Hommet Herbe/Houmet Jerbe is a small rocky tidal island located 200 metres to the west of Grandes Rocques. Access to the island is across a field of large boulders. Flint and prehistoric pottery has been found on the island. The island is composed of a very attractive pink/apricot coloured granite. Autumn squill, rock samphire, sea campion and thrift all grow on Houmet Jerbe.
La Capelle/Chapelle dom Hue is a very small tidal island located 300 metres from the west coast of Guernsey at the southern end of Perelle Bay. Grass, thrift, sea beet and rock samphire all grow on the island.
The remains of a porpoise were found buried on the island in 2017, during an archaeological dig to look for a religious building, which was thought to have been built on the island in the late medieval period. The porpoise was buried between 1416 and 1490, according to radiocarbon dating and it is thought that it may have been buried to preserve it for consumption as food at a later date.
The skeleton of a Royal Navy sailor was discovered during another archaeological dig in 2018. It is thought that he died around 1760.
Lihoumel is a small rocky tidal island located off the west coast of the tidal island of Lihou. It is separated from Lihou by 150 metres of boulders. It is an important breeding site for gulls, shags, cormorants and oystercatchers, so access to the island is prohibited between 1st January and 31st July each year.
Lissroy is sometimes referred to as a peninsula and sometimes as a tidal islet linked to the tidal island of Lihou by a shingle ridge. Lihou and Lissroy can be reached via a stone causeway from the western coast of Guernsey at L’Erée at low spring tides. The Lissroy shingle bank is an important bird nesting site for gulls and oystercatchers, so access to it is prohibited from 1st January to 1st August. Lissroy is part of the Lihou Ramsar (wetlands of international importance) site. The island is covered in grass, brambles and bracken.
Fort Grey is a tidal island located 150 metres or so off the west coast of Guernsey at Rocquaine Bay. It is also known as Château de Rocquaine.
The island was occupied in prehistoric times - late Bronze Age (c9th century BC) pottery has been dug up on the island. The area to the east of the fort is believed to have been used for salt production in the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD.
A small fort was built on the island at an unknown date, but it was certainly there by 1617. This was demolished in 1803 and replaced by a battery, which was capable of containing 12 to 14 guns, protected by a 3 metre thick semi-circular wall. In 1804 a Martello tower was constructed and the perimeter wall was extended to completely enclose the tower. It was part of a chain of defences on Guernsey to protect the island from attack by the French. It was named after General Charles, Earl Grey of Howick, who was Governor of Guernsey from 1797-1807. It was built by local man Thomas Henry from Clos du Valle. The powder magazine was originally constructed on the outside of the fort, but in 1809 a second one was built inside the fort.
In 1891 the War Office sold Fort Grey to the States of Guernsey for £185. It was used by the Germans 1940-1945 as an anti-aircraft battery.
Fort Grey has been home to a shipwreck museum run by the States of Guernsey's museum service since 1976. The arched gateway and steps up into the fort were built at this time: previously access was by a ladder. The museum contains objects recovered from numerous ships wrecked off the coast of Guernsey.
Fort Grey is known as the Cup and Saucer by local people. The island is now permanently linked to Guernsey by a stone causeway
The island I am calling Little Island 2 doesn't seem to have a name of its own. It is located at the southern end of Port Soif on the west coast of Guernsey. It lies to the west of Little Island and a very short distance from it. There is a building on the island, but I don't know what its original purpose was. The island is covered in grass.
Little Island is a small, uninhabited tidal island and is located at the southern end of Port Soif on the west coast of Guernsey. It is separated from Guernsey by a gap of about 50 metres and is covered in grass. Thrift and autumn squill grow on the island.
Noir Hommet/Houmet is a very small tidal island located at the southern end of the Baie des Pêqueries on the west coast of Guernsey. It is separated from Guernsey by about 200 metres of boulders. Grass, rock samphire, autumn squill and thrift grow on the island.
Cliff Rock is a very small uninhabited tidal island located at the north end of the Baie des Pêqueries off the west coast of Guernsey. It is separated from the mainland of Guernsey by a gap of about 25 metres, which is covered in small boulders. The island is dominated by a very large rock formation. The rest of the island is covered with grass.
Houmet Paradis is an uninhabited tidal island located off the north east coast of Guernsey between Miellette Bay and Petils Bay. Part of the island has been quarried at some point in the past. It has also been used for gutting fish and grazing cattle. Houmet Paradis is mainly covered in grass and bracken.
In Victor Hugo's novel The Toilers of the Sea, the hero of the book Gilliatt commits suicide at Houmet Paradis by drowning himself.
The island was previously known as Houmet de L’Eperquerie, but the name was changed when it was bought by the Collas family, as their estate was at Paradis.
In 1951 James Watson from Newcastle-upon-Tyne purchased the island for £500. In 2004 his grandson sold it to an anonymous group of Guernsey islanders, who wanted it to become a nature reserve managed by the National Trust for Guernsey. Sea birds nest on the island and visitors are requested not to visit the island, apart from the central path, between 1st March and 31st July each year.
