Saint Peter Port Explained
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]
- Canton 1 or North Canton
- Canton 2 or Canton of the North-West
- Canton 3 or Canton of the South-West
- 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:
- St Peter Port Harbour
- Town Church, Guernsey, the parish church of St Peter Port at the heart of the town
- Buildings
- The Market, the Arcade, the High Street, the Pollet, Smith Street, Mill Street and Mansel Street, which are all pedestrian priority and part of the shopping district
- Cobbled streets and narrow passageways of the old town
- Guernsey Museum at Candie (Candie Museum)[12]
- Candie Gardens[13]
- Marinas for visiting and local boats
- Military:
- Castle Cornet, the historic fortress that guarded the strategic entrance to the port. The castle was formerly a tidal island, but since 1859 a breakwater has connected it to the enlarged harbour.
- German Naval Signals HQ, HQ of the German Naval Commander Channel Islands which was established next to La Collinette Hotel, and was responsible for all radio traffic to and from Germany and the other Islands. The last operational Signals HQ that was running up until 9 May 1945, using the Enigma code machines that were being decoded by the staff at Bletchley Park.[14] [15]
- Island war memorial at the top of Smith Street[16]
- Parish war memorial at the bottom of Smith Street[17]
- St Stephens war memorial in St Stephens church[18]
- Liberation monument
- Anglo-Boer War memorial, in the Avenue[19]
- Fort George
- Cemetery at Fort George
- Commonwealth War Graves at Le Foulon cemetery
- Clarence Battery dating from the Napoleonic Wars
- La Vallette military museum
- German fortifications, built during the occupation 1940–45[10]
- Two 13.5 cm K 09 German World War I Canon near Victoria Tower
- The Guernsey Aquarium, situated in fortified tunnels at La Vallette, built during the German occupation. Scheduled to close down permanently next month (October 2019) due to lack of income and funds. As of December 2021, it is now closed. [20]
- Bathing places at La Vallette
- A number of protected buildings[21]
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:
- Les Banques (leads up the coast to St Sampson's and the north of the island)
- Rohais (leads to the parish of Castel)
- Mount Row (leads to St Andrew's and the west of the island)
- Ruette Brayes (leads to St Martin's and the south of the island)
- Fort Road (leads to St Martin's)
The following coastal roads (listed from north to south) are also very important as they provide access to the shops, carparks and the harbour:
- St George's Esplanade
- North Esplanade
- South Esplanade
Politics
Saint Peter Port comprises two administrative division, St Peter Port South and St Peter Port North.
In the 2016 Guernsey general election in:
- St Peter Port South there was a 2,068 or 63% turnout to elect five Deputies
- St Peter Port North there was a 2,639 or 65% turnout to elect six Deputies.
Notable people
See also: List of people from Guernsey.
- Margaret Ann Neve - Supercentenarian and the oldest woman in the world until her death in 1903
- Sir Isaac Brock – Major General, "Hero of Upper Canada", War of 1812
- Matt Le Tissier, footballer
- Linda Martel, (1956-1961) healer
- Alison Merrien MBE, World indoors bowls champion
- George Métivier, poet
- Heather Watson, tennis player, Team GB athlete and Wimbledon Champion
- Victor Hugo, French writer, In exile in St-Peter Port from 1855 to 1870.
- Cameron Chalmers, athlete
Numismatic History
See also: Guernsey pound. Guernsey bank notes feature a number of parish buildings:
- One pound, the Market and the Royal Court
- One pound commemorative, the Market and Fountain Street
- Five pound, the Town Church
- Ten pound, Elizabeth College
- Twenty pound, St James concert hall
- Fifty pound, Royal Court house
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: St Peter Port Guernsey Guernsey's Capital. 2021-08-30. www.visitguernsey.com.
- 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 .
- Web site: Bailiwick of Guernsey . Crwflags.com . 2012-10-04.
- Web site: Guernsey Election of States Deputies, 2008 . Islandlife.org . 2008-04-23 . 2012-10-04.
- Web site: Cambridge Park | Visit Guernsey .
- Web site: RHS Britain in Bloom 2014 UK Finals Judges' Reports . Britain in Bloom.
- 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 .
- Web site: Places to visit . National Trust of Guernsey.
- Web site: Victoria Tower . 15 October 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
- 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 .
- Web site: Guilles Alles Library . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151207040603/http://www.library.gg/index.php . 2015-12-07 .
- Web site: Candie Museum . 12 July 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
- Web site: Candie Gardens . 19 July 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
- Web site: German Naval Signals HQ.
- 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.
- Web site: Bailiwick of Guernsey War Memorial . Great War CI.
- Web site: St Peter Port Parish War Shrine, Guernsey . Great War CI.
- Web site: St. Stephen's Parish Memorial, Guernsey . Great War CI.
- Web site: South African War Memorial . 8 August 2012 . Guernsey Museums.
- News: The Aquarium in Guernsey set to close. BBC News. 25 September 2019.
- Web site: PROTECTED BUILDINGS . Environment - Guernsey government.
- Careyroots http://www.careyroots.com/castle.html
- Book: Dillon, Paddy . Channel Island Walks . 1999 . 9781852842888 . Cicerone Press Limited, 1999 . registration .
- Web site: Harbour Carvival . Guernsey Round Table.
- Web site: Town Carnival . Town Centre Partnership.