Guernsey pictorial directory and stranger's guide

by of Guernsey Thomas Bellamy

By way of making a circuit of the island, the stranger will select the road to Fort George, which has been already noticed. A little beyond is Fermain bay, delightfully environed with rocks, trees and furze hills, which latter are romantically intersected with winding path-ways, evidently not to be trod by the timid pedestrian, as they run round steep declivities of blooming furze blossom, and at times verge on precipices. At low watermark the little bay presents a fine sandy bottom, consequently is an occasional resort for sea bathing; towards the shore the pebbles are large, and thrown in such quantities and with such violence as to be worn completely round by the attrition of the confined waves. On a height to the left are two land marks, placed for the purpose of warning mariners coming down the Great Russel, the situation of the Lower Heads, a dangerous reef of rocks, laying about mid-way between this and Sark. From this point Southwards the line of coast is one continued scene of rocky steeps, ravines, and broken declivities more or less mantled with golden furze bloom, at times belted with ivy, and fringed with wild flowers. Indeed the whole connected together is one of singular beauty and well merits the attention of the artist. The little bay is defended by a martello tower and battery.

To the right is Bonair, the residence of our late lamented Baillif or head magistrate, Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., which is prettily situated on an upland, sloping towards the sea, and belted with luxuriant timber. A little further on, on the opposite side is the manor house of Saumarez, belonging to John Thomas De Saumarez, Esq., Comptroller or Solicitor-General. With the exception of a few modern additions and innovations, the building has a considerable appearance of antiquity. According to an inquest about five centuries since, or in the reign of Edward III., this house is mentioned as being in the possession of the Saumarez family from time immemorial. About that time the principal fortress of the island was Jerbourg, when the office of Castellan was granted to the lord of this manor, a situation of no small trust; at present the title is profitless.

The greater part of St Martin's church is of the early English style, but the windows of modern formation. The porch affords fine specimens of the ancient chisel, and is considered the handsomest in the island. The corner buttresses are cut from the hard granite, and the massive sculpture work is considered exceedingly good. The dedication was attended with the splendour of the Catholic church in which the feudal pomp of the baronial times was eminently conspicuous. It took place about the year 1199, and there were present the Governors of Rennes, Honfleur and Caen, Totness and Southampton, and eighty-four lords displayed their banners.

Some ways to the right, and near St Andrew's church, is "la Croix au Baillif," or Baillif's Cross, which took its name from the following circumstance, that happened in the earlier part of the thirteenth century. Gaultier De La Salle, the then Baillif of the island, lived about half a mile hence, at a place called "la Ville au Roi," which may still be seen with its sculptured granite door-way and stone spiral staircase. The adjoining houses are only tenanted by poor people, and the walls of the old mansion are still supported by the clasping embrace of ivy, and its roof screened by the umbrage and waving verdure of some tall neglected trees. Gaultier De La Salle had a poor neighbour named Massey, who chiefly depended for support on the produce of a small adjoining patch of ground connected with the Baillif's estate, and to which was attached a right of passage to a well belonging to La Salle. This privilege was a great annoyance to the Baillif, wherefore he tried various means to deprive him of it; but being unsuccessfull in them all, he at length devised a scheme for taking away his life. Accordingly, La Salle hid two of his own silver cups, and expressing strong suspicion of his neighbour, poor Massey was instantly taken up and brought to trial on circumstantial evidence.

Now, as theft, to a certain degree, in those days, was a capital offence, and the accuser a person of high authority, and backed by the most corrupt witnesses, the case was soon brought to proof, and Massey found "guilty." Wherefore the judges, on their last deliberation came forth with sentence of death on their lips. There was a pause—a dead silence in the Court; and the unfortunate prisoner, after vainly asserting his innocence, now awaited his condemnation hopelessly; when suddenly a noise was heard, the trampling of many feet, and a man rushed breathless into the Court, holding up the silver cups, and exclaiming, "they are found." He informed the judges that having been employed that morning in removing some sheaves of corn belonging to the Baillif into the barn, he and his fellow labourers had found the cups in the middle of the rick. Hardly had he said this, than De La Salle passionately exclaimed: "Fool! did I not tell thee not to touch that rick; I knew—" He stopped in confusion; but his words were marked. Every eye was turned on the guilty Baillif, and the Court resolved that the base accuser should suffer the "lex talionis a criminê ejus," or retaliation on account of his crime. Massey was instantly set at liberty; and, after a short trial, Gaultier De La Salle was sentenced to death. On his way to execution, he stopped at this spot, and partook of the sacrament; in remembrance of which a cross was erected, called the "Baillif's Cross." The spot is now only marked by a stone in the pathway, with a cross cut in it. The place where Massey lived is called "le Courtil Massey," or Massey's Field, to this day. The Baillif's estate being forfeited to the Crown, has ever since been called "la Ville au Roi," or the King's Town.

