4000 of Jersey History

On the bright autumn day it took me less than an hour to fly from London to a

magnificent holiday experience. Over the weekend, I explored a 9 miles long and five

miles wide Channel Island country called Jersey. Before going, I knew that the island

is an offshore finance centre, and the original home of the Jersey cows. I came to

understand what a British crown dependency actually means, 85 miles from the

English coast and only 14 miles from the West Coast of France. Most of the street

names are in French, but I didn't hear a word of French being spoken. I learned that

Jersey was the only part of the British Isles that was occupied by Germany in World

War II. One of the highest points on the island, La Hougue Bie, acquired a defensive

significancy during the war. It has underground bunker constructed by forced labours

of millions of men, women and children.

In 1924, Archaeologists discovered it was an important place since Neolithic times.

Closed and buried for 4,500 years, they found the largest Passage grave in Western

Europe. Its altar tomb precisely aligns with the rising sun that illuminates the entire

passage at the spring and autumn equinox. All over Jersey, hordes of swords,

spearhead and thousands of coins were found. They tell of communities in the

Bronze Age 2,000 to 800 BCE, traded with each other across Jersey France and

Britain. I saw the Milky Way in the night sky, and the landscape change when the

coast expanded over several kilometres in the receding tide. Walking on the beach, I

saw the exposed green, pink and black pebbles. A mile into the sea was the

Elizabeth castle. In my next trip, I am going to stay in that castle and surround myself

with sea and land twice a day.