Castles & Forts · 10 places
Elizabeth Castle
Begun in 1594 on the tidal islet of L'Islet, and named Fort Isabella Bellissima by Governor Sir Walter Raleigh after Elizabeth I.
Featured in: Jersey in two days · Jersey with kids · Jersey’s history in twelve places · Jersey in one day
The story
Begun in 1594 on the tidal islet of L'Islet, and named Fort Isabella Bellissima by Governor Sir Walter Raleigh after Elizabeth I. When Jersey proclaimed Charles II King in February 1649, the proclamation was read out first in the Market Square and again here at the castle the following day, to trumpets, drums, and the castle's guns firing across the bay. Charles sheltered on this rock in 1646 and again in 1649, staying in the Governor's House. A Parliamentary bombardment in 1651 destroyed the old abbey church, which held the garrison's powder and provisions, and forced Sir George Carteret to surrender. The castle is cut off by the tide twice a day; the causeway from West Park is a little over a kilometre and covers quickly on a rising tide. At high water the amphibious Castle Ferry runs across instead, all day while the castle is open.
