Torteval ( Guernésiais: Tortévas) is the smallest of the ten parishes of

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, one of the western parishes. Its name comes from the Guernésiais words for "twisting valley". The parish is split in two by the parish of St. Pierre du Bois, with the part in the east known as Torteval. The detached

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

to the west is named Pleinmont-Torteval. It includes the westernmost point in Guernsey, and a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

. The reserve, designed for birds in the 1970s, was to be redeveloped for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. In Guernésiais, people from Torteval were nicknamed "ânes à pid dé ch'fa", or "

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

s with

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

's hooves". In the centre of the parish is a church designed by John Wilson and built in 1818, with the oldest bell in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, dating from 1432. The church is built on the site of an earlier church, consecrated on 4 November 1140, that had fallen into disrepair. The current church has the tallest steeple in Guernsey, which is intended to be used as a sea mark. It was proposed in 1849 to install a light on the steeple, but after inspection by Trinity House it was found unsuitable. The

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

for street addresses in this parish begins with GY8. The parish produces a regular magazine called ''Les Tortévalais''.

Features

The features of the parish include: * Torteval Church ? * La Tables des Pions * Military: ** Parish war memorial is outside the parish church ** Fort Pezeries ** Les Tielles Battery dating from the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

** Narron Battery dating from the

** Pleinmont Battery dating from the

** Ruined Watch-house, Pleinmont (mentioned in Victor Hugo's book 'The Toilers of the Sea') ** Pleinmont Observation Tower ** Batterie Dollmann ** German fortifications, built during the occupation 1940-45 * A number of protected buildings * Bays ** Portelet (

MCS Music * Motion City Soundtrack, a pop punk / rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota Science and technology * Matrix cable system, submarine communications cable connecting Indonesia and Singapore * Megawatt Charging System, electric vehicle cha ...

recommended) ** Rocquaine * Pleinmont Point * Cliff paths * Abreuvoirs (places for cattle to drink) * Torteval nature reserve The parish of Torteval hosts: * The Torteval Douzaine * Torteval scarecrow festival * TV relay tower * Hotels and restaurants * Countryside walks

Politics

Torteval comprises part of the West

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

with Forest, St. Saviour's and St. Pierre-du-Bois In the

2016 Guernsey general election The 2016 Guernsey general election was held on 27 April 2016 to elect 38 members of the States of Guernsey who will serve until 2020. There was a by-election in October 2016 to fill a vacancy in the district of Vale. Electoral system Follow ...

there was a 3,188 or 74% turnout to elect five Deputies. Those elected (in order of votes received) being ''Al Brouard'', ''Andrea Dudley-Owen'', ''Emilie Yerby'', ''David De Lisle'' and ''Shane Langlois''.

References

{{Coord, 49, 25, 47, N, 2, 38, 46, W, source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Parishes of Guernsey