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Interesting Facts And Figures About Jersey And The Channel Islands
Interesting Facts and Figures About
Jersey and the Channel Islands
For one small set of islands, Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey certainly have an incredible number of interesting and often surprising features!
The Channel Islands have over 150 miles of stunning coastline
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is actually made up of seven different islands: Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou and Lihou.
The island have one of the largest tidal ranges in the world and at low tide their surface area increases by a fifth!
The Channel Islands boast over 60 beaches!
They are officially the sunniest place in the British Isles
Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey both issue their very own bank notes and coins, although UK currency is widely accepted on the islands. The islands also have their own phone and postal systems.
Norman French, along with English, is still the official language of the Guernsey Courts.
Sark has no cars and aircraft are not allowed into the island’s airspace without the Seigneur's permission.
Guernsey was part of the Duchy of Normandy in 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded England. England is therefore Guernsey's oldest colony!
The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles occupied by the Germans in World War II.
Herm boasts an incredible “Shell Beach”, which is composed of millions of shells brought to the island by the Gulf Stream. It is one of only a handful across the world.
Jersey and Guernsey were the home in exile of French playwright and author, Victor Hugo who completed Les Miserables on Guernsey.
Sark has many weird and wonderful laws – one being that a man can legally beat his wife with a stick – but only if it is smaller than his little finger!
Some of the islands’ flora and fauna are found nowhere else in the British Isles.
The islands are self-governing and have their own parliaments.
Alderney is home to the only railway in the Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are all smaller than Greater London!
There are 300 births every day at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (Jersey Zoo)
Sark is closed to day trippers on Sundays!
Jersey’s airport is rather smarter than the Island’s original one, which was located on the beach at St Helier!
Men are still banned from knitting in the Channel Islands during the months of August and September, because their ancestors so loved the woolly craft that crops used to rot in the fields, unharvested. The seventeenth century government stepped in and the men could knit no more!
Brecqhou is privately owned and closed to public. The island also has its own fiscal system--i.e. the owners can establish their own levels of income tax!
Guernsey’s’ capital St Peter Port is very busy with over 80 cruise ships visiting each year!
The Channel Islands boast over 300 restaurants.
Many of the older houses in the Channel Islands have a witch’s seat in them, which comprise of stones that jut out of the house’s gables. The islanders believed that by providing a seat for passing witches to rest on would prevent them from falling foul of evil spells!
Jersey was a favourite holiday destination of the Father of Communism Karl Marx
Herm is home to the smallest prison in the world. It has room for just one person!
The Little Chapel on Guernsey is the smallest chapel in the world. It was made by a French monk and is decorated with broken china and shells.
There is a prehistoric forest buried beneath the surfer’s beach at Jersey’s St Ouen’s Bay
The people from Guernsey and Jersey think they are descendants of fairies, known on the islands as “pouques” (pronounced “pooks”)! The last reported sighting of a fairy was in the early 1900’s!
The majority of Sark is 350 feet above sea level and so the steep transfer from the port up to the town is usually done on the “tractor & toast rack” – a tractor and trailer that people sit on. The Channel Islands boast over 100 species of crab, 240 different varieties of seaweed and over four million oysters in their waters!
Five different wines are produced at la Mare vineyards on Jersey
Over 300 free guided walks are offered every year in the Channel Islands on a range of subjects
Nicole Kidman’s latest film, The Others, is set in Jersey.
Jersey and the Channel Islands
For one small set of islands, Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey certainly have an incredible number of interesting and often surprising features!
The Channel Islands have over 150 miles of stunning coastline
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is actually made up of seven different islands: Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou and Lihou.
The island have one of the largest tidal ranges in the world and at low tide their surface area increases by a fifth!
The Channel Islands boast over 60 beaches!
They are officially the sunniest place in the British Isles
Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey both issue their very own bank notes and coins, although UK currency is widely accepted on the islands. The islands also have their own phone and postal systems.
Norman French, along with English, is still the official language of the Guernsey Courts.
Sark has no cars and aircraft are not allowed into the island’s airspace without the Seigneur's permission.
Guernsey was part of the Duchy of Normandy in 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded England. England is therefore Guernsey's oldest colony!
The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles occupied by the Germans in World War II.
Herm boasts an incredible “Shell Beach”, which is composed of millions of shells brought to the island by the Gulf Stream. It is one of only a handful across the world.
Jersey and Guernsey were the home in exile of French playwright and author, Victor Hugo who completed Les Miserables on Guernsey.
Sark has many weird and wonderful laws – one being that a man can legally beat his wife with a stick – but only if it is smaller than his little finger!
Some of the islands’ flora and fauna are found nowhere else in the British Isles.
The islands are self-governing and have their own parliaments.
Alderney is home to the only railway in the Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are all smaller than Greater London!
There are 300 births every day at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (Jersey Zoo)
Sark is closed to day trippers on Sundays!
Jersey’s airport is rather smarter than the Island’s original one, which was located on the beach at St Helier!
Men are still banned from knitting in the Channel Islands during the months of August and September, because their ancestors so loved the woolly craft that crops used to rot in the fields, unharvested. The seventeenth century government stepped in and the men could knit no more!
Brecqhou is privately owned and closed to public. The island also has its own fiscal system--i.e. the owners can establish their own levels of income tax!
Guernsey’s’ capital St Peter Port is very busy with over 80 cruise ships visiting each year!
The Channel Islands boast over 300 restaurants.
Many of the older houses in the Channel Islands have a witch’s seat in them, which comprise of stones that jut out of the house’s gables. The islanders believed that by providing a seat for passing witches to rest on would prevent them from falling foul of evil spells!
Jersey was a favourite holiday destination of the Father of Communism Karl Marx
Herm is home to the smallest prison in the world. It has room for just one person!
The Little Chapel on Guernsey is the smallest chapel in the world. It was made by a French monk and is decorated with broken china and shells.
There is a prehistoric forest buried beneath the surfer’s beach at Jersey’s St Ouen’s Bay
The people from Guernsey and Jersey think they are descendants of fairies, known on the islands as “pouques” (pronounced “pooks”)! The last reported sighting of a fairy was in the early 1900’s!
The majority of Sark is 350 feet above sea level and so the steep transfer from the port up to the town is usually done on the “tractor & toast rack” – a tractor and trailer that people sit on. The Channel Islands boast over 100 species of crab, 240 different varieties of seaweed and over four million oysters in their waters!
Five different wines are produced at la Mare vineyards on Jersey
Over 300 free guided walks are offered every year in the Channel Islands on a range of subjects
Nicole Kidman’s latest film, The Others, is set in Jersey.
