Fort Hommet

Fort Hommet is a largely Victorian fortress to which the German occupying forces made their own additions during the Second World War. The German modifications consisted of four casemates housing 105mm K331(f) guns.

At low tide the Hommet is surrounded by rocks on the seaward side, balancing out the heathland between the fortress itself and the main part of the island. Not surprisingly, therefore, its name is derived from the Guernesiais word houmet, for peninsula, by which it is still known.

The original was built in the very early 1800s as a defence against the French during the Napoleonic Wars (although there is evidence of construction on the site dating back to the 1680s). Despite the later German additions (see below) it’s still easy to see that the central tower, used as a keep, and the circular battery around it is very similar in design to the larger Fort Grey, which sits close to Portelet Harbour.

Fort Hommet was upgraded and enlarged in the Victorian era, and 68-pounder guns were installed.

Fort Hommet

During the German occupation, four casemates (out of a total of 21 built on Guernsey) were added to house guns as part of the Atlantic Wall, which involved making the Channel Islands a supposedly impregnable fortress. The German additions were completed very quickly by building an outline of the structure using wooden shutters, into which concrete was poured. The imprint of these shutters is still visible in some parts. Once the concrete had set, the wood was removed.

The whole area surrounding the expanded bunker system was designated a strongpoint by the occupying forces, which they called Stutzpunk Rotenstein. Thus, alongside the guns house in the casemates, there were rolls of barbed wire, trenches, machine gun pits and flamethrowers. The headland to the north of the bunkers was turned into a minefield, with around 1500 mines in position.

The image below shows the view from inside one of the gun emplacements.

Fort Hommet / houmet interior

Following the Channel Islands’ liberation, some effort was made to return the islands’ to their pre-war appearance, and the German portion of the extended Houmet, along with many ofter similar casemates around the island, were buried. However, in 1995, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation, these parts were uncovered again and restored, as they were deemed to be among those in the best condition to be found on Guernsey.

Although there would have been nine bunks in each casemate during the war, it would usually have had a staff of four or five, plus an officer when being used for defence.

The Hommet

It is open for visits on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons through the summer. Away from the fortification, the area is a popular walking spot, and a good site for spotting birds.

The Hommet shouldn’t be confused with Les Houmets, which are small islands to the north east of the island – the opposite side to the Hommet.

Pembroke

Pembroke and L’Ancresse form a single, wide bay at the very north of the island, with a shallow breach, plenty of sand and good clean water.

Beach at Pembroke

The eastern headland that defines one end of the bay is home to the rifle range, while on the eastern edge there’s a broad, long concrete slab, which is good for sunbathing.

Pembroke and L'Ancresse

The image below shows the view across L’Ancresse, close to the viewpoint, to Pembroke at the far end of the bay.

L'Ancresse and Pembroke

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The Author

The Sarnian series is written by Nik Rawlinson, who was born in Guernsey and, although he doesn't currently live there, returns regularly. He is a journalist, author and broadcaster working for a wide range of lifestyle titles in the UK and beyond. Find out more at nikrawlinson.com.

The name

The name The Sarnian has two distinct meanings. It's up to the reader to decide which they prefer:

  1. It's the name of the newspaper for which Ollie works
  2. The Latin name for Guernsey was Sarnia. Thus, Ollie could be considered to be the Sarnian of the series title

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The Sarnian series of books is published by Ovingo Limited. Ovingo Limited is a private limited company, registered in England and Wales, number 7468217. Registered office: 16 The Maltings, Roydon Road, Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, SG12 8UU.

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All of the characters, organisations, publications and narrative of the Sarnian series, any related publications, products and web sites are fictitious. Characters, events, organisations and publications are not intended to refer to actual entities or events and any similarity is unintentional and entirely coincidental.

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This web site, and its contents, are here to support The Sarnian, a series of books set on and around the Channel Islands, and Guernsey in particular. It started as a means of keeping track of each character so that their features, loves, desires, abilities, looks and so on didn't change from book to book and has grown to become a complete encyclopedia of the series. Unless otherwise stated, the images included on this site were taken by The Sarnian author, Nik Rawlinson, who is also the author of the content.

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