Events during the next 500 million years are conjectural, and based on geological happenings elsewhere in Britain and France. Rocks from this span of time are absent, although they are known from the surrounding sea bed. On dry land, sediments date only from the past couple of million years, and as this was a time of ice ages, indications are that the climate varied from sub-tropical to sub-arctic. Sea levels fluctuated so that both raised beaches and sunken forests and peat bogs can be discerned. For much of the time, the Channel Islands were part of one land mass with Britain and France, but rising sea levels formed the English Channel and, one by one, each of the Channel Islands. Guernsey became an island around 14,000 years ago, while Jersey became an island around 7000 years ago.
Exhibits relating to the geology of Guernsey can be studied at the Guernsey Museum. The British Geological Survey publishes detailed geological maps of the Channel Islands and there are a number of publications dealing with the subject.
Turbulent history
Little is known of the customs and traditions of nomadic Palaeolithic Man, but he hunted mammoth and woolly rhinoceros when Guernsey was still part of the European mainland 200,000 years ago. Neolithic and Bronze Age people made many magnificent monuments which are dotted around the Channel Islands. Henges, mounds, tombs and mysterious menhirs were raised by peoples whose origins are unclear and whose language is unknown. What is certain is that they had a reverence for their dead and were obviously living in well-ordered communities able to turn their hands to the construction of such mighty structures. The Romans knew of these islands, although whether they wholly colonised them or simply had an occupying presence and trading links is a matter of debate.
Ancient burial chambers, such as Le Déhus Dolmen, are sometimes big enough to stand up inside (Walk 13)
St Sampson brought the Christian message to Guernsey in the 6th century. The basic parish structure of the Channel Islands, and most of the parish churches, date from around this period. No doubt the position of the Channel Islands made it a favourite spot for plundering by all and sundry on the open sea. The Norsemen were regular raiders in the 9th century, and by the 10th century the islands were well established in the territory of Normandy. It was from Normandy that Duke William I, ‘The Longsword’, claimed the islands as his own in the year 933, and they have been part of the Duchy of Normandy ever since.
Duke William II, ‘The Conqueror’, defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. When King John lost Normandy to France in 1204, the Channel Islands remained loyal and were granted special privileges and a measure of self-government that continues to this day. However, the islands were repeatedly attacked, invaded and partially occupied by French forces throughout the Hundred Years War. During the most turbulent times of strife, the Pope himself intervened and decreed in 1483 that the Channel Islands should be neutral in those conflicts. The islanders were able to turn the situation to their advantage, trading with both sides! Church control passed from the French Diocese of Coutances to the English Diocese of Winchester in 1568.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, the islands were divided against themselves, with Guernsey for Parliament and Jersey for the Crown. The French invaded the islands for the last time in 1781; stout defensive structures were raised against any further threats, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, and in fact well into the 19th century. Queen Victoria visited the Channel Islands three times to inspect military developments.
During the First World War the Channel Islands escaped virtually unscathed, although the local militia forces were disbanded, and many of those who joined the regular army were slaughtered elsewhere in Europe. In the Second World War, after the fall of France to the German army, the Channel Islands were declared indefensible and were demilitarised. Many islanders evacuated to England, particularly from Alderney, but others stayed behind and suffered for five years under the German Occupation. Massive fortifications made the Channel Islands the most heavily defended part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
There were only token raids and reconnaissances by British forces, and the Channel Islands were completely by-passed during the D-Day landings in nearby Normandy. VE Day in Europe was 8th May 1945, but the Channel Islands were not liberated until 9th May, as it was unclear whether the German garrison would surrender without a fight. The Channel Islands Occupation Society, www.ciosguernsey.org.gg, publishes a number of books and journals about the war years, including an annual review. Various military structures from the Occupation have been preserved as visitor attractions.
The German Occupation is covered in considerable depth at museums and visitor attractions
The modern development of the Channel Islands has been in two directions. As a holiday destination it caters for a multitude of tastes, with an emphasis on sun, sea, fun, family, good food and the outdoors. In the financial services sector the low rate of taxation has brought in billions of pounds of investment and attracted a population of millionaires. The Channel Islands retain some quirky laws and customs, enjoy a low crime rate, issue their own currency and postage stamps and enjoy a unique history and heritage that is well interpreted at a number of interesting visitor sites.
The best place to start enquiring into history is the Guernsey Museum, Candie Gardens, St Peter Port, GY1 1UG, tel 01481 726518, www.museums.gov.gg. This is also the place to enquire about La Société Guernesiaise, tel 01481 725093, www.societe.org.gg, and the Guernsey Museums and Galleries service. A ‘Discovery Pass’ can be purchased, allowing entry to all the sites managed by the service. There are numerous publications available examining all aspects of Channel Islands history. Detail is often intense, and any historical building or site mentioned in this guidebook probably has one or more books dedicated entirely to it.
Another organisation involved with heritage matters is the National Trust of Guernsey, 26 Cornet Street, St Peter Port, GY1 1LF, tel 01481 728451, www.nationaltrust.gg. The Trust owns land and properties around Guernsey, several of which are visited on walks throughout this guide. Some properties are leased to tenants and cannot be visited, while others may have limited opening times. The National Trust of Guernsey has reciprocal agreements with the National Trust for Jersey, National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and National Trust for Scotland, allowing members free entry to properties that normally levy a charge.
Government
The Channel Islands form a quirky little archipelago, with startling divisions among themselves. They are neither colonies nor dependencies; they are not part of the United Kingdom or the European Union. They have been described as ‘Peculiars of the Crown’, meaning that they are practically the property of the Crown, and they owe their allegiance to the Crown, but not to Parliament.
There are actually two self-governing ‘bailiwicks’ whose law-making processes are quite separate from those of the United Kingdom’s Parliament. Furthermore, the Bailiwick of Guernsey’s affairs are quite separate from the Bailiwick of Jersey. A thorough investigation of Channel Islands government is an absorbing study, which anyone with political inclinations might like to investigate while walking around the islands. The Bailiwick of Guernsey embraces Alderney and Sark, but those islands have their own governments. For further information check the States of Guernsey government website, www.gov.gg, the States of Alderney government website, www.alderney.gov.gg and the Chief Pleas of Sark website, www.gov.sark.gg. Sark was the last feudal state in Europe, but embraced democracy by holding its first general elections in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014.