Medieval Castles & Battlefields Tour

Our Medieval Castles & Battlefields Tour explores the age of swords, bows and arrows when castle building demonstrated power. Jersey has two magnificent medieval castles, Gorey and Grosnez, albeit that the latter has been in ruins for the last 650 years! Battles were also brutal bloody affairs, and we will see as gunpowder and cannons entered the battlefield, the medieval period came to an end.

Our Medieval Castles & Battlefields tour starts when in 1204, King John of England lost the Duchy of Normandy, of which the Channel Islands had formed part for the previous 250 years or so. At a stroke, Jersey became a frontier post of the English Crown possessions and there began some 600 years of near continuous war with France, castle building, battles, sieges and occupation by the French. Ever since that date, Jersey’s history, laws and customs, and indeed its very existence, have all been shaped by events as a consequence of the front-line position that Jersey found itself in.

Feudal life was tough and warfare brutal. If a soldier’s life was hard, the civilian population were generally very poor, had powerful overlords in peace and in war, and still had to endure, like their ancestors, raiding forces, who thought nothing of pillaging and causing wholesale destruction across the Island. 

You will be guided across the Island visiting a selection of sites from the Medieval Period. We hear how Jersey evolved as a Crown possession, with different laws, customs and privileges which grew into modern Jersey. We will visit castles, fortifications and battlefields.

This is a half day tour which is available to book as a private group tour on any available day all year around PLEASE BOOK ONLINE OR CONTACT US FOR FURTHER OPTIONS

Highlights

  • Site of 1406 Battle of the Bridge (or Sands) – Hector de Pontbriand and Pero Nino against English and Jersey forces – one of the many battles of the Hundred Years War
  • Parish Churches – (driving past)
  • Mont Orgueil Castle – the unconquered castle (entry only on full day tours)
  • Chastel Sedement, Trinity
  • Jardin D’Olivet, 1549 battlefield site, Trinity
  • Grosnez Castle siege in 1373 during Hundred Years War

Without much documentary evidence from the medieval period, it’s history is a mix of legend, myth and known facts. Visit castles and battlefields, handle the weapons and solve the enigmas of this period – why and how?

Click the Map icon (below main image in grey bar to the right) to view locations and further information or click here to view all locations

History Alive’s tours are devised in a way to give our guests an overall and enjoyable experience which means that we won’t always follow the same route or stop at all the above highlights, although we will do our best to do so. This gives us the ability to make changes either to take advantage of, or to mitigate against factors such as weather or other delays which might affect timing. On full day tours, we stop at lunch times where refreshments/food can be purchased and on all tours, we will stop as necessary for refreshments and comfort breaks.

Our Tours are a combination of a vehicle tour and exploring sites on foot. Please refer to the Level of Fitness Grading.

 For what’s included in the tours and prices see Information below

We offset our carbon footprint for each tour and additionally match it with a donation towards seagrass conservation

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The Battle of Sluys 1340

A naval battle, fought just outside the port of Sluys (in modern day Zeeland, in the Netherlands) between Edward III’s fleet and that of King Philippe VI of France’s, had a significant impact on the Channel Islands . France and England had been at war since November 1337 in what would become known as the Hundred Years War. The war …

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