Gorey Castle in Jersey Channel Islands

Gorey Castle is one of the most sublime and imposing sights in Jersey. Dominating the Royal Bay of Grouville, this imposing medieval fortress has played a pivotal role in the history of this beautiful British Channel Island.

Long ago, the sea between Jersey and France was a low, marshy plain with a few low hills, of which today only the Ecrehous reef protrudes above the waterline. The great rock at Gorey would have towered like a mountain over these lands, but as the Ice Age ended Jersey was severed from France and became an island. Neolithic pottery has been found on the castle mound. For the early Iron Age peoples that moved here as temperatures rose and the long aeons of cold ended, this rock would have served as a natural defensive site.

The Channel Islands were an integral part of Normandy, the domain of William the Conqueror who stormed ashore at Hastings in 1066 and conquered the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. Under the Angevin Empire, England and its continental lands formed a unified cross-Channel domain, but as the power of France grew the empire was threatened.

Finally, in 1204, the motherland of Normandy was lost and the islands were severed. In return for taxation privileges and a promise of local autonomy, the islands stayed loyal to King John as their "Norman duke", the King of England. Their fate as a cockpit of vicious warfare between England and France was sealed.

It is not surprising that the first reference to Gorey Castle is in 1212, when King John awarded Philippe d'Aubigny "the custody of Jersey with our Castle". The great fortress is essentially a thirteenth century creation that has been relentlessly modified and expanded since, right up to the brutal German military occupation of 1940-45. Today it is a major tourist attraction and a spectacular Jersey wedding venue. The history of this great castle, known to the French as Mont Orgueil - Mount Pride - is the story of Jersey itself.

Bertrand du Guesclin believed that he could seize the fortress at Gorey. Du Guesclin was one of the greatest generals in French history, immortalised today in a statue and tomb in the Breton city of Dinan. His reputation preceded him and his name spread fear throughout Europe. In July 1373 he landed with a force of two thousand soldiers and his sappers set to work undermining the castle walls. Yet the English held out and the castle was saved.

Through these bloody, brutal medieval years the castle held Jersey safe under the English crown. Yet finally in 1461 the French subdued it, perhaps through treachery, and it became a French fortress - Mont Orgueil. The tables turned and on 17th May 1468 the castle was recaptured, and remained in English hands until that fateful day in 1940 when the Nazis marched into the island.

Gorey Castle was the original residence of the Governors of Jersey, and Sir Walter Raleigh was perhaps its most famous master. This irrepressible buccaneer, explorer and New World adventurer who brought tobacco and potatoes back to England for the first time appreciated the history and beauty of the castle. Technological advances had made the fortress vulnerable and a sophisticated, state-of-the-art sixteenth century replacement was under construction in St Aubin's Bay - namely, Elizabeth Castle in St. Helier. Yet Raleigh refused to demolish Gorey Castle, as customary military practice would dictate. He realised the architectural majesty of the building: "T'were a pity to cast down such a stately Fort".

Jersey thrived as the centuries rolled on. The island was loyal to the King in the English Civil War, and the de Carteret seigneurial family were rewarded with vast tracts of America which were promptly named "New Jersey". The purity of the Island's livestock became world-famous as Jersey Cows were exported globally. Finally in the Victorian age a little train line was constructed up to Gorey harbour and the advent of mass tourism saw the castle become a backdrop for hordes of British holidaymakers enjoying the sunny Channel Island climes.

The final, darker shadow to fall over the castle came in the black months of July 1940 when Hitler's armies marched into the defenceless, tiny Channel Islands. The swastika flew over Gorey Castle and the Nazi legacy can be seen in the concrete gun emplacements on the castle top. Finally, the island was liberated, on May 9, 1945 and the shadows lifted. At long last, Gorey Castle's long and proud role as a military stronghold could pass into the pages of history.

(c) Westocean/J Rozel 2010