LA SOCIÉTÉ GUERNESIAISE

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1 ISSN LA SOCIÉTÉ GUERNESIAISE REPORT AND TRANSACTIONS 2015 VOLUME XXVII, Part V Published in 2016 by La Société Guernesiaise, Guernsey

2 La Société Guernesiaise was founded in Its objects are the study of all aspects of natural science and local research within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, including archaeology, history, folklore, language, geography, geology and the conservation of fauna and flora and of buildings, objects and features of historic interest. Membership is open to all, and those who wish to obtain information about joining should apply to: The Secretary, La Société Guernesiaise Headquarters, Candie Gardens, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 1UG Website: NOTES FOR AUTHORS Papers and section reports should be submitted in their final form by 1st April. Photographs are welcome, although it may not be possible to publish all illustrations submitted owing to constraints of cost and space. The editor reserves the right to seek one or more opinions on any paper submitted. Authors may request six complimentary copies of papers accepted. Further copies can be supplied at cost price if notice is given to the Secretary. La Société Guernesiaise has the copyright of the contents of the journal. R. P. Hocart, Editor for editor: COVER ILLUSTRATION The statue of Victor Hugo by J. Boucher in Candie Gardens. In 2016 a festival was held to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Les Travailleurs de la Mer, written by Hugo in and about Guernsey. (R. Hocart)

3 LA SOCIÉTÉ GUERNESIAISE THE GUERNSEY SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE AND LOCAL RE SEARCH REPORT AND TRANSACTIONS 2015 Vol. XXVII Part V Copyright: La Société Guernesiaise Published in Guernsey, 2016 Printed by Melody Press Printers

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5 LA SOCIÉTÉ GUERNESIAISE FOUNDED 1882 Patron: Air Chief Marshal SIR PETER LE CHEMINANT, GBE, KCB, DFC COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 2013 President: Mrs. P. COSTEN Mrs Costen died on 13 September, and Dr.ANDREW CASEBOW was appointed Acting President Immediate Past President: R. L. COLLENETTE Secretary: Ms. K. LEE Hon Treasurer: D. CRANCH Hon. Editor: R. P. HOCART Ordinary Members of Council A. NICOLLE, Mrs. S. BROUARD, R. B. DE LA RUE, Mrs. L. MARTIN, M. DEANE, Miss. J. HENNEY, Mrs H. LITCHFIELD Section Secretaries Archaeology Ms. T. WALLS Astronomy F. DOWDING Botany vacant Climate Change Dr. A. CASEBOW Entomology R. AUSTIN Family History Miss E. O. LE PATOUREL Geology & Geography A. DOREY Historic Buildings J. McCORMACK History & Philology W. GALLIENNE Junior Mrs. P. COSTEN Marine Biology & Zoology Miss. J. JENNINGS Ornithology V. FROOME Philology W. GALLIENNE Co-opted members: J. HOOPER (Conservation Officer), Ms. J. GILMOUR (Reserves Committee Chairperson)

6 HONORARY MEMBERS OF LA SOCIÉTÉ GUERNESIAISE Mrs D. Bramall K. J. Barton T. Peet, FRCS D. K. Misselbrook W. T. Gallienne M. E. Smith A. Stagg R. P. Hocart R. Austin Miss E. O. Le Patourel Mrs. M. Austin P. K. Johnston Mrs. M. Teagle Mrs. L. Martin Jurat D. O. Le Conte, BSc, MBA V. Froome MAIN EVENTS IN March Annual General Meeting followed by a talk by Julia Henney on the Conservation Herd 25 July Shedding light on the Jewish Diaspora in nineteenth-century Jersey and Guernsey, a talk by Anna Baghiani 10 Sept. The Effectiveness of not using Naval Firepower a talk by Dr. Tim Voelker of Admiral Saumarez in the Baltic, Sept. From here to the Edge of the observable Universe a talk by Dr. Robin Catchpole of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University 15 Oct. Cattle, Corn and Cider: Agriculture in Guernsey, , a talk by Richard Hocart 28 Nov. The Making of Channel Island Houses, a talk by John McCormack 13 Dec Christmas lunch at the Pavilion restaurant, St. Pierre Park Hotel.

