Saint Peter Port

St. Peter Port (French: Saint-Pierre Port) is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958.

St. Peter Port
Saint-Pierre-Port
Parish
Saint Peter Port, Town Church, Elizabeth College entrance, Castle Pier Lighthouse, Castle Cornet, Victoria Tower, Elizabeth College building, Hauteville House, QE2 Marina
Flag of St. Peter Port
Flag
Location of Saint Peter Port on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands
Location of Saint Peter Port on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands
Coordinates: 49.4555°N 2.5368°W / 49.4555; -2.5368
Crown DependencyBailiwick of Guernsey
Government
 • Electoral districtDivided into St Peter Port North and St Peter Port South
Area
 • Total6.5 km2 (2.5 sq mi)
Elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Population
 (2019)
 • Total18,958
 • Density2,900/km2 (7,600/sq mi)
Time zoneGMT
 • Summer (DST)UTC+01
Postal code
GY1
Websitewww.stppcons.com

St. Peter Port is a small town (commonly referred to by locals as just "town")[1] consisting mostly of steep narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes. It is known that a trading post/town existed here before Roman times with a pre-Christian name which has not survived.

The parish covers an area of 6.5 km2. The postal code for addresses in the parish starts with GY1.

People from St. Peter Port were nicknamed "les Villais" (the townspeople) or "cllichards" in Guernésiais.

Geography

St. Peter Port is on the east coast of Guernsey overlooking Herm and tiny Jethou; a further channel separates Sark and surrounding islets such as Brecqhou; Normandy's long Cotentin Peninsula and, to the south-east, Jersey are visible in very clear conditions from some of the town's highest vantage points. The parish borders St. Sampson in the north, The Vale in the north-west, St. Andrew in the west and St. Martin in the south.

The name of the nearest channel is the Little Russel, in which sits the Bréhon Tower; that separating Sark is the Big Russel. Both in width are less than half of Guernsey's greatest length and dotted with coastal rocks and stacks quite near those islands, some of which are narrowly submerged.

Relief

The land in the north and by the harbour is low-lying but not marshy. In the south, the land gets higher (but not as high as St Martin's or the Forest). Grassy, gently terraced cliffs behind sea walls (including projections) topped by trees characterise the southern part of the coast here (by an underground military museum and historic battery at semi-wooded Havelet). In the north is the more built-up Admiral Park development. To the south of the town lies Havelet Bay and the coastal path which leads to the very pretty Fermain Bay after a walk of about 20–25 minutes.

Climate

St. Peter Port has an oceanic climate (Cfb) with mild summers and cool winters.

Climate data for St. Peter Port (2010-2020 normals, extremes 1947–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.3
(55.9)		 15.0
(59.0)		 19.4
(66.9)		 24.3
(75.7)		 25.9
(78.6)		 30.8
(87.4)		 32.6
(90.7)		 34.3
(93.7)		 30.6
(87.1)		 23.6
(74.5)		 18.0
(64.4)		 15.6
(60.1)		 34.3
(93.7)
Average high °C (°F) 8.7
(47.7)		 8.4
(47.1)		 10.0
(50.0)		 12.6
(54.7)		 14.8
(58.6)		 17.6
(63.7)		 20.0
(68.0)		 19.5
(67.1)		 18.3
(64.9)		 15.4
(59.7)		 11.9
(53.4)		 10.1
(50.2)		 13.9
(57.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 7.4
(45.3)		 6.7
(44.1)		 7.9
(46.2)		 9.9
(49.8)		 12.1
(53.8)		 14.7
(58.5)		 17.0
(62.6)		 16.9
(62.4)		 15.8
(60.4)		 13.5
(56.3)		 10.4
(50.7)		 8.7
(47.7)		 11.8
(53.2)
Average low °C (°F) 5.9
(42.6)		 5.2
(41.4)		 5.8
(42.4)		 7.2
(45.0)		 9.4
(48.9)		 11.9
(53.4)		 14.0
(57.2)		 14.3
(57.7)		 13.3
(55.9)		 11.6
(52.9)		 8.9
(48.0)		 7.4
(45.3)		 9.6
(49.3)
Record low °C (°F) −7.8
(18.0)		 −7.2
(19.0)		 −2.2
(28.0)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 0.1
(32.2)		 5.4
(41.7)		 8.3
(46.9)		 9.2
(48.6)		 5.8
(42.4)		 3.5
(38.3)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 −3.8
(25.2)		 −7.8
(18.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 90.7
(3.57)		 73.1
(2.88)		 50.5
(1.99)		 38.9
(1.53)		 43.6
(1.72)		 37.8
(1.49)		 33.3
(1.31)		 53.6
(2.11)		 52.3
(2.06)		 82.5
(3.25)		 97.8
(3.85)		 99.5
(3.92)		 753.6
(29.67)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 20.8 18.1 14.2 10.2 10.8 11.4 10.4 13.9 12.8 17.2 20.7 20.3 180.9
Average snowy days 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours 61.0 85.6 127.6 194.7 234.5 246.6 250.7 230.1 180.1 117.1 77.8 58.2 1,864
Percent possible sunshine 22.7 29.1 34.7 47.7 49.6 51.2 51.7 52.0 47.8 35.3 28.7 22.8 41.8
Source 1: Guernsey Met Office 2018 Weather Report[2]
Source 2: Weather-online.co.uk[3]

