| Torteval | |
|---|---|
| — Parish — | |
| Location of Torteval in Guernsey | |
| Crown Dependency | Guernsey, Channel Islands |
| Government | |
| • Electoral district | West |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.1 km2 (1.2 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 973 |
| • Density | 313.9/km2 (812.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | GMT |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+01 (UTC) |
Torteval (Guernésiais: Tortévas) is the smallest of the ten Guernsey parishes. Its name comes from the Guernésiais words for 'twisting valley'. The full title being Ste Phillipe du Torteval. It is the westernmost parish of Guernsey and is part of the Guernsey Western Parishes. The parish is split in two by the parish of St. Pierre du Bois, the main part known as Torteval and the detached part as Pleinmont-Torteval.
In Guernésiais, people from Torteval were nicknamed "ânes à pid dé ch'fa".
The southern coast of the parish is composed entirely of rugged cliffs. To the northwest there is a small fishing harbour called Portelet and the southern end of Rocquaine Bay.
In the centre of the parish is a church built in 1818 with one of the oldest bells in the Channel Islands. The church is built on the site of an earlier church that had fallen into disrepair. The current church has the tallest steeple in Guernsey, and is intended to be used as a sea-mark.
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