7 PRESIDENT S REPORT FOR 2015 We were all shocked and saddened at the unexpected death of our loved and very able President, Pat Costen, in September 2015 after a short illness. I have been acting in her place for much of this past year, guided by Rodney Collenette our Immediate Past President. I could not have fulfilled this role without Rodney s wise council and the very able help of Kate Lee our secretary, David Cranch, Lawney Martin, Richard Hocart and other Council Members. They have all been indomitable towers of strength during the course of this difficult year. There s an old Chinese curse May you live in interesting times! Fortunately for me, it has not turned out that way. It has been an interesting year but definitely not a curse. It s been a year of nautical terms, such as steady as she goes and a light touch on the tiller and, thanks to everyone s help, we have pulled through remarkably unscathed. I don t propose to go through all the events that have occurred during the year, or for that matter to comment on the progress of each of the Sections, but would just like to draw your attention to a few highlights of the year: Draft Island Development Plan The Draft IDP was reviewed by Planning Inspectors in a long series of meetings during last summer, The Inspectors will make a report and this is due to be debated by the States later this year. Jane Gilmour was initially involved in reviewing the proposed Sites of Special Significance and Areas of Biodiversity Importance and Jamie Hooper made a large number of representations to the Inspector on behalf of La Société. The Environment Department s Biodiversity Strategy The proposed island Biodiversity Strategy was debated by the States assembly last November. This was politically the most important event for biodiversity and wildlife in the island and was approved by the States with a vote of 80,000 towards the cost of implementation. We owe a big vote of thanks to Phil Atkinson, Jessie Jennings and Julia Henney who led La Société s campaign of support for the strategy. I learnt a lot about the use of social media, with increasing amazement but I admit to still being perplexed by it. Ramsar Sites The latest Ramsar site to be recognised in the Bailiwick (Herm and the Humps) was officially recognised in January this year. In his 1995 report, Dr Mike Pienkowski of the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum, identified five potential Ramsar sites in the Bailiwick:- Lihou Island and L Erée Headland, Alderney west coast and Burhou, the Gouliot Caves in Sark, north Herm and Les Amfrocques, and Les Vicheries Orchid Fields at Rocquaine Bay. Now just the traditionally managed marshy meadows in Rue des Vicheries remains to be internationally recognised.

8 804 PRESIDENT S REPORT 2015 The process of applying for Ramsar designation is particularly protracted and time consuming and the Reserves Committee and Council will need to decide whether this should be a priority at this time. Family History Section One of the major concerns this year was the impending cessation of the Family History Section s lease of premises at Blanchelande College at Les Vauxbelets. Family History have to vacate their current premises by June 2016 and finding acceptable new premises at an affordable price was becoming a real headache when, following a conversation with the Rev. John Guille, we heard that Les Côtils was looking for a new tenant for the Russels Centre. La Société made an acceptable offer to take on this building as tenant of Les Côtils Christian Centre, subject to a successful changeof-use application to the Environment Department. This is still being considered at the present time. We are hoping to hear the result shortly, so hopefully there should be just sufficient time to move the Section s archives and La Société s stored books by then. The centre has plenty of room so David Le Conte, who has taken over as Librarian, suggested that one room at the Russels Centre could be used as a library for members whilst another suggestion has been that it could also be used as an informal meeting place for other La Société sections, particularly the Junior Section. (NB. Permission for La Société to use the Russels was subsequently granted by the Environment Deparment) The inaugural Griff Caldwell Educational Bursary Evie Wood, a Ladies College student, who is now at Brighton University studying Environment and Media was awarded the first Griff Caldwell bursary of 1,000. Richard Hocart, Jessie Jennings and Julia Henney formed the interview panel. Richard Hocart has designed a poster advertising this year s award and it is hoped that this will be displayed in schools and colleges in the island this week. There are also plans to advertise in the Press and on social media. NBN Gilbert White Award On behalf of La Société I nominated Nigel Jee for the inaugural Gilbert White Award that was to be presented by the UK National Biodiversity Network. Nigel was successful out of a strong field of over 30 nominations and Nick Jee, Nigel s son, collected the posthumous award on Mrs Jenifer Jee s behalf. Nigel s diaries and written records were transposed and digitised by Professor Tim Sparks and Anna Bock of Munich University and, with Mrs Jee s permission, a final copy of this is being prepared by Anna for safe keeping at La Société. Anna Bock used the records for her PhD degree and has since had articles on the records published in a number of academic journals.

