Saint Peter Port Explained

St. Peter Port
Native Name:Saint-Pierre-Port
Settlement Type:Parish
Mapsize:150px
Coordinates:49.4555°N -2.5368°W
Subdivision Type:Crown Dependency
Subdivision Name:Bailiwick of Guernsey
Leader Title:Electoral district
Leader Name:Divided into St Peter Port North and St Peter Port South
Unit Pref:Metric
Area Total Km2:6.5
Elevation M:0
Population Total:18958
Population As Of:2019
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:GMT
Timezone1 Dst:UTC+01
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:GY1

St. Peter Port (French: Saint-Pierre Port) is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958.

St. Peter Port is a small town (commonly referred to by locals as just "town")[1] consisting mostly of steep narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes. It is known that a trading post/town existed here before Roman times with a pre-Christian name which has not survived.

The parish covers an area of 6.5 km2. The postal code for addresses in the parish starts with GY1.

People from St. Peter Port were nicknamed "les Villais" (the townspeople) or "cllichards" in Guernésiais.

Geography

St. Peter Port is on the east coast of Guernsey overlooking Herm and tiny Jethou; a further channel separates Sark and surrounding islets such as Brecqhou; Normandy's long Cotentin Peninsula and, to the south-east, Jersey are visible in very clear conditions from some of the town's highest vantage points. The parish borders St. Sampson in the north, The Vale in the north-west, St. Andrew in the west and St. Martin in the south.

The name of the nearest channel is the Little Russel, in which sits the Bréhon Tower; that separating Sark is the Big Russel. Both in width are less than half of Guernsey's greatest length and dotted with coastal rocks and stacks quite near those islands, some of which are narrowly submerged.

ReliefThe land in the north and by the harbour is low-lying but not marshy. In the south, the land gets higher (but not as high as St Martin's or the Forest). Grassy, gently terraced cliffs behind sea walls (including projections) topped by trees characterise the southern part of the coast here (by an underground military museum and historic battery at semi-wooded Havelet). In the north is the more built-up Admiral Park development. To the south of the town lies Havelet Bay and the coastal path which leads to the very pretty Fermain Bay after a walk of about 20–25 minutes.

Climate

St. Peter Port has an oceanic climate (Cfb) with mild summers and cool winters.

Subdivisions

Saint Peter Port is subdivided into four cantons:[2]

  1. Canton 1 or North Canton
  2. Canton 2 or Canton of the North-West
  3. Canton 3 or Canton of the South-West
  4. Canton 4 or Canton of the South

In addition, the islands of Herm and Jethou belong to the parish,[3] but are not part of any canton. They belong to Electoral district Saint Peter Port South.[4]

Sport and leisure

St. Peter Port has an English Isthmian League club, Guernsey F.C. who play at Footes Lane. The Guernsey Rugby Football Club also play at Footes Lane and compete in National League 3 London & SE.

Media

St. Peter Port is covered by the local television news programmes: BBC Channel Islands News and ITV News Channel TV. Guernsey's two main radio stations: BBC Radio Guernsey and Island FM are based in the town. The local newspaper is the Guernsey Press.

Parks and gardens

Candie Gardens, an award-winning restored Victorian Garden, features statues of Victor Hugo and Queen Victoria. The Guernsey Museum at Candie and the Priaulx Library are both situated within the grounds of the garden respectively.

Cambridge Park is a recreational park that includes Winston Churchill Avenue, ‘a leafy tree-lined pedestrian avenue’, named after Winston Churchill, and a skate park.[5] In 2014, the parish was a Gold & Category Winner in the RHS Britain in Bloom competition,[6] followed in 2016 with another Gold medal.[7]

Features

The features of the town include:

The parish of Saint Peter Port hosts:

Main roads

The following main roads (listed from north-south) provide important links between St Peter Port and the other parishes:

The following coastal roads (listed from north to south) are also very important as they provide access to the shops, carparks and the harbour:

Politics

Saint Peter Port comprises two administrative division, St Peter Port South and St Peter Port North.

In the 2016 Guernsey general election in:

Notable people

See also: List of people from Guernsey.

Numismatic History

See also: Guernsey pound. Guernsey bank notes feature a number of parish buildings:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: St Peter Port Guernsey Guernsey's Capital. 2021-08-30. www.visitguernsey.com.
  2. Web site: St. Peter Port Parish, Canton Boundaries . Stppcons.com . 2007-11-14 . 2012-10-04 . 2011-10-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111006021814/http://www.stppcons.com/information/cantons.html . dead .
  3. Web site: Bailiwick of Guernsey . Crwflags.com . 2012-10-04.
  4. Web site: Guernsey Election of States Deputies, 2008 . Islandlife.org . 2008-04-23 . 2012-10-04.
  5. Web site: Cambridge Park | Visit Guernsey .
  6. Web site: RHS Britain in Bloom 2014 UK Finals Judges' Reports . Britain in Bloom.
  7. Web site: RHS Britain in Bloom 2016 UK Finals Full Results . RHS Britain in Bloom . 2016-10-17 . 2016-10-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161018205338/https://www.rhs.org.uk/communities/pdf/bloom/Britain-in-Bloom-Results-2016 . dead .
  8. Web site: Places to visit . National Trust of Guernsey.
  9. Web site: Victoria Tower . 15 October 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
  10. Web site: Townie No 1 . 2015-11-12 . 2016-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120331/http://www.stppcons.com/resources/The-Townie-Issue-1-WEB.pdf . dead .
  11. Web site: Guilles Alles Library . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151207040603/http://www.library.gg/index.php . 2015-12-07 .
  12. Web site: Candie Museum . 12 July 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
  13. Web site: Candie Gardens . 19 July 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
  14. Web site: German Naval Signals HQ.
  15. Web site: German Naval Signals HQ - Guernsey Museums. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180822040934/http://museums.gov.gg/German-Naval-Signals-HQ. 2018-08-22.
  16. Web site: Bailiwick of Guernsey War Memorial . Great War CI.
  17. Web site: St Peter Port Parish War Shrine, Guernsey . Great War CI.
  18. Web site: St. Stephen's Parish Memorial, Guernsey . Great War CI.
  19. Web site: South African War Memorial . 8 August 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
  20. News: The Aquarium in Guernsey set to close. BBC News. 25 September 2019.
  21. Web site: PROTECTED BUILDINGS . Environment - Guernsey government.
  22. Careyroots http://www.careyroots.com/castle.html
  23. Book: Dillon, Paddy . Channel Island Walks . 1999 . 9781852842888 . Cicerone Press Limited, 1999 . registration .
  24. Web site: Harbour Carvival . Guernsey Round Table.
  25. Web site: Town Carnival . Town Centre Partnership.