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Location: La Crête Fort, Bonne Nuit, St John, Jersey
Accommodation: sleeps 4/5: 1 double or twin, 1 bunk, 1 sofa bed in sitting room
Contact: +44 (0)1534 633304; www.jerseyheritage.org
Standing on a headland along Jersey’s north coast cliff path, and surrounded on three sides by rugged cliffs falling down to the sea, La Crête Fort was built in circa 1830 on 16th-century military foundations to guard against attacks from the French. It later served as the official summer residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey. Smugglers used the secluded and rocky Giffard bay to the east in the 17th and 18th centuries. To the west lies the picturesque port of Bonne Nuit, or Bouonne Niet in Jèrriais, a name first recorded in 1150, which alludes to the overnight shelter sailors could expect in the harbour. The gun platform at the rear of the house looks out towards the Paternoster Reef, Sark and the distant coast of France. The fort’s defensive capacities were extended under German occupation in World War II. The sole means of access is along a winding, unsealed track: this is the quintessential island retreat.
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