{"id":9351,"date":"2022-03-28T04:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=9351"},"modified":"2022-03-28T11:53:37","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T18:53:37","slug":"herm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/herm\/","title":{"rendered":"Herm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Herm is one of the\u00a0Channel Islands<\/a>\u00a0and part of the\u00a0Parish of St Peter Port<\/a><\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0in the\u00a0Bailiwick of Guernsey<\/a>. It is located in the\u00a0English Channel<\/a>, north-west of France and south of England. It is 2.183 km (1.356 mi) long and under 873 meters (2,864 ft) wide; oriented north\u2013south, with several stretches of sand along its northern coast. The much larger island of\u00a0Guernsey<\/a>\u00a0lies to the west,\u00a0Jersey<\/a>\u00a0lies to the south-east, and the smaller island of\u00a0Jethou<\/a>\u00a0is just off the south-west coast.<\/p>\n

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Herm within the Channel Islands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Herm was first discovered in the\u00a0Mesolithic<\/a>\u00a0period, and the first settlers arrived in the\u00a0Neolithic<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Bronze<\/a>\u00a0Ages. Many tombs from that period remain today, the majority in the north of the island. The island was annexed to the\u00a0Duchy of Normandy<\/a>\u00a0in 933, but returned to the English Crown with the division of Normandy in 1204. It was occupied by Germany in the Second World War and the scene of\u00a0Operation Huckaback<\/a>, but was largely bypassed. Herm is currently managed by Herm Island Ltd, formed by Starboard Settlement, who acquired Herm in 2008, following fears during the sale of the island that the ‘identity’ of the island was at threat.<\/p>\n

Herm’s harbor is on its west coast. There are several buildings of note in the vicinity including the White House<\/a>, St Tugual’s Chapel, Fisherman’s Cottage, “The Mermaid” pub and restaurant, and a small primary school with about eight children. During a busy summer season up to 100,000 tourists visit the island, arriving by one of the\u00a0catamaran<\/a>\u00a0ferries operated by the\u00a0Trident Charter Company<\/a>.\u00a0Cars are banned<\/a>\u00a0from the island, as are bicycles;\u00a0quad bikes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tractors<\/a>\u00a0used for staff and luggage transport respectively are allowed.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n
\n
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The common in the north of the island. Standing stones can be seen on the grass, while the island of Sark lies in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Prehistory:<\/span><\/h3>\n

Herm was first found in the\u00a0Mesolithic<\/a> period (between 10,000 and 8,000 BC), when hunters were in search of food. In the\u00a0Neolithic<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Bronze Ages<\/a>, settlers arrived; the remains of\u00a0chamber tombs<\/a>\u00a0have been found on the island, and may be seen today; specifically on the Common, and the Petit and Grand Monceau;<\/sup>\u00a0it has been suggested that the northern end of the island, i.e. the Common, was set apart for burials.<\/sup>\u00a0After a three-year project by the\u00a0University of Durham<\/a>, supported by specialists from the\u00a0University of Cambridge<\/a>, the\u00a0University of Oxford<\/a>, and the Guernsey museum, they stated that the “density of tombs suggests that the northern end of Herm may have been a place set apart for funerary activity”.<\/sup><\/p>\n

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A prehistoric grave, known as Robert’s Cross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Middle Ages:<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first records of Herm’s inhabitants in historic times are from the 6th century, when the island became a center of monastic activity<\/a>; the followers of\u00a0Saint Tugual<\/a>\u00a0(also called Tudwal) arrived, establishing\u00a0Saint Tugual’s Chapel<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0In 709, a storm washed away the strip of land which connected the island with\u00a0Jethou<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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St Tugual’s Chapel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An important moment in Herm’s political history was in 933, when the\u00a0Channel Islands<\/a>\u00a0were annexed to the\u00a0Duchy of Normandy<\/a>,\u00a0they remained so until the division of\u00a0Normandy<\/a>\u00a0in 1204, when they became a\u00a0Crown Dependency<\/a>.<\/sup> In 1111 Brother Claude Panton was a hermit in “Erm”\u200b and in 1117 the then hermit, Brother Francis Franche Montague is recorded as living on “Erm”.\u200b After the annexation, Herm gradually lost its monastic inhabitants, and between 1570 and 1737 the governors of Guernsey used it as a hunting ground; visiting to shoot, hunt, and fish.<\/sup><\/p>\n

19th century to the Second World War:<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 1810, an inn was founded; and during the\u00a0Industrial Revolution<\/a>, roads, paths, a harbor, accommodation, a forge, blacksmiths, a brewery, a bakery and a prison were built to cater for the largest number of inhabitants since prehistoric times. Most were quarrymen working in new granite<\/a>\u00a0quarries.<\/sup>\u00a0Several quarries can still be seen at present, such as on the Common.<\/sup>\u00a0When the Prince<\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0Princess Bl\u00fccher<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0leased the island from the British government during the First World War, he introduced a colony of\u00a0red-necked wallabies<\/a> to the island, around 60\u201370 in number.<\/sup> They increased up to the First World War, after which they decreased in numbers, and the remaining few were re-captured and put in enclosures.<\/p>\n

