Good evening everyone,

We have two main castles in Jersey of which Gorey is my favourite with its charm and stunning views over the Royal Bay of Grouville its make the perfect backdrop for landscape photography.

The site had been fortified in the prehistoric period, but the construction of the castle was undertaken following the division of the Duchy of Normandy in 1204. The castle was first mentioned in 1212.

The castle was the primary defence of Jersey until the development of gunpowder which then rendered the castle ultimately indefensible from Mont Saint Nicholas, the adjacent hill which overlooks the castle. Mont Orgueil was updated with platforms for artillery constructed in 1548 and 1549 under the direction of Henry Cornish, Lieutenant of the Earl of Hertford in Jersey. Cornish complained that earlier repairs to the donjon by Robert Raymont had left it so weak it was vulnerable to musket shot;  In 1543 he had asked for a “saker” cannon that would cover the sands between “Grovyll” and the castle, where the French had landed in the past.

Mont Orgueil was to be superseded by Elizabeth Castle off Saint Helier, the construction of which commenced at the end of the 16th century. Walter Raleigh, Governor of Jersey in 1600, rejected a plan to demolish the old castle^[3] to recycle the stone for the new fortifications with the words: “pity to cast it down”.