Chausey

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Boats in Chausey

Chausey is a group of small islands, islets and rocks that forms part of the Channel Islands from a geographical point of view, but because it is under French jurisdiction it is almost never mentioned in the context of the other Channel Islands. There are no scheduled transport links between Chausey and the other Channel Islands.

Chausey was for a long time an object of rivalry between English and French. Unlike its Channel Islands neighbours, the archipelago has been French for centuries. It was administered from Jersey until 1499, when it was abandoned to the French for reasons unknown. The Jersey historian Alec Podger, in his book Jersey: 'That Nest of Vypers', has suggested that it was too costly in terms of money and manpower to control and, as the Islands were not on the sea-lanes, it was decided that this cost was not justified by the benefits. As a site of piracy and smuggling, this maze of islands was for a long time a den valued by seafarers engaged in illegal business. They only had to engage themselves into the Sound (the natural channel running along the Grande île), or to anchor in the Passe Beauchamp to be away from indiscreet sights.

In 1022, Richard II, Duke of Normandy, gave Chausey and the barony of Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, to the Benedictine monks of Mont Saint-Michel, who built a priory on the Grande île.^[1]

Grande Île, the main island, is 1.5 km long and 0.5 km wide at its widest, though this is just the tip of a substantial and complex archipelago which is exposed at low tide. Its population is about 100 people.

Chausey is administratively part of the commune of Granville in the Manche département.

The now inactive quarries exported granite, including for the construction of Mont Saint Michel.

Although the -ey ending of the name Chausey may be assumed to be associated with the Norse -ey (meaning island) seen in Jersey and Guernsey, in fact the archipelago's name derives from Latin calx and probably signifies a stony place.

Coordinates: 48°52′13″N, 1°49′21″W