Vale Castle, is a protected building located in the Vale, Guernsey. [1] The original name was "Le Chateau St Michel", later it became "Chateau de Val" or "Chateau de Valle" and is over 1,000 years old. It defends both St. Sampson's harbour at the eastern end of the Braye du Valle, Guernsey, and Bordeaux Harbour.
A tidal passage separated the north of Guernsey from the rest of Guernsey. Earthworks dating from 500 to 600 BC, comprising a double ditch and bank, indicate that an Iron Age fort existed on the hill where Vale Castle now sits. [2]
Around A.D. 968, monks from the Benedictine monastery of Mont Saint-Michel, came to Guernsey to establish the Abbey of St Michael, a community in the north of the island.
According to tradition, Robert II, Duke of Normandy (the father of William the Conqueror), was journeying to England in 1032 to help Edward the Confessor. He was obliged to take shelter in Guernsey and gave land, now known as the Clos du Valle, to the monks. [3]
In 1061, when pirates attacked and pillaged the island, a complaint was made to Duke William. He sent over Sampson D'Anneville, who succeeded, with the aid of the monks, in driving the pirates out. For this service, Sampson D'Anneville and the monks were rewarded with a grant of half the island between them. The portion going to the monastery, known as Le Fief St Michel, included the land where the castle is located. The castle of Saint Michael (now Vale Castle), was constructed to protect the population against pirates by providing a safe refuge. [4]
It is not possible to identify when the medieval works were started, possibly in the late 10th-century. [5] : 130–1 During the English Channel naval campaign (1338–1339), the French captured the island and then the castle, where they put its defenders to death. The occupying forces withdrew in 1340 after the Battle of Sluys crippled the French navy.
In 1372 Owain Lawgoch, a claimant to the Welsh throne, led a free company on behalf of France in an attack on Guernsey. The assault was popularly called “La Descente des Aragousais”. Owain Lawgoch withdrew after killing 400 of the island militia, [6] The poem of the same name refers to the castle as the Château de l'Archange, the location of the last ditch stand against the insurgents. [7] : 34
Granite curtain walls and a gatehouse were added in the 15th century, with other repairs and improvements to walls and installing buttresses being made over the next century. A powder house, guardroom, and houses for the garrison were added around this time. The castle has a well. In 1615 it was the requirement of the island to maintain the Vale castle, as against the Crown which maintained Castle Cornet. [7] : 31
During the nine years of the English Civil War, Parliamentarian troops may have been stationed in Vale Castle as Castle Cornet supported the Royalist cause whilst the Island of Guernsey supported the Parliamentarian cause. [8] : 47–63 Extensive repairs were recommended in 1680.
The American Revolutionary War, which made France an enemy, resulted in barracks and other improvements being added. The French Revolution was also a threat to the island and the castle received one 24-pounder and two 9-pounder cannons. [2]
The Castle was fitted with a signal mast to alert the island to the approach of any vessel, with a fire beacon to give alarm at night. [9]
In 1799, 6,000 Russian troops were quartered at nearby Delancey. [10] : 12 Hundreds died of disease and graves of Russian soldiers are located at the Vale Castle. [11]
During the Napoleonic Wars the reclaiming of Braye du Valle in 1806-8 saw the end of the separation of Le Clos du Valle, previously a tidal island, which improved the ability to move troops and better protect the island. The nearby port of St Sampson was expanded with additional trade through the harbor.
During World War I the local militia had a small garrison in the castle and between the wars the barracks were used by the States as homes. [11]
The last modifications to the castle were the work of Organisation Todt workers in 1942–4 on behalf of the German occupiers. They demolished the barracks and built four concrete machine-gun positions, three 5 cm mortar positions, trenches, four tobruk pits, and personnel shelters. The defences in Stützpunktgruppe Talfeste also featured flame throwers, two 60 cm searchlight positions, and two 10.5cm K331(f) field guns. [2] [12]
The Castle is of irregular plan on a hill. It is roughly built with six rounded towers connected with curtain walls and a square gatehouse.
The coast is on the south and east and to the west was low lying marsh.
