Guernsey – Norman heritage and loyalty to the English Crown
Guernsey has been inhabited since prehistoric times, as its dolmens and standing stones show, and it was visited by Roman traders. In the tenth century the Channel Islands became part of the Duchy of Normandy, and with William the Conqueror their duke also became King of England.
When King John lost mainland Normandy to France in 1204, the islands remained loyal to the English Crown. In return they kept their own laws and privileges, the foundation of Guernsey's status as a self-governing Crown Dependency. Castle Cornet guarded the harbour of St Peter Port, which grew rich from trade and privateering. The French writer Victor Hugo spent many years of exile on the island in the nineteenth century, living at Hauteville House.
The Second World War was the most dramatic period in the island's recent history. Many children were evacuated to Britain before German troops occupied Guernsey in 1940. Islanders endured five years of occupation, hardship and deportations until liberation on 9 May 1945, still celebrated as Liberation Day.
Today Guernsey is shaped by its Norman roots, its own parliament, the States of Deliberation, its financial sector and a strong island identity, including the revival of the Guernésiais language.
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