Saint Peter Port Harbour is located in

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. ...

, Guernsey. It was a natural anchorage used by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

which has been changed into an artificial harbour that is now the island's main port for passengers. Loose cargo, liquids and gas are shipped to and from St Sampson's harbour.

Castle Cornet Castle Cornet is a large island castle in Guernsey, and former tidal island, also known as Cornet Rock or Castle Rock. Its importance was as a defence not only of the island, but of the roadstead. In 1859 it became part of one of the breakwater ...

has formed the harbour main defence for centuries. The castle was formerly a tidal island, but since 1859 a breakwater has connected it to the enlarged harbour.

History

The earliest evidence of shipping was the discover of a wreck in 1982 in the entrance of the harbour, which has been named "Asterix". It is thought to be a 3rd-century Roman cargo vessel and was probably at anchor or grounded when the fire broke out. The first breakwater, from before the 13th century was a mole, made of loose stones, where the Albert Pier now stands. In 1605, a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

authorised a ''pettie Custume'' tax on imports to Guernsey to pay for harbour development. The English Civil War saw the harbour in the firing line in 1643 between the Royalist held

and the Parliamentarian held town. Cannonballs fired from the castle caused some damage to the town. Royal Air Force Coastal Command, 1939-1945

In 1831 gas lamps replaced oil lamps on quays, in 1857 electric lights were demonstrated. The harbour piers were extended by 1864 to allow ships to berth at any state of the tide. Problems were experienced with many piers, quicksand, subsidence and bulges were often solved with piles and by reducing the weight through making problem piers hollow. Dredging in 1899 and removal of some rock from the harbour bed, improved services. Since 1881 the harbour has housed the Saint Peter Port Lifeboat Station, originally in a building on the Castle Pier. The

First World War 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, ...

saw the establishment of a French seaplane base, on the pier close to Castle Cornet, in St Peter Port. The pilots flew on constant watch for German submarines. On 28 June 1940, German commanders sent a squadron of

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

s over the islands and bombed the harbours of Guernsey and Jersey. In

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 ...

, the main town of Guernsey, some lorries lined up to load

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es for export to England were mistaken by the reconnaissance for troop carriers. Forty-four islanders were killed in the raids. The BBC then broadcast the message that the islands had been declared "open towns", after Prime Minister Winston Churchill refused to announce the demilitarisation through diplomatic channels, and later in the day reported the German bombing of the island. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

saw the town also bombed by Allied bombers which killed harbour workers and caused damage to the harbour, such as on 14 June 1944, having been identified by

Cryptanalysis of the Enigma Cryptanalysis of the Enigma ciphering system enabled the western Allies in World War II to read substantial amounts of Morse-coded radio communications of the Axis powers that had been enciphered using Enigma machines. This yielded military in ...

intercepts, which was confirmed with a solo photographic reconnaissance Spitfire from No. 541 Squadron RAF, German submarine U-275 was attacked by no less than 8

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

strike attack aircraft of

No. 263 Squadron RAF No 263 Squadron was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron formed in Italy towards the end of the First World War. After being disbanded in 1919 it was reformed in 1939 flying mainly strike and heavy fighter aircraft until becoming No 1 Squadro ...

while tied up in harbour. No damage was caused to the submarine; escorting vessels were not so lucky, where the rockets hit a Dutch coaster M.V. Karel in the harbour. Many windows in town were shattered including most of those in the Town Church. The Nazi German forces improved the defences of the harbour including building a number of steel and concrete bunkers and casemates, most of which are located on the Castle pier. One bunker was removed from the New Jetty after the war due to fears that weight may collapse the jetty. Considerable work has recently been undertaken strengthening the New Jetty. A workshop erected by the Germans on the Albert Pier was demolished in the 1970s. During the mid 1980s the harbour was dredged to provide easier access for shipping, with the excavated aggregate pumped through pipes to reclaim the land currently used for the North Beach parking, between the harbour and the Queen Elizabeth II Marina.

Harbour Facilities

Freight and Passengers

A passenger terminal and customs facilities are located on St Julian's Pier. Facilities at the harbour include two

ro-ro Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ramps for cars and lorries that travel on car/passenger ferries such as the 102m long trimaran '' Condor Liberation'' or freight/car/passenger traditional ferries such as the ''Commodore Clipper''. Two large cranes and a number of smaller ones facilitate the loading/unloading of containers.

Piers

Albert Pier

The southern arm of the original harbour going east from near the Town Church was originally a mole, referred to in 1275 by

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a va ...

when it was mentioned as needing reconstruction, given permission to raise a local tax to cover the cost, little was done until a dry stone pier, was constructed by 1580. The pier was well built, standing 35 ft high and 360 ft long, paved with a parapet and still being in good condition in 1815. Until 1806 a roundhouse tower at the end of the pier had been used as a holding cell for prisoners who needed to be shipped by sea to Castle Cornet, a lighthouse was built on the remains of the roundhouse in 1831 before being demolished in 1860. Improved in 1861-63 with north return arm now at right angles. It was renamed in honour of Prince Albert who had died in 1861. A statue of Prince Albert, a copy of an original by Joseph Durham, was erected in 1863.

