St Anne, Alderney
Encyclopedia
St Anne or Saint Anne is the capital and the main town of Alderney
in the Channel Islands
, located about 10 miles off the coast of Auderville
in the Manche department of the Basse-Normandie
region of north-western France
. As of 2010, it has an estimated population of 2000, compared to an estimated 2400 who actually live on the island; they have traditional names such as "vaques" (French for cows) and "lapins" (French for rabbits, given after the rabbits found in the island). The town has the old world charm of a French
town with its cobbled streets, picturesque cottages, restaurants and pubs. It dominates much of the island, almost extending up to the Braye Harbour
to its north, which is the main port of entry to the island and the town. It is located on a high ground at the centre of the island on the northwest direction.
Victoria Street, founded in 1836 and serving as the town's main thoroughfare, is the commercial hub with shops, pubs and restaurants, along with banking and post office services flanking both sides of the street. The town hall is an impressive building and the museum presents pictures of the island with dramatic presentation of its military history; the town and the island having earned the epithet "Gibraltar of the Channel" during war time. France is seen from here, as it is only 8 miles (12.9 km) away from the island. The Alderney Journal, the locally produced newspaper, has an office on Ollivier Street.
The Luftwaffe
command bunker and tower and the German naval tactical headquarters were both located in St Anne during World War II
.
St Anne is also the name of the only parish
(Church of England
) in the island. The ancient parish church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which was at the lower end of the main street, fell into ruins and was replaced in the late 1580s by a chapel of St. Anne. The parish church of St. Anne was renovated in 1850. After World War II, the church was renovated again.
The founding of St Anne can be traced to the 15th century. During World War II
, in the period between 1940 and 1945, Germans
occupied the entire island, with their headquarters and military establishments located at St. Anne. The island's entire population, including that of the town, was evacuated before the islands were invaded in 1940. The Germans converted the place into a concentration camp; the labour force of 6,000 suffered untold miseries and many fatalities.
During this period the island and the town became a German fort. The Luftwaffe
built a bunker and tower in the town. The tower, known as a "water tower", was a multistorey structure which housed the Headquarters of the German Defence Forces of Army, Navy, and Air force. All these units had their own establishments with bunkers and reinforced structures, each with independent telecommunication network facilities. The defence system featured a network of tunnels dug in the several islands, including Jersey
, Guernsey
and Alderney. Within Alderney, nine such tunnels connected all the fortifications, with the headquarters centred at St Anne. These tunnels had a clear rock cover of 35 metres (114.8 ft), which made them impregnable to aerial bombing. Though there is an associated eeriness with the war time fortifications, they have established their own importance by creating a close knit community who live in peace and enjoy their life in the present.
The court house in New Street, also used for sittings of the States of Alderney, dates originally from 1850. The court room was destroyed by the German occupying forces
but rebuilt in 1955.
Alderney's records were mostly destroyed during World War II, but Family History Volunteers have compiled all of the available records, both civil (except censuses) and ecclesiastical, and have contacted those persons who could provide further information. Several hundred families in various regions of the island, with genealogies tracing to the 1800s, have been categorized as old Alderney families, Breakwater families and others, with family names of Duplain, Gaudion, Hougez, Le Vallée, Ollivier, Pezet, Audoire, Batiste, Barbenson and Renier, Le Cocq, Le Mesurier, Sebire and Simon. As the island was re-surveyed after the German Occupation, no land records are available for the period before 1945, although baptism
registers since 1662 have been located from several sources.
British Pound and Guernsey Pound are the legal tender on the island. Commemorative coins of Alderney have been issued since 1989.
, a renowned architect of Victorian buildings. Renovation of the old church involved the demolition of an ancient medieval building in the old churchyard, next to the present day Island Museum. The clock tower of the old church and the cemetery were retained, however. The renovation was completed and consecration held in 1850. Reverend Canon John Le Mesurier, son of the last Hereditary Governor of Alderney, built it in memory of his parents and fully met the cost of renovation, then estimated at about £8,000.
The main church, cruciform in the “transitional style from Norman to Early English with a clear French influence”, is an ornate structure built of local granite with Caen stone
dressings, with a high altar with solid round pillars and the nave
supporting towering arches. It became an archetype model for six other churches built by the same architect. The original six massive bells were removed during the German invasion; four were melted for making munitions, and two have been since restored to the church after recasting.