Compton Mackenzie<\/a>, an English-born Scottish novelist, acquired the tenancy in 1920. He recalled that his three years there had numerous logistical problems. It has been suggested that Mackenzie was the basis for the character Mr Cathcart in\u00a0D.H. Lawrence<\/a>‘s\u00a0The Man who Loved Islands<\/i>, about a man who moved to ever smaller islands much as Mackenzie moved from Herm to the smaller\u00a0Jethou<\/a>, but Lawrence himself denied it.<\/p>\n

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The obelisk on The Common on Herm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0German occupation of the Channel Islands<\/a>\u00a0during the Second World War essentially by-passed Herm. The island was claimed on 20 July 1940 by the\u00a0Third Reich<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0a few weeks after the arrival of German troops in\u00a0Guernsey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jersey<\/a>, German soldiers landed on the island to shoot a propaganda film,\u00a0The Invasion of the\u00a0Isle of Wight<\/a>.<\/i><\/sup> Herm’s sandy beaches were soon used for practicing landings from barges, in preparation for the\u00a0invasion of England<\/a>, but otherwise the island saw little of the Germans beyond officers making trips to shoot rabbits.<\/sup>\u00a0Herm had only a little German construction during the war; a\u00a0flak battery<\/a>\u00a0was placed on the island for a few weeks, and mines were placed in an area.<\/sup> Occasionally German soldiers would travel to Herm to cut wood for fuel.<\/p>\n

Operation Huckaback<\/span>[<\/span>edit<\/a>]<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

Operation Huckaback<\/a>\u00a0was a British Second World War military operation that was originally designed to be a raid on Herm, Jethou and Brecqhou, but instead became only a raid on Herm undertaken on the night of 27 February 1943, following an earlier attempt that had been aborted.<\/sup>\u00a0Ten men of the\u00a0Small Scale Raiding Force<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0No. 4 Commando<\/a>\u00a0under Captain\u00a0Patrick Anthony Porteous<\/a>\u00a0VC<\/a><\/span>\u00a0landed 200 yards to the north-west of Selle Rocque on a shingle beach and made several unsuccessful attempts to climb the cliff in front of them. Porteous finally managed to climb up the bed of a stream and pulled the others up with a rope. They later reported that they had found no sign of any Islanders or Germans (who were supposed to be billeted near the harbour).<\/sup>\u00a0They had failed to make contact with the few civilians on the island whose duties included looking after the sheep.<\/p>\n

Since 1945:<\/span><\/h3>\n
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White House, Herm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 1949, the\u00a0States of Guernsey<\/a>\u00a0bought Herm from\u00a0the Crown<\/a>\u00a0because of the “unspoilt island idyll that could be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike”.<\/sup> One of the island’s most influential tenants was Major Peter Wood, who looked after the island from 1949 to 1980 with his wife. The island was run down when he arrived, with the manor hidden in undergrowth, the windows and roofs of the houses having been blown off by a sea mine drifting into the harbor shortly after their arrival,<\/sup>\u00a0but they created a school, and restored St Tugual’s Chapel.<\/sup>\u00a0Major Wood’s daughter Pennie Wood Heyworth and her husband Adrian succeeded them;<\/sup>\u00a0Major Wood died in 1998.<\/sup>\u00a0Their early efforts are recorded in\u00a0Herm, Our Island Home<\/i>, written by Major Wood’s wife Jenny Wood.<\/sup><\/p>\n

On 17 May 2008, the\u00a0BBC<\/a>\u00a0reported<\/sup>\u00a0that the tenants had put the remaining 40 years of their lease up for sale, with an asking price of \u00a315,000,000.<\/sup>\u00a0Within four days, there were over 50 potential buyers.<\/sup>\u00a0In September 2008 it was announced that Starboard Settlement, a\u00a0trust<\/a>, had acquired the remainder of the lease<\/sup>\u00a0for considerably less than the asking price.<\/sup> The trust formed a company based in Guernsey, Herm Island Ltd, to manage the island for the trustees.<\/p>\n

