L’Islet

Situated at the back of the Sandy Hook housing estate. Follow the traffic signs (even if you are walking), the estate is one way. Go into the estate and there is a track between two houses in the right corner. Perry’s Guide Ref: 10 A1

This is one of Guernsey’s most recent discoveries. It was uncovered by La Société Guernesiaise in 1912 and is a ‘site’ for sore eyes. It’s not even marked on any maps and looks like it has been completely forgotten.

On its discovery there was much excitement due to the unique structure and layout of this burial. The ‘cist-in-circle’ layout had never been seen before and may be only found in Guernsey and Jersey though the variance in design of all buildings is only to be expected, especially on islands where resources are limited. The discovery and subsequent excavation carried out by La Société Guernesiaise was looked upon with unease by many locals. A series of assaults and robberies ended with the murder of a Mr. Robert of Les Canus. The Rev. G. E. Lee, one of the archaeologists involved in the dig also died suddenly. On the very day of his death, an article ran in The Star newspaper about the aforementioned murder adding fuel to the speculation that they had let the evil spirit loose from its tomb.

No burials where found here, but due to the acidity of the soil none where expected. A small dolmen stands in the centre of a large circle of stones which has four small circles adjoining it with a small stone cist (pronounced ‘kist’) in each of the four circles. There may have been much more to this site as another dolmen slightly to the north was destroyed when the greenhouses were first built.


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