Under the medieval outer bank was a small turf bank which contained pottery dating to 500-600 BC with similar pottery found in a second bank under the 14th Century military buildings inside the walls. This hillfort, with its double-bank, is unique in Guernsey. [11]
Large excavations took place in 1980. These indicated that the original construction date for the late medieval works was around 1370–1400. [11]
The whole of the Chateau de Marais was listed as a Protected Monument on 26 March 1938, reference PM124. [13]
Vale Castle is open to the public. It accessible on foot with entry free of charge except on days when private events are staged. Free parking is available at Bordeaux or off Castle Road.
The castle is becoming popular for music festivals and private parties. The Vale Earth Fair has been held in the Castle for over 40 years. [15]
The public can walk through the German era trenches and view Tobruk pits, MG positions and a personnel shelter.
Guernsey is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
The history of Guernsey stretches back to evidence of prehistoric habitation and settlement and encompasses the development of its modern society.
Fort Grey, colloquially known as the "cup and saucer", is a Martello tower located on a tidal rock in Rocquaine Bay in Saint Peter, Guernsey on the west coast of the island.
Braye may refer to:
St Sampson is a parish of Guernsey, an island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, directly north of St Peter Port. It is on the north-west and north-east coasts of the island and is split into two sections, intersected by Vale.
Vale is one of the ten parishes of Guernsey in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, Channel Islands.
Castle Cornet is a large island castle in Guernsey, and former tidal island, also known as Cornet Rock or Castle Rock. Its importance was as a defence not only of the island, but of the roadstead. In 1859 it became part of one of the breakwaters of the Guernsey's main harbour, St Peter Port's harbour.
Owain Lawgoch, full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri, was a Welsh soldier who served in Spain, France, Alsace, and Switzerland. He led a Free Company fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War. As the last politically active descendant of Llywelyn the Great in the male line, he was a claimant to the title of Prince of Gwynedd and of Wales.
Fort George is situated in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, and was built to become the main island military headquarters and to protect barracks to house the island garrison for the British Army, in place of Castle Cornet.
St. Michel du Valle is the parish church of Vale, Guernsey.
Fort Hommet is a fortification on Vazon Bay headland in Castel, Guernsey. It is built on the site of fortifications that date back to 1680, and consists of a Martello tower from 1804, later additions during the Victorian Era, and bunkers and casemates that the Germans constructed during World War II.
The British built 15 Guernsey loophole towers at various points along the coast of Guernsey between August 1778 and March 1779 to deter possible French attacks after France had declared itself an ally of the Americans in the American Revolutionary War. Towards the start of the Napoleonic Wars several towers received additional reinforcement in the form of batteries at their bases. Today, 12 towers still survive, three having been destroyed at different times. Two of the survivors, Petit Bôt and Rousse, contain interpretive exhibits that the public may examine.
The Royal Guernsey Militia has a history dating back 800 years. Always loyal to the British Crown, the men were unpaid volunteers whose wish was to defend the Island of Guernsey from foreign invaders.
The Braye du Valle is the area between the main Island of Guernsey and Le Clos du Valle, which was a tidal island to the north.
After the Wehrmacht occupied the Channel Islands on 30 June 1940, they assessed the existing defences to determine if they would be of use. The Germans found the Islands' fortifications antiquated and woefully inadequate for modern warfare.
Apart from a Roman Fort, there were very few fortifications in Alderney until the mid 19th century. These were then modified and updated in the mid 20th Century by Germans during the occupation period. Alderney at 8 km2 is now one of the most fortified places in the world.
The island of Guernsey has been fortified for several thousand years, the number of defence locations and complexity of the defence increasing with time, manpower and the improvements in weapons and tactics.
The Chateau des Marais is a protected chateau in Saint Sampson, Guernsey. The colloquial name is Ivy Castle. A moated medieval castle dating from before the 12th-century.
L'Ancresse is an area in the Vale, Guernsey, comprising a common and several beaches covering 737 Vergées.
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Coordinates: 49°29′6.5″N2°30′32.9″W / 49.485139°N 2.509139°W