9 2015 PRESIDENT S REPORT 805 Most recently we have been contacted by Dr Ailene Ettinger, a post doctoral researcher in the Biology Department at Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, who wishes to use the dataset in a joint study being conducted at that university and at Harvard University. Following consultation with Mrs Jee we have agreed to this request. Events La Société was once again well represented at a number of island events, including the Viaer Marchi, the West Coast Weekend, the Vraic Days, the West Show and the Round Table Christmas Fayre. Attendance at these events is essential for an outward looking society and I should like to thank all the members and others who volunteered to attend these events and man our stands. The sale of books and other items raised a very creditable 280 but the main reason for our attendance was to be seen as an indispensible part of the community, participating in these events People All members of La Société are important but I should particularly mention: Anthony Stagg The Council has decided to award Anthony Honorary Membership in recognition of all his work as Volunteer Coordinator for Reserves. Anthony is very modest and gets on with this work almost unnoticed. He undertakes a very vital role organising corporate volunteer days on our nature reserves and in doing so publicises La Société s role and raises a significant amount of money from participating businesses within the island. I have been particularly grateful to Lawney Martin for taking on the role of Membership Secretary, initially for one year, but I m very pleased that she has agreed to stay on in this role at this time. I also want to mention with thanks the several members who turn out regularly to help our Secretary Kate to stuff envelopes with the quarterly Newsletter. A particularly thankless but vital task. The Council has gratefully accepted David Le Conte s offer to undertake the role of librarian for La Societe and I m hoping that this will prove a very useful and much used resource in the future. I should like to welcome Chris Mourant who is taking over from Pat as leader of the Junior Section. As many of you will know, Chris is a passionate ornithologist and is keen to pass on his very deep interest in wildlife to our young members. He has previously run a very successful RSPB wildlife explorers group and so I m looking forward to him taking over this role for La Société. Peter Langford has taken over from Frank Dowding as Secretary of the Astronomy section. Peter has been a longstanding member of the Astronomy Section, serving as its treasurer for many years and as editor of Sagittarius, the section s newsletter.

10 806 PRESIDENT S REPORT 2015 Finally, we have received nominations for 2 new ordinary members on the Council: The Very Rev John Guille and Alex Herschel. I should like to commend them both to you. Further details about them have been circulated. Talks There have been so many fascinating talks over the past year, on numerous subjects. I have been overwhelmed by the breadth of the subjects covered and have made a personal resolution to attend more in the coming year. However one of the highlights for me was the wonderful lecture entitled From here to the Edge of the Observable Universe that was given by Dr Robin Catchpole of the Cambridge University Institute of Astronomy. I understand that Dr Catchpole will return later this year to give another lecture, when I anticipate another full house. Finally This brings me on to the last part of our evening. George Garnett is an Elizabeth College student and botanist who has worked with Rachel Rabey in checking the main La Société s herbarium. La Société supported him in undertaking a field course in botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and subsequently George joined a British Exploring Society Expedition to the Peruvian Amazon. He has kindly agreed to tell us about his experiences this evening. ANDREW CASEBOW

11 LAND MANAGEMENT FOR REPORT 2015 Once again, the year was a challenging one in terms of management of the numerous reserves. Conditions were generally reasonable until midsummer when a change to unsettled weather occurred, making it impossible to complete hay-making in our meadows. Pleinmont Charles David Nature Reserve After the eye-catching display of cornfield annuals in 2014, the adjacent plots were sown with a mix of wildflowers, barley and other seed-producing plants. The plots from the previous year were left for a second season with one remaining area left fallow for its third year. This three-year rotation has been established since 2000 and is increasingly important for local wildlife due to much of the surrounding area being relatively poor arable grassland. Our scrubland management continues to be a success, with the largest mowed area to the south of the BBC Field steadily reverting to maritime heath. The first two Heather plants have appeared naturally and the bracken is becoming less dominant. These clearings also provide edge habitats and niches which support invertebrates and enable migrant birds to find opportunities to feed and rest in spring and autumn. In the summer, a pair of Stonechats successfully bred in the scrub, fledging two young. Silbe Nature Reserve Several parties of corporate volunteers helped to clear blackthorn and bramble scrub on the east slope below the reserve entrance in order to restore locally rare dry grassland. This habitat is on the verge of local extinction due to inappropriate management elsewhere, so has been given priority on the property. Further down in the valley, two mature Turkey Oaks have been felled and a large Lime has been pollarded. The aim of this operation was twofold firstly to preserve light levels in the central species-rich orchid glade and secondly to allow smaller native oaks nearby to grow freely. In the lower meadow, a large patch of bramble which was spreading rapidly has been cut down. It is hoped that the cleared area will revert to grazed wet meadow. Orchid Fields at Les Vicheries and other sites After another very popular orchid season, which saw a constant stream of visitors walking around the fields and enjoying the breathtaking floral display, the fields were cut in the early part of the hay-making season. Once there was sufficient regrowth, the conservation herd grazed several of the fields before the land quickly became too wet in early autumn.

