St Peter Port’s Castle exudes the air of an immutable counterpoint, to the swirl of motion around its firmly rooted feet. Yet, appearances are deceptive:
Castle Cornet has been a fortress since the Thirteenth Century. First built as a British fallback position, after King John lost possession of Normandy. Subsequently, it was held by French forces, during the Hundred Years War.
Henry VIII reinforced its walls during the Sixteenth Century. Following the European discovery of gunpowder (then known to the Chinese for seven hundred years) which ushered in the age of artillery.
The cannon, of the fortress, were turned on its builders, augmented by freshly added machine gun emplacements, during the WWII Nazi occupation.
Before the Liberation of Guernsey, on May the ninth 1945. When the changeling citadel's role reverted to protection of the island’s people.
An occasion since marked annually, by joyful street celebrations.
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