variation provides an environmentally rich inter-tidal zone around the islands, and some sites have received Ramsar Convention designation.^[46]

The tidal flows in the area are remarkable, owing to the flatness of the ground for nearly 32 km (20 mi) westward. Guernsey is the westernmost of the Channel Islands, and the jurisdiction is at the greatest distance from the coast of Normandy than any of the other islands.^[47]

Climate

Guernsey's climate is temperate with mild winters and mild, sunny summers. It is classified as an oceanic climate, with a dry-summer trend, although marginally wetter than Mediterranean summers. The warmest months are July and August, when temperatures are generally around 20 °C (68 °F) with some days occasionally going above 24 °C (75 °F). On average, the coldest month is February with an average air temperature of 6.9 °C (44.4 °F). Average air temperature reaches 17.1 °C (62.8 °F) in August. Snow rarely falls and is unlikely to settle, but is most likely to fall in February. The temperature rarely drops below freezing, although strong wind-chill from Arctic winds can sometimes make it feel like it. The rainiest months are December (average 119 mm (4.7 in)), November (average 107 mm (4.2 in)) and January (average 92 mm (3.6 in)). July is, on average, the sunniest month with 253 hours recorded sunshine; December the least with 58 hours recorded sunshine.

Sea temperatures have been rising and now vary between 8 °C (46 °F) in February to 20 °C (68 °F) in August.^[48] Average wind speeds vary between 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph) and 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph) with gusts over 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) every 4–5 years.^[49]