Vale (

Guernésiais Guernésiais (), also known as Guerneseyese, ''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 ...

: ''Lé Vale''; French: ''Le Valle'') is one of the ten

parishes of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes the island of Guernsey and other islands such as Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, and Lihou. Each parish was established, probably in the 11th century, as a religious area, each having its parish church ...

in the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of ...

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. In 933 the islands, formerly under the control of

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

, then

Duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany (, ; ) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of France, bordered by the Bay of Biscay to the west, and the English Channel to the north. ...

were annexed by the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple, King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a r ...

. The island of Guernsey and the other

Channel Island The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consist ...

s represent the last remnants of the medieval Duchy of Normandy.Marr, J., ''The History of Guernsey – the Bailiwick's story'', Guernsey Press (2001). Much of the Vale parish belonging to the fief Saint Michael, which benefited the Benedictine monks who lived in an abbey that had been built next to the Vale Church from when it was granted in 1032 by Robert of Normandy who had apparently been caught in a storm and his ship had ended up safe in Guernsey. The rights to the fief were removed by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

when he undertook the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Vale Castle

The Castle of Saint Michael, now called Vale Castle, has an origin going back at least 1,000 years and was used as a refuge from pirate attacks. It was probably started in the late 10th century. In 1372

Owain Lawgoch Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri (, July 1378), commonly known as Owain Lawgoch (, ), was a Welsh soldier who served in Lombardy, France, Alsace, and Switzerland. He led a Free Company fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Year ...

, a claimant to the Welsh throne, attacked Guernsey at the head of a free company, on behalf of France. This event is popularly called ''La Descente des Aragousais''. Owain Lawgoch withdrew after killing 400 of the Island militia. The poem of the same name refers to the castle as the ''Château de l'Archange'', the location of the last-ditch stand against the insurgents. In 1615 the island was required to maintain the Vale Castle, while the Crown maintained

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 breakwat ...

. It has been a focal point for defence; the most recent modifications were undertaken by the German occupiers.

Modern era

Until 1806 the parish occupied territory on the mainland of Guernsey, the Vingtaine de l'Epine, as well as the whole of Le Clos du Valle, a

tidal island A tidal island is a raised area of land within a waterbody, which is connected to the larger mainland by a natural isthmus or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide, causing the land to switch between being ...

forming the northern extremity of Guernsey separated from the mainland by Le Braye du Valle, a tidal channel. Le Braye was drained and reclaimed in 1806 by the British Government as a defence measure. Vale now consists of two non-contiguous territories. The Vale

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 numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

starts with either GY3 or GY6 (the latter also used for

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

Features

The features of the parish include: * Churches: ** Vale Parish Church, St Michel du Valle ** Vale Mission Fellowship ** St Pauls Methodist Church * Parish war memorial at Vale Avenue-Braye Road Cross Roads * Bordeaux Harbour * The Vale Mill (the parishes most prominent landmark) * Northern half of Saint Sampson's Town * Northern half of Saint Sampson's Harbour * Vale Pond, nature reserve * Beaucette marina * Military: ** Parish war memorial at Vale Avenue-Braye Road Cross Roads ** Vale Castle ** Fort le Marchant ** Fort Doyle ** Fort Pembroke ** Rousse Tower ** Eight

Guernsey loophole towers The British built 15 Guernsey loophole towers at various points along the coast of Guernsey between August 1778 and March 1779, to deter possible French attacks after France had declared itself an ally of the Americans in the American Revolutionar ...

numbered 4 to 11 ** Beaucette Battery dating from the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

** La Lochande Battery dating from the

** Nid L'Herbe Battery and Magazine dating from the

** Portinfer Battery dating from the

** German fortifications, built during the occupation 1940-45 * Archaeology: ** Le

Dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

de Déhus, which incorporates a

megalithic art Megalithic art refers to art either painted or carved onto megaliths in prehistoric Europe and found on the structural elements, like the kerbstones, orthostats, or capstones of megalithic tombs, but recent investigations have included decorati ...

carving known as ''Le Gardien'' ** La Varde passage grave, the largest dolmen on the island ** Les Fouaillages, L'Ancresse Common ** La Platte Mare, cist in circle ** La Mare es Mauves, cist in circle ** Martelo 7, cist in circle * Beaches ** Pembroke ( MCS recommended) ** L'Ancresse ** Ladies Bay ** Bordeaux Harbour * A number of protected buildings The parish of the Vale hosts: * Guernsey Electricity Power Station * Fort le Marchant shooting range * numerous industrial premises * Maison Maritaine * Vale Douzaine Room * Vale Primary School * 18 hole golf course on L'Ancresse Common * Annual music festival 'Vale Earth Fair' at the Vale Castle * numerous quarries * many old and some still in use, vineries. (greenhouses) * Countryside walks * A weekly 5 km

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

event

Other

The parish was twinned with the Normandy port of

Barneville-Carteret Barneville-Carteret () is a Communes of France, commune in the Manche Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region of north-western France. For many years it has been a popular sea ...

in 1987.

Politics

Vale comprises the whole of the Vale

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

. 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 Followin ...

there was a 3,774 or 74% turnout to elect six Deputies. Those elected (in order of votes received) being ''Matt Fallaize'', ''Dave Jones'', '' Mary Lowe'', ''Laurie Queripel'', ''Jeremy Smithies'' and ''Sarah Hansmann Rouxel''. Dave Jones died in July 2016 and a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held in October 2016 to elect a replacement.

References

{{coord, 49, 29, 34, N, 2, 31, 22, W, type:city_source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title Parishes of Guernsey