Bordeaux Harbour is a fishing port and bay in the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
of
Vale in the northeast of
Guernsey, about north of
Saint Peter Port
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. ...
.
The harbour is now used primarily as a beach, which is flat and low, "with stretches of fine sand and groups of boulders".
Landmarks
Vale Castle Vale Castle, is a protected building located in the Vale, Guernsey. The original name was "Le Chateau St Michel", later it became "Chateau de Val" or "Chateau de Valle" and is over 1,000 years old. It defends both St. Sampson's harbour at the easter ...
, first mentioned in the early sixteenth century, overlooks the bay, and the Bordeaux Kiosk is nearby.
There is
cromlech
A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being an ...
of note near the harbour, known as "L'Autel de Dehus" (altar of the devil).
It has been described as "consisting of two immense flat stones lying north-east and south-west, inclining towards the former direction, and supported by a number of smaller ones".
The harbour area is also noted for its birdlife, and attracts zoologists.
Quarry
A quarry of the same name as the harbour was operated close to the port for over 100 years, and allegedly produced 3.5 million tons of blue diorite over the years. It was damaged during World War II, when it was flooded with water and silt, and despite a restoration in the post-War period it later closed.
Just off the bay are the
Houmets islets,
mentioned by
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
who described Les Houmets, in his work ''
The Toilers of the Sea'' (''Les Travailleurs de la mer'').
A small battery built in the 18th-century existed at Bordeaux until all trace of the site vanished due to quarrying.
References
{{reflist
Ports and harbours of Guernsey