Jersey Island Geopark

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Jersey Island Geopark Aspiring UNESCO Geopark. Celebrating our unique geology, cultural heritage, landscapes & seascapes.

04/09/2026

Plot twist: this rock has hosted more drama than most reality TV.

Meet the Rock of the Exiles.

In 1852, Victor Hugo, literary superstar and Napoleon III’s least favourite person in France, washed up on Jersey after basically telling the new emperor “over my dead body.” Once settled, he did what any self-respecting banished genius would do: brood dramatically on a rock, staring out at the France that exiled him.

In 1853, his son photographed him there - unmoving, gazing to sea like the main character he believed he was.

Hugo mailed the print to a friend with the caption of all captions: “I will remain in exile, as I wish to remain standing.” That photo now lives in the Musée d’Orsay.

Best part: the rock is real, and it’s still standing on our east coast.

Discover it for yourself. Bring main character energy. Be inspired.

31/08/2026

⏳ Less than two weeks to go!

Have you signed up for the Castle Chase yet?

Grab a teammate and take on this two-person, two-mile relay: race from West Park to Elizabeth Castle and back, against the clock, at low tide.

📅 12.30,11 September 2026
💷 £30 per team of two
🏆 £100 voucher per person for the winning pair in Men’s, Women’s and Mixed categories
❤️ Supporting Jersey Heritage
✅ Open to over-18s in good health

Every entry helps fund Jersey Heritage’s work protecting the Island’s history - so sign up, rally a teammate, and race for a good cause.

26/08/2026

The legend of Jeffrey’s Leap 👀

At Anne Port, a rocky cliff known as Le Saut Geffroy, or Le Saout Geffray, is said to have once been an ancient place of ex*****on, where criminals were thrown into the sea.

According to folklore, a man named Geffroy was found guilty of a crime and sentenced to be cast from the cliff.

🎥 Watch to discover the legend.

21/08/2026

🏰 The Castle Chase is back – Friday 11 September 2026! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

The Island’s only lunchtime beach trail run for a cause is sprinting back onto the calendar, kindly sponsored by . Grab a friend, colleague or family member and race for .

Meg from the Geopark dived into the route with Nelson and Eve from Jersey Heritage to share five facts you didn’t know about the course.

📍 Elizabeth Castle
👥 Teams of 2
💰 £30 per relay team
🏆 £100 voucher per team member for the winning pair in Men’s, Women’s and Mixed categories
🔞 Over 18s, in good health

Every entry supports Jersey Heritage’s work as a charity to protect the Island’s history.

👉 Enter here: https://race-nation.co.uk/register/jersey-heritage/the-castle-chase

19/08/2026

Fancy spotting Jersey’s iconic landmarks on a race to beat the tide? 🌊

At the weekend, Meryl, who leads our marketing, took on — the inaugural race across Jersey’s tidal landscape.

Think wet trainers from the get-go, wrestling with seaweed, wading through water and trying not to slip in clay. 🫣

The challenge? Navigating Jersey’s low-tide terrain from Gorey to St Aubin’s, linking six iconic landmarks across the foreshore over 24.7km.

And the landmarks had stories of their own:

🐎 Seymour Tower – where two horses and riders were stranded in fog in 1987.
🐬 La Rocque – a site of dolphin strandings, including in 2024.
🦈 Havre des Pas – where a basking shark ended up in the swimming pool in 1951. Thankfully, no such sightings en route.
🏰 Elizabeth Castle – home to the hermit of Hermitage Rock, who was later killed by pirates.

As Environmental Partner for The Intertidal, we were proud to be part of a race that put Jersey’s incredible coastal landscape centre stage!

24.7km ✅

Could you beat the tide? 🌊

16/08/2026

How has our relationship with the Sun changed? ☀️

We’ve just experienced a once-in-a-lifetime event - but imagine living 5,000 years ago, when the movement of the Sun helped shape the rhythm of life.

At Les Couperon, the east-to-west alignment of the dolmen reflects an understanding of the Sun and the changing seasons, helping create an agricultural calendar for the communities who built it.

The Sun wasn’t just something in the sky. It helped determine when to plant, when to harvest and how to live with the seasons.

Today, we organise our lives around clocks and calendars. 5,000 years ago, the landscape and the sky told a very different story.

11/08/2026

🌒 Jersey, are you ready for tomorrow’s solar eclipse?

We’ve got your quick guide to making the most of it — from the best time and place to watch, to protecting your eyes and what else you might notice as daylight changes.

🔭 The Jersey Astronomy Club will be at Le Braye with solar telescopes and solar glasses for people to use.

And remember — a total solar eclipse won’t be visible from Jersey again until 2081. So this is one to make time for!

05/08/2026

Join Paul Chambers, Head of Geopark, as he explores The Minquiers.

This unique archipalego is just 20 kilometres south of Jersey, but is unlike anywhere else in the world.

At high tide, only around 0.01km² of land (roughly the size of a football pitch) remains above water. At low tide, that expands to around 21km² (ten times the size of Monaco) revealing an extraordinary landscape of reefs, sandbanks and pools.

Discover five fascinating facts about this remarkable Jersey Island Geopark geosite.

Plan your adventure .kayak.adventures

30/07/2026

100 years ago today, Jersey experienced the largest earthquake ever recorded on land in the British Isles. 🌍

On 30 July 1926, just after lunchtime, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook the Island for around 30 seconds. Buildings swayed, chimneys toppled, furniture shifted and farm animals panicked. For many Islanders, it was an unforgettable moment.

Despite the legends, this wasn’t the earthquake that separated Jersey from France. By then, Jersey had already been an island for thousands of years.

So why do earthquakes happen here?

The answer lies deep beneath our feet. Around 600 million years ago, powerful tectonic forces shaped the rocks, faults and landscapes that make Jersey so geologically important today. Those ancient fault lines occasionally release built-up pressure, producing the small earthquakes we still experience from time to time.

Since the 1980s, more than 200 minor earthquakes have been recorded around Jersey, although most are far too small to be felt.

Thankfully, Jersey’s earthquakes are generally a fascinating reminder that our landscape is still part of an active geological story - not a cause for concern.

It’s one more reason why Jersey’s geology tells a story hundreds of millions of years in the making.

Have you or your family ever heard stories about the Great Jersey Earthquake of 1926? We’d love to hear them below. 👇

26/07/2026

Say ‘Hi’ to Meg & Paul - the faces behind the Jersey Geopark. We have a few new followers around here so we thought we’d reintroduce ourselves 👋

Together we explore the rocks, cliffs and coastlines that made this island what it is.

Our mission is simple: to share Jersey’s geological story, connect people to the landscape, and help build momentum for a UNESCO Geopark.

What to expect

⛰️Short field clips and walk-and-talks exploring our Island’s unique landscapes.
🪨Bite-sized geology you can actually use on a beach walk.
🇯🇪Community stories from our ambassadors!
Join us

Follow, share, and tag friends who love Jersey! Every like, share and story helps build the case for a UNESCO Geopark.

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