During World War II, when the town was under German occupation and all its citizens had vacated the town, the church was used as a store, and its premises were damaged. A machine-gun post was set up then in the belfry
, and still-visible graffiti on the stone work left by soldiers bears mute witness to the occupation. Pews had been removed from the church premises. After the war, the church figured in substantial restoration work in the town, completed in 1953. The Bishop of Winchester rededicated the Church on 11 June 11 of that year. A redeeming event recorded in 1998 was the restoration of an Old Bible
dated 1683 and bound in with a copy of the Book of Common Prayer
and a Metrical Psalter
dated 1679. It was partially damaged by dampness but had been substituted with manuscript sheets exquisitely engraved in small copper plates. The Bible was restored to the Church by the widow of a soldier who had taken it from there and had stored it in his library in Germany.
In view of its large size, the church is famously called “The Cathedral of the Channel Islands.” It was intended to serve not only as a Parish Church but also as a fortified garrison for the defence forces stationed in the island. Approach to the present church is through the Albert Memorial Entrance, which is a granite
arch
with wrought iron
gates, opposite to Oliver Street.
, the principal museum in Alderney
, is located in the Old School House on High Street in central St Anne, Alderney
. Exhibits there fully reflect the history of the town and include a collection of rare maps, a list of British Regiments stationed in Alderney starting with 1732, old records, the 1940 Census of Alderney, finds of the Elizabethan shipwreck, and many rare artefacts. The museum is administered by the Alderney Society, which established it in 1966 with the purpose of creating "an organisation dedicated to the historical, environmental and scientific promotion of the Island of Alderney". The museum was fully registered in 1993 and received the Museums and Galleries’ Gulbenkian Award for "most outstanding achievement" presented by Prince Charles of Wales in 1999.
. It now houses the library and museum. Another elegant house—built in 1779 by Peter Le Mesurier, John's son—was the Les Mouriaux House. Featuring five reception rooms and six bedroom suites, and located on high ground in the centre of the town, Les Mouriaux House is the finest Georgian mansion house in the Channel Islands. Queen Victoria and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited this prestigious house. The Mouriaux House was the residence of the first President of Alderney, Captain Sidney Herivel, from 1949 to 1970. It then fell into disuse but has been fully restored now with all modern facilities.
Its main port of entry, including for freight, is Braye Harbour
, a commercial harbour, 1.2 miles away to the north east. Also known as the Alderney Harbour, it is located on the north side of the island at the mouth of the English Channel. It has one of the longest harbour walls in Europe
. The harbour faces out onto the Swinge
, which is part of the English Channel
. It is more or less a suburb of St Anne
, which is a large settlement in Alderney about 1 mile away from the harbour that jets out in a rocky premonitory on the west side. Harbour precincts have the ambiance of an industrial establishment with all harbour facilities, a knitwear factory, a sailing club toilets and a handful of places offering food and drink.
The three runway Alderney Airport
is about 1.2 miles from the town. Alderney Airport is the only airport
on the island of Alderney
. Built in 1935 and operating since 1936, Alderney Airport was the first airport in the Channel Islands
. Located 1 NM southwest of St Anne
, it is the closest Channel Island airport to the South coast of England
and the coast of France
. Blue Islands
with its registered office in Saint Anne and Aurigny Air Services
(founded in Alderney in 1968), both regional airlines, operate flights to this only airport in the island. Aurigny Air Services
, the islands' other airline, which was founded on Alderney in 1968, also has its registered office there.
The court house in New Street, also used for sittings of the States of Alderney, dates originally from 1850. The court room was destroyed by the German occupying forces
but rebuilt in 1955.
The main town is given the epithets, "piquant picturesque town" and "pastel painted village" and is also called St. Anne. The main cemetery is Longis Cemetery.
As Alderney, unlike the mainland, is not covered by the National Health Service
, the hospital is effectively a private practice in which a fee is payable for all care provided. Treatment received by patients in the Accidents and Emergency Department and immediate necessary treatment given by a GP, however, is without charge.
The hospital has two local General Practitioners and visiting specialists—especially from the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Guernsey, which acts as the Mignot hospital's parent institution—hold out-patient clinics. The hospital has a 24-hour accident and emergency clinic, a physiotherapy department, and a small radiography unit. Women giving birth are generally taken to Guernsey.
's poem Les Casquets is based on the Houguez family, who actually lived on those for 18 years. The Houguez were originally from Alderney, and the poem describes their life on Les Casquets. The daughter falls in love with a carpenter from Alderney, but moving to his island finds life there too busy. She finds the "small bright streets of serene St Anne" and "the sight of the works of men" too much and returns to Les Casquets.
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
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...
