l'ancresse

Updated: June 15, 2025

For it chanced that Duke Robert was royally entertained years ago by Abbot Magloirios, when he was forced by foul weather to put into L'Ancresse Bay, who, on his departure, left Cherbourg and other skilled men to build three castles for their safety against pirates. So it was through Duke Robert's stay at the Vale that our Castle was made so strong.

William J. Ferrar - The Fall of the Grand Sarrasin : Being a Chronicle of Sir Nigel de Bessin, Knight, of Things that Happed in Guernsey Island, in the Norman Seas, in and about the Year One Thousand and Fifty-Seven

The Black, or Tithys Redstart, as it is sometimes called, is a regular and by no means uncommon autumnal visitant to Guernsey. It seems very much to take the place of the Wheatear, arriving about the time the Wheatear departs, and mostly frequenting the same places. In Guernsey it is most common near the sea about the low part of the Island, from L'ancresse Common to Perrelle Bay.

Cecil Smith - Birds of Guernsey (1879) : And the Neighbouring Islands: Alderney, Sark, Jethou, Herm; Being a Small Contribution to the Ornitholony of the Channel Islands

This flock was mentioned in the 'Star' of April the 27th as follows: "A countryman informs us that a few days since, whilst he was at L'ancresse Common, he saw several flocks of these smallest of British birds, numbering many hundreds in each, settle in different parts of the Common before dispersing over the Island.

Cecil Smith - Birds of Guernsey (1879) : And the Neighbouring Islands: Alderney, Sark, Jethou, Herm; Being a Small Contribution to the Ornitholony of the Channel Islands