Available as a half day tour or as part of a full day tour combined with “Redcoats and Privateers? (including the Battle of Jersey 1781) tour” (“Combined Jersey Military History and Battlefields tour”). As with all my tours, it is private for you, and you are not joining a larger group.
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.
Medieval 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.
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 One Hundred Years War
- Parish Churches – (driving past)
- Mont Orgueil Castle – the unconquered castle
- Chastel Sedement, Trinity – the civilian fortified citidel
- Grosnez Castle siege in 1373 during the One Hundred Years War
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