, located about 10 miles off the coast of Auderville
Auderville
Auderville is a commune on the north coast of the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in north-western France.-Geography:The commune contains four villages, Goury, Laye, La Valette and La Roche, as well as a lighthouse.-Heraldry:...
in the Manche department of the Basse-Normandie
Basse-Normandie
Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...
region of north-western France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. As of 2010, it has an estimated population of 2000, compared to an estimated 2400 who actually live on the island; they have traditional names such as "vaques" (French for cows) and "lapins" (French for rabbits, given after the rabbits found in the island). The town has the old world charm of a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
town with its cobbled streets, picturesque cottages, restaurants and pubs. It dominates much of the island, almost extending up to the Braye Harbour
Braye Harbour
Braye Harbour is the main harbour on the north side of the Island of Alderney, in the Channel Islands, a dependency of the British Crown. A break-water built by the Admiralty to protect the Navy in the 19th century shelters Braye Harbour. It is an artificial harbour created by building a pier or...
to its north, which is the main port of entry to the island and the town. It is located on a high ground at the centre of the island on the northwest direction.
Victoria Street, founded in 1836 and serving as the town's main thoroughfare, is the commercial hub with shops, pubs and restaurants, along with banking and post office services flanking both sides of the street. The town hall is an impressive building and the museum presents pictures of the island with dramatic presentation of its military history; the town and the island having earned the epithet "Gibraltar of the Channel" during war time. France is seen from here, as it is only 8 miles (12.9 km) away from the island. The Alderney Journal, the locally produced newspaper, has an office on Ollivier Street.
The Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
command bunker and tower and the German naval tactical headquarters were both located in St Anne during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
St Anne is also the name of the only parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
(Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
) in the island. The ancient parish church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which was at the lower end of the main street, fell into ruins and was replaced in the late 1580s by a chapel of St. Anne. The parish church of St. Anne was renovated in 1850. After World War II, the church was renovated again.
History
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in the period between 1940 and 1945, Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
occupied the entire island, with their headquarters and military establishments located at St. Anne. The island's entire population, including that of the town, was evacuated before the islands were invaded in 1940. The Germans converted the place into a concentration camp; the labour force of 6,000 suffered untold miseries and many fatalities.
During this period the island and the town became a German fort. The Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
built a bunker and tower in the town. The tower, known as a "water tower", was a multistorey structure which housed the Headquarters of the German Defence Forces of Army, Navy, and Air force. All these units had their own establishments with bunkers and reinforced structures, each with independent telecommunication network facilities. The defence system featured a network of tunnels dug in the several islands, including 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...
, 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...
and Alderney. Within Alderney, nine such tunnels connected all the fortifications, with the headquarters centred at St Anne. These tunnels had a clear rock cover of 35 metres (114.8 ft), which made them impregnable to aerial bombing. Though there is an associated eeriness with the war time fortifications, they have established their own importance by creating a close knit community who live in peace and enjoy their life in the present.
The court house in New Street, also used for sittings of the States of Alderney, dates originally from 1850. The court room was destroyed by the German occupying forces
Occupation of the Channel Islands
The Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi Germany for much of World War II, from 30 June 1940 until the liberation on 9 May 1945. The Channel Islands are two British Crown dependencies and include the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey as well as the smaller islands of Alderney and Sark...
but rebuilt in 1955.
Alderney's records were mostly destroyed during World War II, but Family History Volunteers have compiled all of the available records, both civil (except censuses) and ecclesiastical, and have contacted those persons who could provide further information. Several hundred families in various regions of the island, with genealogies tracing to the 1800s, have been categorized as old Alderney families, Breakwater families and others, with family names of Duplain, Gaudion, Hougez, Le Vallée, Ollivier, Pezet, Audoire, Batiste, Barbenson and Renier, Le Cocq, Le Mesurier, Sebire and Simon. As the island was re-surveyed after the German Occupation, no land records are available for the period before 1945, although baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
registers since 1662 have been located from several sources.
British Pound and Guernsey Pound are the legal tender on the island. Commemorative coins of Alderney have been issued since 1989.
Noted places
Some of the noted places in the St Anne town are the St Anne Church, the St Anne Museum, and the Braye Harbour. Public facilities include the logically arranged network of roads, airport, railway station, schools, and hospitals.St Anne's Church
The St Anne Church, dedicated to St Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is centrally located in the St Anne town on the side of a hill between Victoria Street (from which it is approached through the Albert Gate) and La Vallee. It is surrounded by a well tended churchyard. The new Church, which involved substantial renovation of the old church building, was designed by George Gilbert ScottGeorge Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
, a renowned architect of Victorian buildings. Renovation of the old church involved the demolition of an ancient medieval building in the old churchyard, next to the present day Island Museum. The clock tower of the old church and the cemetery were retained, however. The renovation was completed and consecration held in 1850. Reverend Canon John Le Mesurier, son of the last Hereditary Governor of Alderney, built it in memory of his parents and fully met the cost of renovation, then estimated at about £8,000.
