La Hougue Bie

I have been a little slack on the blogging front for a few weeks so be prepared for several blog posts to come into cyberspace thick and fast!

On a very windy Saturday we met up with Kate and the boys-Aaron, Jared and Reuben-at La Hougue Bie, a neolithic burial mound, dating back to 3500BC.


The site consists of 18.6 metre long passage chamber covered by a 12.2 metre high earth mound. The site was first excavated in 1925 by the Société Jersiaise. Fragments of twenty vase supports were found along with the scattered remains of at least eight individuals. Gravegoods, mostly pottery, were also present. At some time in the past, the site had evidently been entered and ransacked.

On top of the mound were built two Medieval chapels. The remaining remains have been kept in good repair. There was once a folly surrounding the chapels called the Princes Tower but when this fell into a state of disrepair in the 1920's the Société Jersiaise tore it down as it was not considered fashionable to have Gothic architecture then. How ridiculous!

It is one of the largest and best preserved passage graves.  Although they are termed "passage graves", they were ceremonial sites, whose function was more similar to churches or cathedrals, where burials were incidental. Since the excavations and restoration of the original entrance of the passage observations from inside the tomb at sunrise on the spring and autumn equinox have revealed that the orientation of the passage allows the sun's rays to shine through to the chamber entering the back recess of the terminal cell. Although many passage graves showed evidence of continued activity into the Late Neolithic period, La Hougue Bie was abandoned before that time.

On the same site there is an extensive German underground bunker.  There are many displays from during the war, some of which are very poignant.  I still find it hard to grasp the appalling atrocities of the war.

I do think that 1976 is an excellent year to be born...............;)