12 808 LAND MANAGEMENT REPORT 2015 The noxious weed Hemlock Water Dropwort was strimmed out as normal in all of our fields at Les Vicheries although time-constraints did not allow for similar operations in either Rue Rocheuse or at the Claire Mare. In order to maintain control over the vigorous plant in these areas, volunteers may have to be used in the near future. Colin Best Nature Reserve Following the extreme storms of the previous year, 2015 was a much quieter period for the reserve. Although the shingle bank was breached during one spring tide cycle, this was relatively minor and of little consequence for the nearby saltmarsh. Loose-flowered Orchids are steadily advancing northwards from the southern perimeter and several vivid patches of purple blooms are now evident each May. It is reasonable to assume that other plant species are similarly benefitting from our sympathetic management of the area. Nearby, the freshwater scrape supports a range of birds throughout the year including the main island roost of Curlews and a host of migrants which in 2015 included Ruff, Whooper Swan, Pintail, Little Ringed Plover and Greenshank. La Claire Mare Problems of saltwater ingress into the reserve during spring tides and winter storms remain a problem despite the installation of a non-return flap in the sluice during the previous year. The main cause of the problem is storm-driven debris which is impeding effective drainage through the culvert under the road. Negotiations with the Public Services Department and Guernsey Wastewater are yet to produce any meaningful results and we may have to undertake this work at our own cost if the wetland is to be saved from further damage. Hay-making Due to the damp second half of the summer, it was a mixed year for hay-making. The fields at Les Vicheries were completed but neither the Claire Mare nor the Gelé fields were cut for hay. In deteriorating conditions, both areas were simply topped with a flail mower. This causes significant impacts on the habitat and its invertebrate populations and it is only considered an option in extreme cases..

13 2015 LAND MANAGEMENT REPORT 809 Secage land at Perelle This small piece of land on the coast is subject to the effects of winter storms and regular overtopping of the seawall with saltwater, shingle and seaweed. As a result, plants such as Sea Beet (Beta vulgaris) and Fescue grasses flourish, creating an oasis for wildlife. Jardin de Lorette (Les Petites Capelles) Half of this small suburban nature reserve is planted as a cider apple orchard, consisting of three traditional French varieties on a dwarfing rootstock. During the winter, Trevor and Lesley Bourgaize commenced a programme of heavy pruning to benefit the trees and facilitate maintenance of the understorey. The rest of the reserve is managed as a meadow and continues to support a population of Slow Worms, as well as a diverse range of invertebrates. La Garenne d Anneville We are grateful for the long-term involvement of the Guernsey Conservation Volunteers at this site. For many years, the group has regularly undertaken winter management of the Willows growing over the moat. By pollarding and coppicing the trees in rotation, the aquatic wildlife is preserved. The semi-mature tree planting on the southern half of the site has now reached the stage where brambles are being shaded out. A woodland flora is now starting to become established. Vale Pond (Colin McCathie Reserve) This site is still suffering from ongoing problems of an imbalance between too much saltwater ingress and too little freshwater reaching the reserve from the douit system. There are long-term plans for a better storm drain network but as this is unlikely to fully address the issue, La Societe will carry on pursuing a solution with the relevant States departments. Le Grand Pré This reserve has grown very popular over the last few years, mostly due to casual publicity on social media sites. The higher number of visitors has meant that the paths are often muddy underfoot but the increased usage has not generally been detrimental. Several local botanists were pleased to discover a single plant of Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) growing in the path on the northern side of the property. This is currently the only known local specimen in the wild, although it is likely to have originated from nearby gardens.

