Torteval, Guernsey

Torteval
Tortévas
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 (2,001)
Time zone GMT
 • Summer (DST) UTC+01 (UTC)

Torteval (Guernésiais: Tortévas) is the smallest of the ten parishes of Guernsey, situated in the Western Parishes region. Its name comes from the Guernésiais words for 'twisting valley'. The parish is split in two by the parish of St. Pierre du Bois, with the part in the east known as Torteval. The detached peninsula to the west is named Pleinmont-Torteval. It features the westernmost point in Guernsey, and a nature reserve. The reserve, designed for birds in the 1970s, is to be redeveloped for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.[1]

In Guernésiais, people from Torteval were nicknamed "ânes à pid dé ch'fa", or 'donkeys with horse's hooves'.

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, consecrated on 4 November 1140, that had fallen into disrepair.[2]:68 The current church has the tallest steeple in Guernsey, and is intended to be used as a sea-mark.

The postal code for street addresses in this parish begins with GY8.

The Parish produces a regular magazine called "Les Tortévalais".

Features

The features of the parish include:

  • Torteval Church
  • La Tables des Pions [3]
  • Military:
    • Parish war memorial is outside the parish church[4]
    • Fort Pezeries [5]
    • Les Tielles Battery dating from the Napoleonic Wars
    • Narron Battery dating from the Napoleonic Wars
    • Pleinmont Battery dating from the Napoleonic Wars
    • Ruined Watch-house, Pleinmont (mentioned in Victor Hugo's book 'The Toilers of the Sea') [6]:143
    • Pleinmont Observation Tower [7] [8]
    • Batterie Dollmann [9]
    • German fortifications, built during the occupation 1940-45
  • A number of protected buildings [10]
  • Bays
    • Portelet
    • Rocquaine
  • Pleinmont Point
  • Cliff paths
  • Abreuvoirs (places for cattle to drink) [11]
  • Torteval nature reserve [1]

The parish of Torteval hosts:

  • The Torteval Douzaine
  • Torteval scarecrow festival [12]
  • TV relay tower
  • Hotels and restaurants
  • Countryside walks [6]:142
Torteval Church

Politics

Torteval comprises part of the West administrative division with Forest, St. Saviour's and St. Pierre-du-Bois

In the Guernsey general election, 2012 there was a 3,148 or 76% turnout to elect six Deputies.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 BBC Guernsey (2011). "Torteval nature reserve to be renewed for jubilee". Bbc.co.uk. BBC News. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  2. ↑ Berry, William. The history of Guernsey from the remotest period of antiquity to the year 1814.
  3. ↑ "The Pleinmont Fairy Ring". BBC.
  4. ↑ "Torteval Parish Memorial, Guernsey". Great War CI.
  5. ↑ "Fort Pezeries". Visit Guernsey.
  6. 1 2 Dillon, Paddy. Channel Island Walks. Cicerone Press Limited, 1999. ISBN 9781852842888.
  7. ↑ "Pleinmont Observation Tower". Visit Guernsey.
  8. ↑ "NAVAL RANGE-FINDING TOWER (MP3)". Festung Guernsey.
  9. ↑ "Batterie Dollman". Festung Guernsey.
  10. ↑ "PROTECTED BUILDINGS". Environment - Guernsey government.
  11. ↑ "Guernsey Abreuvoirs". La Société Guernesiaise.
  12. ↑ "In pictures: Scarecrows take over Torteval". BBC.


Coordinates: 49°25′47″N 2°38′46″W / 49.42972°N 2.64611°W / 49.42972; -2.64611

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