Subdivisions
Castle Cornet

Saint Peter Port is subdivided into four cantons:[4]

  1. Canton 1 or North Canton
  2. Canton 2 or Canton of the North-West
  3. Canton 3 or Canton of the South-West
  4. Canton 4 or Canton of the South

In addition, the islands of Herm and Jethou belong to the parish,[5] but are not part of any canton. They belong to Electoral district Saint Peter Port South.[6]

Sport and leisure

St. Peter Port has an English Isthmian League club, Guernsey F.C. who play at Footes Lane. The Guernsey Rugby Football Club also play at Footes Lane and compete in National League 3 London & SE.

Parks and gardens
Candie Gardens

Candie Gardens, an award-winning restored Victorian Garden, features statues of Victor Hugo and Queen Victoria. The Guernsey Museum at Candie and the Priaulx Library are both situated within the grounds of the garden respectively.

Cambridge Park is a recreational park that includes Churchill Avenue, ‘a leafy tree-lined pedestrian Avenue’, named after Winston Churchill and a skate park.[7] In 2014 the parish was a Gold & Category Winner in the RHS Britain in Bloom competition,[8] followed in 2016 with another Gold medal.[9]

Features

Main roads

The following main roads (listed from north-south) provide important links between St Peter Port and the other parishes:

  • Les Banques (leads up the coast to St Sampson's and the north of the island)
  • Rohais (leads to the parish of Castel)
  • Mount Row (leads to St Andrew's and the west of the island)
  • Ruette Brayes (leads to St Martin's and the south of the island)
  • Fort Road (leads to St Martin's)

The following coastal roads (listed from north to south) are also very important as they provide access to the shops, carparks and the harbour:

  • St George's Esplanade
  • North Esplanade
  • South Esplanade

Politics

Saint Peter Port comprises two administrative division, St Peter Port South and St Peter Port North.

In the 2016 Guernsey general election in:

  • St Peter Port South there was a 2,068 or 63% turnout to elect five Deputies
  • St Peter Port North there was a 2,639 or 65% turnout to elect six Deputies.

Notable people
See also: List of people from Guernsey

Numismatic History
See also: Guernsey pound

Guernsey bank notes feature a number of parish buildings:

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Peter Port.

References
  1. "St Peter Port Guernsey | Guernsey's Capital". www.visitguernsey.com. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  2. "2014 Weather Report" (PDF). Guernsey Met Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  3. "Normals 2010-2020". Weather-online. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  4. "St. Peter Port Parish, Canton Boundaries". Stppcons.com. 2007-11-14. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  5. "Bailiwick of Guernsey". Crwflags.com. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  6. "Guernsey Election of States Deputies, 2008". Islandlife.org. 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  7. "Cambridge Park | Visit Guernsey".
  8. "RHS Britain in Bloom 2014 UK Finals Judges' Reports". Britain in Bloom.
  9. "RHS Britain in Bloom 2016 UK Finals Full Results". RHS Britain in Bloom. Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  10. "Places to visit". National Trust of Guernsey.
  11. "Victoria Tower". Guernsey Museums. 15 October 2012.
  12. "Townie No 1" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  13. "Guilles Alles Library". Archived from the original on 2015-12-07.
  14. "Candie Museum". Guernsey Museums. 12 July 2012.
  15. "Candie Gardens". Guernsey Museums. 19 July 2012.
  16. "German Naval Signals HQ".
  17. "German Naval Signals HQ - Guernsey Museums". Archived from the original on 2018-08-22.
  18. "Bailiwick of Guernsey War Memorial". Great War CI.
  19. "St Peter Port Parish War Shrine, Guernsey". Great War CI.
  20. "St. Stephen's Parish Memorial, Guernsey". Great War CI.
  21. "South African War Memorial". Guernsey Museums. 8 August 2012.
  22. Dillon, Paddy (1999). Channel Island Walks. Cicerone Press Limited, 1999. ISBN 9781852842888.
  23. "The Aquarium in Guernsey set to close". BBC News. 25 September 2019.
  24. "PROTECTED BUILDINGS". Environment - Guernsey government.
  25. Careyroots http://www.careyroots.com/castle.html Archived 2015-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
  26. "Harbour Carvival". Guernsey Round Table.
  27. "Town Carnival". Town Centre Partnership.
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