The main church, cruciform in the “transitional style from Norman to Early English with a clear French influence”, is an ornate structure built of local granite with Caen stone
Caen stone
Caen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ago...
dressings, with a high altar with solid round pillars and the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
supporting towering arches. It became an archetype model for six other churches built by the same architect. The original six massive bells were removed during the German invasion; four were melted for making munitions, and two have been since restored to the church after recasting.
During World War II, when the town was under German occupation and all its citizens had vacated the town, the church was used as a store, and its premises were damaged. A machine-gun post was set up then in the belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
, and still-visible graffiti on the stone work left by soldiers bears mute witness to the occupation. Pews had been removed from the church premises. After the war, the church figured in substantial restoration work in the town, completed in 1953. The Bishop of Winchester rededicated the Church on 11 June 11 of that year. A redeeming event recorded in 1998 was the restoration of an Old Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
dated 1683 and bound in with a copy of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
and a Metrical Psalter
Metrical psalter
A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a metrical translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or even harmonizations...
dated 1679. It was partially damaged by dampness but had been substituted with manuscript sheets exquisitely engraved in small copper plates. The Bible was restored to the Church by the widow of a soldier who had taken it from there and had stored it in his library in Germany.
In view of its large size, the church is famously called “The Cathedral of the Channel Islands.” It was intended to serve not only as a Parish Church but also as a fortified garrison for the defence forces stationed in the island. Approach to the present church is through the Albert Memorial Entrance, which is a 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...
arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
with wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
gates, opposite to Oliver Street.
Alderney Society Museum
Alderney Society MuseumAlderney Society Museum
Alderney Society Museum is the principal museum in Alderney in the Channel Islands. The museum is located in the Old School House on High Street in central St Anne, Alderney. The current administrator is Don Oakden, overlooked by Louis Jean, president of the Alderney Society which runs the...
, the principal museum in Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
, is located in the Old School House on High Street in central St Anne, Alderney
St Anne, Alderney
St Anne or Saint Anne is the capital and the main town of Alderney in the Channel Islands, located about 10 miles off the coast of Auderville in the Manche department of the Basse-Normandie region of north-western France...
. Exhibits there fully reflect the history of the town and include a collection of rare maps, a list of British Regiments stationed in Alderney starting with 1732, old records, the 1940 Census of Alderney, finds of the Elizabethan shipwreck, and many rare artefacts. The museum is administered by the Alderney Society, which established it in 1966 with the purpose of creating "an organisation dedicated to the historical, environmental and scientific promotion of the Island of Alderney". The museum was fully registered in 1993 and received the Museums and Galleries’ Gulbenkian Award for "most outstanding achievement" presented by Prince Charles of Wales in 1999.
Royal Connaught Square and Les Mouriaux House
Royal Connaught Square in the heart of the town takes its name from the Duke of Connaught who visited the island in 1905. The Island Hall on the north side of the square was built in 1763 by Governor John Le Mesurier to the north of St. Anne’s Square and served as Government HouseGovernment House
Government House is the name of many of the residences of Governors-General, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. It serves as the venue for the Governor's official business, as well as the many receptions and functions hosted by...
. It now houses the library and museum. Another elegant house—built in 1779 by Peter Le Mesurier, John's son—was the Les Mouriaux House. Featuring five reception rooms and six bedroom suites, and located on high ground in the centre of the town, Les Mouriaux House is the finest Georgian mansion house in the Channel Islands. Queen Victoria and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited this prestigious house. The Mouriaux House was the residence of the first President of Alderney, Captain Sidney Herivel, from 1949 to 1970. It then fell into disuse but has been fully restored now with all modern facilities.
Transport
The town and the island are easily accessible by sea and air. France is 10 miles across the sea. It is 32 km (20 mi) to the north-east of the Bailiwick of Guernsey (of which it is a part) and 97 km (60 mi) from the south coast of England.Its main port of entry, including for freight, is Braye Harbour
Braye Harbour
Braye Harbour is the main harbour on the north side of the Island of Alderney, in the Channel Islands, a dependency of the British Crown. A break-water built by the Admiralty to protect the Navy in the 19th century shelters Braye Harbour. It is an artificial harbour created by building a pier or...