14 810 LAND MANAGEMENT REPORT 2015 Bougourd Orchard near Le Grande Pré This site is a maturing orchard planting of Crab Apple and Wild Pear, with a northern shelter/screen belt of Downy Birch and Willow. It also supports a small population of the locally rare Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) and it is hoped that the remaining grassland habitat will be sufficient to maintain this species in the long term. Wooded slope in the Village du Putron A routine visit to this land in winter revealed that a proportion of it had been significantly improved by a neighbour, who had cleared the area, sown lawn grass and planted Hydrangeas. This was a considerable disappointment and would have led to a loss of associated wildlife. Various options are now being considered for the future of this property. Other land As this annual report can only reasonably cover the highlights in 2015, the numerous other properties which La Société own or manage are listed below: Wooded area near Torteval Church Meadow in Rue Des Frances, St. Saviour s Les Fontenelles (Le Gouffre) Part of L Erée headland Rue Des Bergers (Pré d Enfer), Castel Field (La Mare Huchon) at Rue d Aval, Vale Ozanne Reserve at L Ancresse Finally, La Société has, over the course of many years, established an excellent working relationship with various States departments to order to ensure that any ecologically important areas are managed appropriately. This aim is achieved through consultation with members of La Société s Scientific Committee and also through the numerous management contracts held by Environment Guernsey Ltd. The various sites include Lihou Island, Lihou Headland, Fort Richmond, Les Dunes (Vazon), Fort Hommet, Home Farm, Port Soif, Vale Castle and Chateau des Marais. In addition, the company also holds maintenance contracts for the island s green lane network, several streams and many properties owned by the National Trust of Guernsey.. JAMIE HOOPER

15 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 TANYA WALLS (SECTION SECRETARY) PHILIP DE JERSEY (STATES ARCHAEOLOGIST) CHRISTOPHER HUGHES (ASSISTANT ARCHAEOLOGIST) The first activity of 2015 was a visit to Mont Crevelt fort. Although it is always possible to walk around the outside of the fort, we also arranged to visit the interior. The tower is one of fifteen built round the coast between and the fort developed around it in the early 19th century; it was re-fortified and further altered during the Occupation. Opportunity was taken to make a photographic record of the buildings and we enjoyed the great views from the top of the fort. In February the Section made two visits to the west coast to examine areas where prehistoric deposits are known to be eroding, and also to look for new sites. Winter storms hasten the erosion process and ancient land surfaces containing flint-knapping debris, pottery sherds, and charcoal are continually being exposed. In March, one such site at Crève Coeur in the Vale was excavated by Donovan Hawley, assisted by Section members (see below). During the year there were three development related excavations: test pits were dug in a field at Les Blanches (St Martin s) and at Le Maresquet (Vale), and a watching brief was kept during works at a site off Rebouquets Lane (Forest). During the summer there was a research excavation at Rousse conducted by the Clifton Antiquarian Club, and further fieldwork in Sark led by Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe. However, perhaps the most notable archaeological event of the year was the return to Guernsey of the Gallo- Roman ship, popularly known as Asterix, after some fifteen years of conservation and storage at the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth. The timbers are now on public display at Guernsey Pearl, opposite Fort Grey. Throughout the year members of the Section continued to spend Saturday mornings renovating the Brothers Cemetery, and in November organised an open day. The Section also helped with two public events during the summer: the West Coast Weekend and the Fête des Dolmens. The former was held at Fort Grey and members gave guided talks on the archaeology of the Rocquaine islet and demonstrated the extraction of salt from brine, using methods similar to those used in the Iron Age and Roman periods. The Fête des Dolmens provided an opportunity for the public to meet archaeologists at four of the island s dolmens and to hear about discoveries made there, including the opportunity to see and handle some of the artefacts found at the sites. Eroding prehistoric sites at Port Soif and Grandes Rocques The two small islets on the west side of Port Soif both have evidence for prehistoric activity. More than two thousand flints have been collected since the 1970s, particularly from the larger of the islets. Being close to the current coastline, the islets probably became detached from mainland Guernsey just a few centuries ago and would certainly have still been joined in the prehistoric period. The flint eroding is mainly