The Doyle column stands on the high land of Jerbourg, and was erected by the States of the island in the year 1820. The ground on which it is built is elevated from the sea 350 feet, and the column itself 101 from the foundation, forming a total of 451 feet. The gallery is defended by an iron balustrade, is fourteen feet square, will contain from thirty to forty persons, and is ascended by cocklestairs guarded by railings. The entrance is on the East side, and the door of the gallery faces the South-East. It is built of Guernsey granite with an oak frame placed in the wall at every ten feet, and may be seen ten leagues distance at sea from the West and Southern direction, being considered by mariners of the greatest importance. It was raised to commemorate with grateful remembrance the many public services rendered the island by the late General Sir John Doyle, whilst Lieutenant-Governor, from the year 1803 to 1817. From the top may be caught a most extended view of earth, sky, and water. At one's feet lay Sark, Herm and Jethou; and Jersey, France and Alderney, so plain as almost to be able to distinguish the outline of form, such as indentations, creeks, coves, and inlets of projecting rocks and crags, more or less whitened with the moss of age and antiquity. Inland, fields waving with corn and verdure, and if in his poetic fancy the tourist cannot conjure up something of a sylvan scene, a rolling river or a sweep of inland water, is his own fault. The key of the Monument is delivered to the public gratis, and is kept at an adjoining public house, on whose sign are the words "Doyle—pub. grat."

On the small promontory of Jerbourg was formerly a castle, the keeper or castellan of which was of the De Saumarez family, unto whom the manor has for several centuries belonged. At present not so much as the walls are remaining. From several trenches and ditches, which are still remaining, it is conjectured there was once a Roman encampment here, and this is not at all improbable as tradition gives us the same. Jerbourg barracks are situate on an adjoining spot and are sufficiently capacious for about three hundred troops.

Taking the road to Petit-Bo bay, about mid-way, the artist will catch a lively picture, such as bold and majestic crags in the front;—a streak of the ocean, the deep ravine beneath, with a foaming little waterfall, rivulet and mill, beautified with a cove of silver sand, all tending to elevate the idea, and reduce into the mind a fit assemblage for the finest picture, such as "beauty in the lap of horror." An ill-formed paper-mill and an artificial mud pond may be said to overthrow the quietude and seclusion of the spot. However, it is so much like that where Napoleon rests in St Helena, only in a lesser form, that a correspondent of the local press, who had evidently visited the Emperor's tomb, wrote thus: "When you descend the road from the Forest church, keep to your right and proceed directly on to the brow of the cliff overlooking the small battery. A ravine there presents itself. If you will be kind enough next to look towards the cliff immediately opposite, you will observe a pretty lofty eminence. On that height, in imagination, I placed Madame Montholon's house, which you must remember is described by many travellers as looking down upon the Emperor's tomb. About an hundred feet below this, picture to your imagination a beautiful green sward, sloping in graceful declivity down the valley. Next on the left hand, place a small cottage, the residence of the old sentinel at St Helena, and at the foot of his little garden, a sentry box, where a record is kept for the entry of visitors' names; beside this, bursting out from a crevice in the rock, you may fancy the celebrated spring, out of which the departed warrior was accustomed to drink. The water is the purest and most refreshing to be found in the island. Carry your eye a little further down, and the sacred tomb is seen surrounded by an iron railing. A large willow tree waves its graceful foliage over this romantic spot. A plain stone, with the awful word "Napoleon," rests on the grave. Immediately beneath the tomb, a natural bed of scarlet geraniums, intermingled with myrtles and evergreens, extend to the rocks beneath, over whose rugged heads the sea breaks, thus terminating one of the most picturesque and romantic scenes to be found on the terrestrial globe."