- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1206 · 13th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Guernsey
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 49.4530°, -2.5263°
History
Work on the castle on a rocky islet off St Peter Port began around 1206, when King John's loss of Normandy turned the Channel Islands into a frontier with France. The French took the castle in 1338 and held it for several years. In the English Civil War Guernsey sided with Parliament, but the castle garrison under Sir Peter Osborne held out for the King from 1642 to 1651. In 1672 lightning struck the gunpowder store in the keep, and the explosion destroyed the medieval tower and killed several members of the governor's family. The castle was fortified during the German occupation, and in 1947 King George VI gave it to the people of Guernsey.
What to see
The castle is reached along a breakwater from the harbour. Behind walls of many periods are museums devoted to the castle's story, maritime history, the Royal Guernsey Militia and an RAF squadron, with recreated period gardens in between. A gun is fired here every day at noon, and the battlements look out over the harbour and the neighbouring islands of Herm and Sark.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q155252
Popularity: articles about this site in 11 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).