16 812 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION 2015 debitage, or waste pieces discarded during the process of knapping. Flint pebbles are available on the nearby beach and could be roughly worked here before the resulting flakes and blades were taken away. Techniques employed in the working of the flint indicate that the site was exploited most intensively in the later Neolithic period (c BC). A few small sherds of pottery have also been found on the larger islet, either Neolithic or Bronze Age in date; the very low density of pottery in relation to the large amount of flint does not suggest that settlement was nearby. A number of similar sites are eroding on the Grandes Rocques headland and on the nearby islet of Houmet Jerbé. The headland has been the subject of disturbance over the last couple of centuries, notably by fortifications built during the Occupation, but also by subsequent dumping. However it is usually easy to see where prehistoric material is in ancient rather than modern deposits. As is the case at Port Soif, the bulk of the prehistoric finds are flint debitage, and so these sites can also be interpreted as places where people collected and roughly worked the flint before taking away the partly worked pieces. On our visit to Houmet Jerbé this year we recovered over two hundred flints and a collection of small pottery sherds, all from a single vessel. The pottery is finely made, but not very hard, no rim or base sherds were found but the body sherds show the pot was carinated and apparently undecorated. It may be early Neolithic and awaits further interpretation. The vessel may have been broken and discarded, or it could have been deliberately deposited at the site. It is possible that more will erode out and we will keep an eye on this location. Excavation at Crève Coeur, Vale In March 2015 Donovan Hawley with the help of Hazel Hill and Dave Lane carried out a small one-day rescue excavation at a flint scatter site on Crève Coeur headland. This site was first noticed by Hazel who over the last decade has collected several thousand pieces of flint from areas of erosion around the headland. The area is considered archaeologically significant having originally been mentioned by Kendrick in 1928 as a chipping site and described as a Mesolithic site by Patton in The aim of the excavation was to reveal the source of many tiny pieces of worked flint that were eroding out of a turf bank onto a pathway next to a rock outcrop. The removal of a section of turf next to the path exposed a large quantity of flint fragments that appeared to lie where they had originally fallen after having been knapped by people who presumably would have been sitting on the rock outcrop above. Further excavation revealed that the flint scatter continued down underneath the path, and by the time the inclement March weather brought the dig to a halt early in the afternoon, over 500 pieces of flint had been recovered. The recovered flint consisted of a few cores and large quantities of debris, although no retouched pieces that could be interpreted as tools were found. This suggests that this area was essentially a knapping site for material that would have been obtained on the nearby beach; completed cores and tools would then have been transported to settlements elsewhere on the island. The nature of the working that took place at Crève Coeur, with a high proportion of knapping using a stone anvil, indicates that rather

17 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION I. Area of burning identified in the watching brief at Les Rebouquets, Forest (Christopher Hughes) II. Prehistoric pot sherd from Les Rebouquets (Philip de Jersey).

18 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION III. Excavation of a Bronze Age cist on Little Sark (Philip de Jersey). IV. Slate wristguard found in the excavation on Little Sark (Tanya Walls). The wristguard is 104mm in length.

19 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION V. Excavation of a prehistoric post-hole at Le Maresquet, Vale (Philip de Jersey). IVI. Installing Asterix timbers at Guernsey Pearl (Jason Monaghan).

20 MARINE BIOLOGY SECTION I. Ormer found during the Ormer Event near Lihou Causeway II. Four armed Astreria rubens or Common Starfish at Gabrielle reef on the east coast of Guernsey (Photo. courtesy of Terry Ozanne)

21 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION than being a Mesolithic site as previously thought, people were active here during the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age period, or perhaps even further into the Bronze Age. The remainder of the flint collected from the headland by Hazel Hill, amounting to some 2500 pieces is being analysed by Donovan Hawley as part of a PhD research program into prehistoric flint-working on Guernsey. A summary of this work will appear in a future volume of the Société Transactions. Watching brief at Les Rebouquets, Forest In 2013 an archaeological assessment excavation was carried out at the PFOScontaminated site adjacent to the Forest Road and Les Rebouquets Lane (TSG XXVII/3 (2013), pp ). The results were sufficiently encouraging to carry out a watching brief on the contamination clearance work in March The area where soil was to be removed was divided into three cells, each to be stripped to a different depth depending on concentrations of PFOS (Fig. 1). Cell 1, in the west, was to be excavated to a depth of 0.5m; cell 2, in the middle, to 2.5m; and cell 3, in the east, to 1m. The excavation began with the contractors removing the top 50cm, down to the level at which most of the archaeology had been identified in the test-pits dug in Following archaeological assessment at this depth, the contractors then returned to continue the soil removal to the depths quoted. Fig. 1. The site at Les Rebouquets, showing the soil removal cells. The four archaeological test-pits dug in 2013 are marked as A D, and the features identified in 2015 as F1 F4.