North or Crown Pier

The northern arm of the original harbour heads east from the Quay, with a retaining pier for the Careening Hard going north. Originally built from 1703 as a breakwater, gradually improved and by 1750 was completed as a dry construction with an arm heading south east. The harbour quay was completed by the late 1770s, prior to that everything was landed on the beach, cattle still being made to swim ashore. In 1838 the entrance to the old harbour was widened to make it 40 ft at the top and 68 ft at the bottom. In 1893 the pier was rebuilt to 220 ft length. Saint Peter Port Harbour at low tide (2014)

Saint Peter Port Harbour at low tide (2014)

St Julians Pier

St Julian's Pier is the pier running east from St Julian's Avenue roundabout. The foundation stone for the pier being laid in 1853. The first

weighbridge A truck scale (US), weighbridge (non-US) or railroad scale is a large set of scales, usually mounted permanently on a concrete foundation, that is used to weigh entire rail or road vehicles and their contents. By weighing the vehicle both e ...

was built on the pier in 1861, later rebuilt in stone in 1892 and upgraded to 20-ton in 1923. Moving east along the pier you reach the Cambridge Berth (1909), the new Inter-Island Quay, the Ro-Ro ramps (1975), the New Jetty (1927) and finally the White Rock Pier with its Lo-Lo facilities.

Castle Pier

The Castle Pier was constructed in the 1850s to protect the southern side of the expanded harbour. Connecting the south esplanade with Castle Cornet to the east. There is a retaining wall for the Albert Marina, the Fish Quay built from the model yacht pond, a connecting bridge to

, and at the end the Castle Breakwater, authorised in 1854, completed in 1861, with its lighthouse completed 1868. The abattoir was completed and the Victoria Boat Pond, later called the ''Model Yacht Pond'', was opened in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. In the

a French seaplane base was established on the pier, next to the pond. From 1931 to 1951 oil was imported at the Albert dock, the Germans building tunnels in 1942 to house fuel containers at La Vallette, the tunnels now form a museum.

Fish Quay

A purpose built quay built in 1987 with a reinforced concrete deck supported on piles with pontoons, built out from the Castle Pier to provide facilities for the small number of local fishing boats.

Local yachts

Two marinas are dedicated to local yachts and motor boats. The smaller original 1975 Albert Marina, located between the Castle and Albert piers and the newer Queen Elizabeth II Marina located north of the St Julian's Pier which was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1989. Both marinas have retaining sills.

Visiting yachts

Visiting tourist yachts and motor vessels can tie up to pontoons inside the inner harbour, which has a fixed barrier to maintain water in the harbour at low tide, or may moor against outer harbour deep water pontoons. St Peter Port marina is the largest marina in the British Isles, it hosts over 10,500 visiting yachts every year.

Cruise ships

The island has become a regular destination for cruise ships with over 100 ships arriving between April and October and is the largest tender port for cruise liners in Europe. The restricted size of the harbour will not allow cruise ships to enter resulting in the ships needing to anchor in the roads. The disembarkation of passengers, mainly using their own ships tenders was, until 2014 using a

ramp on the White Rock pier until an alternative pontoon and ramp were installed attached to the Albert Pier. Initially the ramp caused complaints as it was considered too steep to passengers to climb when tides were very low, in 2015 this was rectified with a longer ramp which reduced the gradient. Businesses are developing for transporting and entertaining the 130,000+ annual visitors, with some queues being experienced on days when two large ships arrive on the same day.

Memorials

A number of commemoration plaques and memorials are located at the harbour: At start of St Julians Pier * Plaque in memory of the local people lost when

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger Ocean liner, liner, operated by the White Star Line, which Sinking of the Titanic, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton ...

sank On St Julians Pier: * Plaque to commemorate evacuation of children in 1940 * Plaque in memory of those killed in the harbour bombing in 1940 * Plaque in memory of the holocaust and Jewish residents deported in 1942 * Plaque to commemorate deportation of islanders in 1942-3 * Plaque in memory of

foreign workers Foreign workers or guest workers are people who work in a country other than one of which they are a citizen. Some foreign workers use a guest worker program in a country with more preferred job prospects than in their home country. Guest worke ...

who died in 1940-5 * Guernsey Resistance plaque * Liberation monument to commemorate the liberation in 1945 (winner of

Civic Trust Award The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...

in 1997 At end of St Julians Pier * Plaque in memory of loss of

SS Stella (1890) ''Stella'' was a passenger ferry in service with the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). She was built in Glasgow in 1890, and wrecked in 1899 off the Casquets during a crossing from Southampton to Guernsey. Building and registration In ...

and sacrifice of Mary Ann Rogers. On slipway in inner harbour: * Stone commemorating landing of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

and

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon du ...

in August 1846 * Stone commemorating landing of Task Force 135 troops on 9 May 1945 On Albert Pier: * Statue of Prince Albert

Gallery

Image:CastleCornet.png, An old print of Castle Cornet c. 1814. Image:Liberation Monument Guernsey 2.jpg, Liberation Monument Image:Guernsey July 2010 Plaque 51.jpg, Evacuation of children Image:Guernsey July 2010 Plaque 52.jpg, Deportation of three Jews Image:Guernsey July 2010 Plaque 53.jpg, Deportation of islanders Image:Arrival at St Peter Port, Guernsey - May 1945 Art.IWMARTLD5600.jpg, British troops landing during the liberation

References

{{UK Docks Ports and harbours of Guernsey Saint Peter Port