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The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.

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Chateau De Rocquaine

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Fort Grey; Châté dé Rocquoïne

In the parish of St Pierre du Bois.
On the Isle of Guernsey.

Latitude 49.43921° Longitude -2.65491°

Chateau De Rocquaine has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a Masonry Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

This site is a archaeological monument protected by law.

Description

Listed by Salter as a possible castle site.

Comments (by Philip Davis)

It is suggested that the early C19 Martello tower is built on the site of a medieval castle. The is no medieval reference to a castle here, on a small islet, isolated from settlement. There is a reference to a 'Chateau de Rocquaine' as the site of witches coven in 1617. The natural strength of the site is obvious but it may be the castle name just reflects this natural strength rather than any medieval occupation of the site. Indeed it being used as a site for secret activity shows how isolated it was. It should also be recognised that the evidence of testimony for a trial of a vulnerable women should be considered most critically, although there seems no real reason to distrust the place was know by a castle place name in the early C17.

Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
Maps >			Where's the path
Data/Maps >
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps		Flashearth
Photos >	CastleFacts		Flickr	Panoramio

Sources of information, references and further reading

The National Monument Record number(s), or equivalent, for this site is/are PM238.
Further information may be available from http://www.gov.gg/article/2190/Conserving-the-built-environment.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- BBC Guernsey
  Wikipedia entry
  Guernsey Museums and Galleries
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001, Castles and Old Churches of the Channel Islands (Malvern; Folly Publications) p. 19
  Pitts, J.L., 1886, Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands (The Library of Alexandria)

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage, the various governments of the islands, other organisations and individuals. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

This record last updated on Tuesday, April 18, 2017

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