After our awesome visit to Spain, we headed off to spend a week with the wonderful and talented Baker family in Jersey. Our hosts, Dave and Gail; their kids Catherine and Bob; and bonus son, Louie, gave us the full Jersey experience and treated us to many hours of great music at the The Office Pub and Karaoke Bar, and at chez Baker. With the mention of Jersey, probably 99 out of 100 Americans will think we travelled to The Garden State that bridges Delaware and New York. Au contraire, we spent the week on the beautiful, quaint, and incredibly interesting island of Jersey, just off the coast of Normandy, France. So that you won’t be confused between Jersey and New Jersey in the future, here are 10 things that make Jersey a one-of-a-kind place.
On June 24, 1664, the Duke of York granted Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret ownership of a swath of land between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers. The charter referred to these lands as “New Jersey” in honor of Carteret’s defense of the English Channel island of Jersey during the English Civil War.
Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are part of the British Isles. England, Scotland, and Wales make up Great Britain, while the United Kingdom includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Jersey, meanwhile, is a British Crown Dependency. Simple, eh?
Jersey is a British Crown Dependency but is not part of the United Kingdom or the European Union. However, the UK Government is constitutionally responsible for its defense and international representation.
Jersey is only 5 miles by 9 miles in size (45 square miles) and is one of the smallest countries in Europe. It is also part of the answer to a great trivia question: What are the four countries that begin with letter “J”? Japan, Jordan, Jamaica, and the one no one ever gets (except you now)…JERSEY!
Jersey is in the English Channel and is much closer to France than to England. You can actually see Normandy, France from Jersey. The island was a part of the Duchy of Normandy, and following the Norman invasion of 1066, they became a part of Britain.
Merchants accept British pound notes, but will give you change in Jersey notes and English coins. You can take home the Jersey notes as a souvenir, but don’t expect to spend it anywhere else in the world.
As you may have know, there are Jersey (and Guernsey) breeds of cows. The Jersey locals are quite proud of their majestic brown bovines.
The locals are equally proud of their Jersey Royal potatoes. The potato has a distinctive nutty flavor, making it the most sought after new potato. Interestingly, throughout the island you can find unattended roadside stands where you can pick up the Royals by just dropping your money in the box. Royals are even for sale in the Jersey airport terminal using the same honor system method of purchase.
Sir Walter Raleigh was appointed governor of Jersey in 1600.
Jersey has one of the third largest tidal ranges in the world. At low tide the island nearly doubles in size and on the biggest tides of the year, the tidal range is up to an astonishing twelve meters.
The Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey were the only parts of the British Empire occupied by the Nazis during WWII. Jersey was occupied from 1 July 1940 until 9 May 1945. The island is full of German bunkers, gun emplacements, and underground facilities. Please check out the “German Occupation of the Channel Islands” on Wikipedia for a recount of that pivotal time in Jersey’s long and fascinating history.
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