Grosnez Castle is a ruined 14th century castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 in Saint Ouen

Saint Ouen, Jersey

-Cueillettes:Unlike the other parishes of Jersey, the subdivisions of this parish are not named vingtaines, but cueillettes . Vingteniers are still elected, however, in the cueillettes.*La Petite Cueillette*La Grande Cueillette...

 situated in Grosnez, the north west corner of the island of Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

 in the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

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Name

The name is from the old Norse words for "grey headland" - grar nes - an accurate description of the site when seen from the sea - rather than from the French for big nose.

History

The castle was built around 1330 on the orders of Sir John des Roches. The walls were built from the local granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 and are thickest on the landward side. Its position on a clifftop 200 ft (~ 60 m) above the sea means that on three sides it is protected by the natural features of the site. A ditch dug into the rock provides protection on the fourth side.

The gatehouse, which is the only substantial remnant today, was protected by a drawbridge

Drawbridge

A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...

 and portcullis

Portcullis

A portcullis is a latticed grille made of wood, metal, fibreglass or a combination of the three. Portcullises fortified the entrances to many medieval castles, acting as a last line of defence during time of attack or siege...

 and would have been very difficult to capture. The castle, though, had a number of weaknesses. There were no sally port

Sally port

The primary modern meaning for sally port is a secure, controlled entryway, as at a fortification or a prison. The entrance is usually protected in some way, such as with a fixed wall blocking the door which must be circumvented before entering, but which prevents direct enemy fire from a distance...

s for counter-attacks; there were only two simple buildings providing accommodation; most importantly, there was no water supply inside the walls. It is possible to trace the design of the walls and buildings.

The castle was twice captured by the French, in 1373 and 1381 and was probably demolished around the time of the French occupation of Jersey (1461–1468). Certainly, in 1483 the Seigneur of St Ouen was allowed to fortify his manor house and it is unlikely he would have been given permission if Grosnez was still in use.

In 1806, a naval signal station was established at Grosnez to send messages to Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

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Grosnez Castle is depicted on the reverse of the Jersey 50 pence coin

Jersey coins

The British Crown dependency of Jersey has its own currency, the Jersey pound, which is linked to the pound sterling. As a consequence, the government of Jersey mints its own coins. All coins feature the Queen's head on the obverse, with the following designs on the reverse:£1 coins have a...

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Sources

• Jersey Heritage Trust, information at site
• Hammond, Reginald J W (Ed.), Channel Islands, (London, Ward Lock Red Guides, 1970), p63, ISBN 706354141