In 2013, negotiations for a 21-year extension to the lease broke down, with the tenant offering \u00a3440,000 and the owner requesting \u00a36,000,000 plus improvements to infrastructure.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Geography and geology<\/span>[<\/span>edit<\/a>]<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
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An aerial shot showing Herm (center),\u00a0Jethou\u00a0to the right,\u00a0Sark\u00a0in the right background and\u00a0Guernsey\u00a0in the foreground<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Herm is only <\/span>1+<\/span>1<\/span>\u20442<\/span><\/span> miles long (north-south) and less than half a mile wide (east-west).<\/span>\u00a0In the northern part of the island are two hills, Le Petit Monceau and Le Grand Monceau. To the north of these is a common, leading to Mouisonniere Beach on the northern coast, with Oyster Point in the northwestern corner and La Pointe du Gentilhomme or Alderney Point at the northeastern corner.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0To the east of the common is Shell Beach and to the west is The Bear’s Beach, leading down to the harbor.<\/sup>\u00a0Half of the coastline of the northern part of the island is surrounded by sandy beaches; the southern half is rocky.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Much of Herm’s bedrock is\u00a0<\/span>granite<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0In 2008, Adrian Heyworth, who was at the time the island’s tenant, said that two or three meters\u00a0of sand were being lost annually at Alderney Point.<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shell Beach, northeastern coast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Off the northwestern coast of Herm is the islet of Le Plat Houmet, and beyond that Fondu, which like Herm belongs to Guernsey.<\/sup> In Belvoir Bay on the eastern side of the island are the islets of Mouliere, situated off Frenchman’s Point which is to the northeast of the manor village, and Caquorobert, the latter of which can be accessed at low tide via a vaguely marked path. To the south of this off the southeastern coast is Puffin Bay, which contains the islet of Putrainez near the coast and the islet of Selle Rocque further out to the south.<\/sup>\u00a0The far southwestern point of the island is Point Sauzebourge, and Bishop’s Cove is just to the north of this.<\/sup> North of the cove and south along the beach from the harbor and White House are the Rosiere Steps, with a quarry and cottage of the same name in the vicinity. The Mouette and Percee reefs are offshore here. Hermetier, also known as Rat’s Island, lies about 250 m (820 ft) off the western coast between Fisherman’s Beach and The Bear’s Beach, to the north of the harbor, linked by a low causeway from the beach.<\/sup>\u00a0The islet can be accessed at low tide from the beach around Fisherman’s Cottage.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Caquorobert, east coast of Herm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The isle of\u00a0Jethou<\/a>\u00a0is around three-quarters of a mile to the southwest beyond Point Sauzebourge.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0It is possible that in AD 709 a storm washed away the strip of land that connected Jethou to Herm.<\/sup>\u00a0About 215\u00a0m (705\u00a0ft) off the northern coast of Jethou is the islet of\u00a0Crevichon<\/a>, which measures about 212 by 168\u00a0m (696 by 551\u00a0ft), with an area of less than three hectares. To the west, between Herm and Guernsey, lies the\u00a0channel<\/a>\u00a0Little Roussel<\/a>\u00a0(Petit Ruau); between Herm and Sark, to the east, lies the\u00a0Big Roussel<\/a>\u00a0(Grand Ruau).<\/sup>\u00a0Br\u00e9hon Tower<\/a>, a Victorian-era fortification, is in the Little Roussel between Herm and\u00a0Saint Peter Port<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The tower was created between 1854 and 1856 by Thomas Charles de Putron (1806\u20131869) using granite from Herm.<\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

Tourism is Herm’s main source of income.<\/sup>\u00a0During a busy summer season, up to 100,000 tourists visit the island,<\/sup>\u00a0arriving by one of the Travel Trident\u00a0catamaran<\/a>\u00a0ferries operated by the\u00a0Trident Charter Company<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n

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Herm Harbor in 1968<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Money is also made from vegetable growing, livestock and the occasional issue of stamps.<\/sup>\u00a0The residents in Herm are workers on the island and their families.<\/p>\n

Transportation:<\/h2>\n

Cars are banned<\/a>\u00a0from the island, as are bicycles;\u00a0quad bikes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tractors<\/a> used for staff and luggage transport respectively are allowed. All visitors arrive via ferry from Guernsey.<\/p>\n

Flag of Herm:<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0flag of\u00a0Herm<\/a>\u00a0is white with a red\u00a0St George’s Cross<\/a>\u00a0with a banner of the arms of Herm in the\u00a0canton<\/a>; the arms are\u00a0azure<\/a>, between two\u00a0dolphins<\/a>\u00a0argent<\/i>\u00a0a bend\u00a0or<\/i>\u00a0bearing three cowled\u00a0Benedictine monks<\/a>\u00a0sable.<\/p>\n

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Flag of Herm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ratio is 3:5. The flag was designed by the\u00a0British<\/a>\u00a0vexillologist<\/a>\u00a0William Crampton<\/a>. The arms of Herm was adopted in 1953. Around 1951 the island used a blue flag with the\u00a0coat of arms of Guernsey<\/a>\u00a0near the hoist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The flag of Herm is white with a red St George’s Cross with a banner of the arms of Herm in the canton; the arms are azure, between two dolphins argent a bend or bearing three cowled Benedictine monks sable. The ratio is 3:5. The flag was designed by the British vexillologist William Crampton. The arms of Herm was adopted in 1953. Around 1951 the island used a blue flag with the coat of arms of Guernsey near the hoist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[66,59,26,5,6,7,29,60,13],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9635,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9351\/revisions\/9635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}