Islands to celebrate Norman millennial in 2027

William the Conqueror was born in 1028

The Channel Islands will commemorate Norman culture and heritage in 2027 to mark the run up to 1,000 years since the birth of William the Conqueror.

Representatives from Guernsey and Jersey have attended a forum in Caen to start the planning process, along with counterparts from the UK, Ireland, France and several other European countries.

The year of celebrations lead up to the 1,000 year anniversary of the birth of King William I in 2028.

A spokesperson for VisitGuernsey said the organisation was "now working on how the Channel Islands can best tie in with this large-scale project to both commemorate and celebrate our shared history".

Historic connections

Unlike many parts of the former British Empire, the Channel Islands were never conquered or claimed by Britain - in fact, they were the ones doing the conquering.

William - later King William I of England - became Duke of Normandy after his father Robert died in 1035.

The Channel Islands were part of the Duchy of Normandy when William defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, being crowned English King on Christmas Day that year.

When the Norman territories were lost to France during the reign of King John, the islands swore allegiance to the English Crown and were rewarded with a high level of independence.

As a result, both Guernsey and Jersey retained strong connections with Normandy into the modern period.

The connections include local languages based on Norman French, legal traditions modelled on Norman law, and even the English monarch being informally known as the Duke of Normandy, regardless of their sex.

Brittany Ferries will run daily ferries from St Malo to Guernsey in 2025

Plans for the celebrations come off the back of new daily ferry sailings from St Malo to Guernsey, which were announced by Brittany Ferries in November.

VisitGuernsey said it was planning to promote the island in Normandy, as well as Brittany and Paris in France, and expected adverts to reach more than 500,000 people.

It said Guernsey's outdoors was the most attractive part of the islands to French tourists.

Jersey's new ferry company DFDS said it was still finalising its timetable, but had been in discussions with the port in St Malo.