The Forest (

Guernésiais Guernésiais, also known as ''Dgèrnésiais'', Guernsey French, and Guernsey Norman French, is the variety of the Norman language spoken in Guernsey. It is sometimes known on the island simply as "patois". As one of the langues d'oïl, it has it ...

: La Fouarêt,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: La Forêt) is a parish in

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 ...

. It is the highest parish on the island, with altitudes of up to about 100 m. The full title of the parish is ''Ste Marguerite de la Foret'', after the parish church. The old

nickname for people from La Fouarêt was ''bourdaons'' (). 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 ...

s for street addresses in this parish begin with GY8. Forest was the first parish in the Island to receive some unwelcome visitors. Chief Officer Inspector W Sculpher recorded the following in the Occurrence Book dated Wednesday, 3 July 1940: "I beg to report that at about 8pm on 30th June a number of German Armed Forces landed at the Airport, Forest."

Geography

The Forest is located in the south of

. It borders the parishes of St Peter's to the west, St Saviour's to the north-west, St Andrew's to the north and St Martin's to the east. Beaches The south coast is mostly made up of cliffs, but the beaches in The Forest include: * Le Portelet (inaccessible from land; it can be accessed by swimming from Petit Bôt or by boat) * Part of Petit Bôt Relief The parish goes up to an altitude of about 100 m (the highest in the island). The only low areas are at the coast, where there are steep cliffs.

Climate

The Meteorological Observatory has been at Guernsey Airport since it was built in 1939.

Features

The features of the parish include: * Forest church * Forest Methodist church * Coast ** A cliff walk along the South coast ** Petit Bôt bay ** Le Portelet * Guernsey Airport * Guernsey's highest point * Le Perron du Roi megalith * Military: ** Parish war memorial inside church Lych gate **

Tower 13 Tower 13 (), also known as Paris Tower 13 () was a building used for an ephemeral street art exhibition in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, France. The conversion of the building into a street art exhibition began in September 2013 and ended in O ...

, Petit Bôt Bay ** St Clair 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 Fre ...

** Saints Bay Battery dating from the

** German Occupation Museum ** German fortifications, built during the occupation 1940–45 *

Abreuvoir A watering trough (or artificial watering point) is a man-made or natural receptacle intended to provide drinking water to animals, livestock on farms or ranches or wild animals. History In Australia, the watering trough is established so ...

s (places for cattle to drink) * A number of protected buildings The parish of the Forest hosts: * Forest Douzaine Room *

Aurigny Aurigny Air Services Limited (pronounced ), commonly known as Aurigny, is the flag carrier airline of the Bailiwick of Guernsey with its head office next to Guernsey Airport in the Channel Islands, and wholly owned by the States of Guernsey ...

has its head office on the airport property * The Mallard Cinema * Countryside walks * The Met Office Guernsey Airport Terminal

Main roads

The following main roads (listed from west–east) provide important links between The Forest and the other parishes: * Rue De Manoir (leads to Torteval) * Rue De Farras (leads to St Peter's) * Route Des Blicqs (leads to St Andrew's,

St 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. P ...

and the North of the island) * Forest Road (leads to St Martin's) The following main roads (listed from west–east) are also very important as they provide access to the Parish Centre and the Airport: * Rue Des Landes * Le Bourg

Politics

Forest 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 Torteval, 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 Followi ...

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''.

Notable people

* Ernest Martin Jehan,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

officer during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Thomas de la Rue Thomas de la Rue (24 March 1793 – 7 June 1866) was a printer from Guernsey who founded De La Rue plc, a printing company which is now the world's largest commercial security printer and papermaker. Biography Born on Le Bourg, Forest, Guernsey to ...

, founder of De La Rue plc *

William Le Lacheur William Le Lacheur or Guillaume Le Lacheur (15 October 1802 – 27 June 1863), was a Guernsey sea captain who played an important role in the economic and spiritual development of Costa Rica. Le Lacheur is widely credited in Costa Rica with hav ...

, sea captain with strong links to Costa Rica

References

External links

Forest Parish website

{{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...