Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Template:Infobox islands <mapframe text="Jethou" width=230 height=230 zoom=12 latitude=49.458333 longitude=-2.4625/> Jethou (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a small island that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is privately leased from the Crown, and not open to the public. Resembling the top of a wooded knoll, it is immediately southwest of Herm and covers approximately Template:Convert.
HistoryEdit
There is evidence of flint manufacturing in an area exposed only at low water between the island and Crevichon which shows occupation around 10,000 BC.<ref name="HAJ">Template:Cite book</ref> It is said that in AD 709 a storm washed away the strip of land that connected the island with Herm.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Webarchive</ref>
The Vikings called the island {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref name="BBC08">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The island's current name retains the related Norman -hou suffix, meaning 'small island' or 'small hill'.
In 1416, it became part of Henry V's estate and still remains Crown property, now leased to the States of Guernsey.
On the top is a marker. It is said that in earlier times, pirates were hanged on it with chains, as on nearby Crevichon.
Modern historyEdit
In 1867 Lt Colonel Montague Fielden became the island's tenant. However he was discovered using the island as a storehouse for smuggling brandy from France.<ref name=BBC08/>
From 1920 to 1934 it was leased by the Scottish novelist Compton MacKenzie along with Herm and remained part of that estate for years, although it is currently part of a different one.<ref name=BBC08/>
From September 1964 until December 1971 the island was occupied by the Faed family – Angus Faed, his wife Susan Faed and their four children, Colin, Erik, Colette and Amanda. Mrs Susan Faed was the 22nd tenant of Jethou.<ref name=BBC08/>
In the 1950s and 60s the island was open to the public. During that period postage stamps were issued. Local stamps on the Bailiwick of Guernsey were banned on 1 October 1969, and the Isle of Jethou was closed to the public from 1970.<ref name=stamps>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1972, Charles Hayward, founder of the Firth Cleveland Group of Companies, purchased the Crown tenancy of the island and lived there with his wife Elsie Darnell George until his death in 1983.
In 1996 the island was leased by Sir Peter Ogden of IT company Computacenter.<ref name="Graham">Template:Cite news</ref>
It was recognised in 2016 as an area of international environmental importance under the Ramsar Convention.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
It is flanked by two islets, Crevichon to the north and Fauconnière to the south. There is one house on the island and two cottages as well as a large garage where vehicles such as quad bikes and tractors are stored.
GovernanceEdit
Unlike the largely autonomous islands of Sark and Alderney within the Bailiwick, Jethou is administered entirely by the States of Guernsey,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Webarchive</ref> and elects members to the States of Deliberation as part of the St. Peter Port South electoral district.<ref>[1] Template:WebarchiveTemplate:Dead link</ref>
WildlifeEdit
At the back (east) of Jethou, puffins can be seen swimming off the rocks.
Jethou in popular cultureEdit
The British 1957 musical Free as Air by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade was set on the minor and fictitious Channel Island of 'Terhou', which was based on Jethou.
Mary Gentle's 2007 novel Ilario: The Stone Golem has a villainous noblewoman exiled to a convent in Jethou.
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
- BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (Oxford University Press, 1971) Template:ISBN
External linksEdit
- Jethou homepage
- Free Gutenberg Project book, Jethou; or, Crusoe Life in the Channel Isles by Ernest R. Suffling
- Stamps from Isle of Jethou Template:Webarchive 1998 Stamps Catalogue by Anders Backman – Freenee
- Island of Jethou at Britlink