Crevichon
Encyclopedia
Herm
Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are also banned...
, immediately to the north of Jethou
Jethou
Jethou is a small island that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is privately leased, and not open to the public.It is immediately south of Herm and has an area of approximately .-History:...
, in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
According to Dr S.K. Kellett-Smith, it means "isle of crabs, crayfish or cranes". Like other names in the region it is Norman
Norman language
Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. Norman can be classified as one of the northern Oïl languages along with Picard and Walloon...
in origin. A thousand years ago, the water level was ten feet lower, making these creatures far more abundant there.
Geography
The island measures about 212 by 168 metres, which yields an area of less than three hectareHectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s. The distance to Jethou is about 215 metres.
History
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, shows Crevichon as apparently a wooded islet.
Prof. John Le Patourel
John Le Patourel
John Herbert Le Patourel FBA was a historian from Guernsey.-Life:Le Patourel on 29 July 1909 was born on Guernsey, where his father was the Attorney General. He was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey and Jesus College, Oxford where he obtained a BA in Modern History in 1931 followed by a DPhil...
, in The Building of Castle Cornet
Castle Cornet
Castle Cornet is a large island castle in Guernsey, and former tidal island, also known as Cornet Rock or Castle Rock, which has been part of one of the breakwaters of St Peter Port's harbour, the main one in the island, since 1859.- Geography :...
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, but this has had the unfortunate consequence of making the island less visible. As a result, a fifteen foot marker was erected on the top. Crevichon may have provided the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
for the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
It is said that in earlier times, pirates were hanged on it with chains, like nearby Jethou
Jethou
Jethou is a small island that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is privately leased, and not open to the public.It is immediately south of Herm and has an area of approximately .-History:...
.
Compton Mackenzie
Compton Mackenzie
Sir Compton Mackenzie, OBE was a writer and a Scottish nationalist.-Background:Compton Mackenzie was born in West Hartlepool, England, into a theatrical family of Mackenzies, but many of whose members used Compton as their stage surname, starting with his grandfather Henry Compton, a well-known...
, former owner of Herm
Herm
Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are also banned...
called Crevichon "Merg" in his book, Fairy Gold which 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 occupation.Other wrecks include
- Courier, a Guernsey steamer, beached in 1905 with 80 passengers