Crevichon
| Crevichon | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 49°27’46"N, 2°27’53"W |
| Area: | 7½ acres |
| Data | |
| Population: | Uninhabited |
Crevichon is an islet off the west coast of Herm, immediately to the north of Jethou, all of which lie to the east of Guernsey in the Channel Islands and belong to the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
The name of the island is Norman in origin. According to S. K. Kellett-Smith, it means "isle of crabs, crayfish or cranes". It is thought that a thousand years ago, the water level was ten feet lower, making crabs and their ilk far more abundant about this islet.
The island measures about 250 yards by 200 yards, which yields an area of less than seven and a half acres. The distance to Jethou is about 230 yards.
History
A 16th-century drawing, now in the British Museum, shows Crevichon as apparently a wooded islet.
Professor John Le Patourel, in his work The Building of Castle Cornet, mentions that in 1566 iron and hammers were taken to "Creavissham", and the island quarried for the castle. The quarry has been used intermittently since then, making the island less visible; to make up for that, a fifteen-foot marker was erected on its peak. Crevichon may have provided the granite for the steps of St Paul's Cathedral in London.[1]
It is said that, in earlier times, pirates were hanged with chains both on Crevichon and on nearby Jethou.
Compton Mackenzie, former owner of Herm, called Crevichon "Merg" in his book Fairy Gold, whose setting is a fictionalised version of the islands.
Wrecks
In 1953, Victor Coysh says that he saw the remains of a German bomber, from the time of the German occupation. The aeroplane that crashed on Crevichon on 19 November 1940, killing all its crew, was a Heinkel He 111 that either a British night fighter shot down on its return from a raid or which developed engine trouble on the way.[2]
Other wrecks include the Courier, a Guernsey steamer, that grounded in 1905 with 80 passengers.
References
- Forty, George (2005) Channel Islands at War: A German Perspective. (Ian Allan). ISBN 978-0711030718
- Channel Islets – Victor Coysh
- ↑ "Chance for people to visit Jethou". BBC News Online (BBC). 2004-06-19. Archived from the original on 2004-07-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20040712231108/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/guernsey/3820729.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-12. "'The steps to St Paul's Cathedral are said to be made with granite from Crevichon, the little island to the north of Jethou.'"
- ↑ Forty (2005), p.244.