, a commercial harbour, 1.2 miles away to the north east. Also known as the Alderney Harbour, it is located on the north side of the island at the mouth of the English Channel. It has one of the longest harbour walls in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The harbour faces out onto the Swinge
The Swinge
The Swinge is the strait between Alderney and Burhou in the Channel Islands. It often sees a furious tidal race, and Braye Harbour which faces it, has a mile long breakwater to cope with this....
, which is part of the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. It is more or less a suburb of St Anne
St Anne, Alderney
St Anne or Saint Anne is the capital and the main town of Alderney in the Channel Islands, located about 10 miles off the coast of Auderville in the Manche department of the Basse-Normandie region of north-western France...
, which is a large settlement in Alderney about 1 mile away from the harbour that jets out in a rocky premonitory on the west side. Harbour precincts have the ambiance of an industrial establishment with all harbour facilities, a knitwear factory, a sailing club toilets and a handful of places offering food and drink.
The three runway Alderney Airport
Alderney Airport
Alderney Airport is the only airport on the island of Alderney. Built in 1935, Alderney Airport was the first airport in the Channel Islands. Located on the Blaye , it is the closest Channel Island airport to the south coast of England and the coast of France. Its facilities include a hangar, the...
is about 1.2 miles from the town. Alderney Airport is the only airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
on the island of Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
. Built in 1935 and operating since 1936, Alderney Airport was the first airport 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...
. Located 1 NM southwest of St Anne
St Anne, Alderney
St Anne or Saint Anne is the capital and the main town of Alderney in the Channel Islands, located about 10 miles off the coast of Auderville in the Manche department of the Basse-Normandie region of north-western France...
, it is the closest Channel Island airport to the South coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the coast of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Blue Islands
Blue Islands
Blue Islands Limited is an airline of the Channel Islands. Its head office is in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, and its registered office is in Saint Anne, Alderney. It operates scheduled services from and within the Channel Islands and the UK and the Isle of Man...
with its registered office in Saint Anne and Aurigny Air Services
Aurigny Air Services
Aurigny Air Services was founded by Sir Derrick Bailey and started operations on 1 March 1968 after British United Airways withdrew the Alderney to Guernsey route...
(founded in Alderney in 1968), both regional airlines, operate flights to this only airport in the island. Aurigny Air Services
Aurigny Air Services
Aurigny Air Services was founded by Sir Derrick Bailey and started operations on 1 March 1968 after British United Airways withdrew the Alderney to Guernsey route...
, the islands' other airline, which was founded on Alderney in 1968, also has its registered office there.
Civic facilities
St Anne has a salubrious climate with plenty of sunshine. It offers various tourist activities like walking in the cliffs, golfing, fishing, and windsurfing. Sporting facilities are available in the area, including Alderney Cricket Club and Alderney Golf Course, situated to the east of Saint Anne. The town has a primary school, a secondary school, and a post office as well as hotels, restaurants, banks and shops.The court house in New Street, also used for sittings of the States of Alderney, dates originally from 1850. The court room was destroyed by the German occupying forces
Occupation of the Channel Islands
The Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi Germany for much of World War II, from 30 June 1940 until the liberation on 9 May 1945. The Channel Islands are two British Crown dependencies and include the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey as well as the smaller islands of Alderney and Sark...
but rebuilt in 1955.
The main town is given the epithets, "piquant picturesque town" and "pastel painted village" and is also called St. Anne. The main cemetery is Longis Cemetery.
Healthcare
The principal hospital on Alderney is the Mignot Memorial Hospital, located in the northern part of St. Anne. Serving a population of 2,400, the hospital was established in 2008 and has 24 beds, twelve of which are designated for medical, post-operative, maternity, or paediatric care.As Alderney, unlike the mainland, is not covered by the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
, the hospital is effectively a private practice in which a fee is payable for all care provided. Treatment received by patients in the Accidents and Emergency Department and immediate necessary treatment given by a GP, however, is without charge.
The hospital has two local General Practitioners and visiting specialists—especially from the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Guernsey, which acts as the Mignot hospital's parent institution—hold out-patient clinics. The hospital has a 24-hour accident and emergency clinic, a physiotherapy department, and a small radiography unit. Women giving birth are generally taken to Guernsey.
Swinburne
A.C SwinburneAlgernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
's poem Les Casquets is based on the Houguez family, who actually lived on those for 18 years. The Houguez were originally from Alderney, and the poem describes their life on Les Casquets. The daughter falls in love with a carpenter from Alderney, but moving to his island finds life there too busy. She finds the "small bright streets of serene St Anne" and "the sight of the works of men" too much and returns to Les Casquets.