22 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Conditions were unfortunately not ideal for the watching brief: a combination of rain and heavy machinery made it difficult to see any potential archaeology. Nevertheless by watching the digger in action and walking over the site after each scrape we were able to add to the archaeological information recovered. Cell 1 This area had been extensively disturbed prior to the PFOS removal project. The gravel natural was relatively shallow and there were deep cuts into it with modern contents. Only one prehistoric flint was found in this area. Cell 2 Once the top 50cm of soil had been removed, two features warranting further investigation were identified. One was a small posthole close to cell 3, and the other an area that appeared to show evidence of intense burning. The position of the small posthole was effectively masked by heavy overnight rain and was not relocated. The area of burning (labelled as F4 on Fig. 1) was however relocated and cleaned (colour plate I). Further examination indicated that there were several different components to this feature, including the base of two probable postholes, a short linear feature, and the patch of burning, the largest element at 129cm by 66cm by 12cm deep. The bigger of the two postholes contained several prehistoric sherds in the top of its fill, including an unusual decorated and pierced sherd for which no obvious parallels have been identified (colour plate II). Cell 3 A small collection of prehistoric pottery and flint was recovered from this area, and three particular features identified. These were a stone setting (F1 on Fig. 1), a ditch feature (F2) and a circular feature containing stones and charcoal (F3). All three were in the southern part of the cell. F1 may have been the remains of a setting for a post. The associated soil contained a few flints and prehistoric sherds. F2 was a shallow V-shaped ditch, between 0.5 and 1m wide and about 0.4m deep, which emerged from the south baulk of the trench and ran in a north-easterly direction for several metres. It had a light brown fill and contained a few flints and sherds, but no more than the surrounding subsoil. F3 was a circular feature, resembling a hearth, consisting of a grey layer of soil with charcoal inclusions and pottery and flint, lying above large angular stones which in turn lay above a dark, charcoal-rich soil, devoid of finds. Both this feature and the ditch, F2, resembled features encountered at the Neolithic and Bronze Age site west of the airport and are likely to be broadly similar in date.

23 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Summary The watching brief described here was carried out under fairly difficult conditions, but nonetheless provided significant additions to the information recorded in excavation in There clearly was some prehistoric occupation on this site, and in the unlikely event of any development further south in this field, we would expect to find further traces of this settlement. We are grateful to States Property Services and the contractors, Arcadis, for enabling this phase of the work to take place. The finds from the Rebouquets Lane excavation and watching brief are held in Guernsey Museum (site code RB13) and a full report of the work is lodged in the Sites and Monuments Record (EGU 583). Excavation at Les Blanches, St Martin s In view of the possibility of development taking place in a field at Les Blanches, St Martin s (the northernmost field of land parcel J01509I000 on the cadastre), permission was obtained from the owners, Island Development Ltd, for the excavation of a series of four 2m x 2m test-pits (Fig. 2). These were dug between May and July Fig. 2. Location of test-pits at Les Blanches, St Martin s.

24 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION All four trenches revealed essentially the same stratigraphy: a layer of modern topsoil, typically between 25 and 30cm thick, above a loess subsoil, lying on a gravelly natural. The only major difference between the trenches was the thickness of the subsoil layer, varying from 30cm in test-pit D (in the south-west of the field) to at least 50cm in test-pit B (in the north-east of the field). No significant archaeological features were noted in any of the trenches. With regard to the finds, as is usually the case in Guernsey, there was a small but not insignificant level of background flint, indicating that there has been prehistoric settlement or occupation somewhere in the vicinity. There were also small quantities of prehistoric pottery from the top of the subsoil in test-pits C and D, perhaps suggesting that prehistoric occupation lay to the west of this site. The bulk of the finds were sherds of post-medieval and modern pottery. These sherds, together with a few pieces of medieval pottery, clay pipe, glass fragments and so on, have almost certainly been introduced to the site through manuring of the fields since the medieval period. There was no indication in any of the trenches of medieval or post-medieval settlement actually located within the field. A full archive report with further details of the excavation and the finds is held at Guernsey Museum. Excavation in Sark In June 2015 Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe returned to Sark for two weeks of fieldwork, during which time trenches were excavated in four different locations. Two trenches were dug in the garden at La Seigneurie. An L-shaped trench was dug around the south end of the high wall west of the house, to investigate whether the wall had once continued south and to look for dating evidence. It has traditionally been thought that this very high wall is medieval and may have been associated with the monastery of St Magloire. However, the excavation indicates that the wall did not continue to the south and both the construction style and associated finds suggest a post-medieval date, making it contemporary with the house. The second excavation site at the Seigneurie was south-west of the building known as the chapel. This revealed a robber trench for a wall which once formed the corner of a medieval building partly fossilised within the current smaller chapel building. The cobbled surface of a road was also exposed, predating the present one. Beneath this was a hearth, apparently associated with an earlier timber building on this site. Charcoal from the hearth has provided a radiocarbon date of c.1350 (AD at 95% certainty), suggesting that this might be part of the medieval monastery. It is hoped that further excavation may shed more light on this intriguing discovery.

25 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Elsewhere on the island, a trench was dug through the mound on which the Mill was constructed in the sixteenth century, in order to establish whether this was a preexisting prehistoric mound. The excavation showed that it was. It was built of rubble, about one metre high and 26m in diameter, and thus very similar in size and form to the mound excavated at the Gaudinerie field (TSG XXVII/1 (2011), p. 23). Neolithic sherds were found within the structure. At Clos de la Tour, excavation close by the discovery of Roman pottery in building works revealed a series of gullies and post-holes cut into the natural, containing Roman pottery of the mid-first century BC to the fourth century AD. Roman settlement is therefore confirmed in the centre of the island, east of Le Manoir, although its extent is not yet clear. On Little Sark, excavation around a large standing stone on a field boundary near La Sablonnerie showed that it was a marker stone for a prehistoric cist burial (colour plate III). In front of it, two large stone slabs had been set up on end and the area in between paved, to take a human burial. No traces of bone survived in the acidic soil, but one exceptional find was an archer s wristguard, finely made in slate (colour plate IV). These objects are typical of Beaker burials along the Atlantic coasts, dating to c BC. Excavation at Rousse Tower In June 2015, a ten day excavation was conducted at Rousse Tower by members of the Clifton Antiquarian Club under the direction of Donovan Hawley and Laurie Waite, and site supervisor Kit Hughes of Guernsey Museum. The project focused on locating the original 1993 trench excavated by Bob Burns, re-excavating it and recording all the evidence. A full report is published elsewhere in this volume. Excavation at Le Maresquet, Vale In August and October 2015 three archaeological test-pits were excavated in a field (cadastre C ) adjoining Le Maresquet farmhouse, on the east side of La Hure Mare Road (Fig. 3). The farmhouse existed in some form at least as early as 1661 (V.J. Collas, Some Vale houses and families, TSG XVII/1 (1960), 67-8), and it was considered possible that despite the implications of the place-name Maresquet, or small marsh there might be some archaeological interest on the site.

26 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Fig. 3. Location of test-pits at Le Maresquet, Vale. Trench A The upper levels of this test-pit consisted of a poorly-developed turf (A/001, about 8cm thick) and a topsoil (A/002) of approximately 32cm. Beneath this was a silty orange subsoil (A/003), with considerable iron panning from a depth of about 60cm below the current ground surface. Finds from this layer were of prehistoric and medieval date, with no later material. The layers below a greyer silty soil (A/007), about 30cm thick, and beneath that a more clayey deposit (A/008) contained no finds at all, and can reasonably be assumed to be natural. Excavation ceased at a maximum of 125cm below the current ground surface, with no alteration in the nature of the clayey layer A/008. In the western half of the trench, cut through the iron pan and down to the interface between A/007 and A/008, there was a foundation trench (A/006) for a crudelymade wall (A/004). The wall consisted of a maximum of three courses of unmortared stone, a mixture of rounded beach stones and more angular, quarried pieces (Fig. 4). The fill around the stones (A/005) was a grey silt containing small quantities of prehistoric pot and flint, and three sherds of medieval pottery.

27 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Fig. 4. Wall exposed in trench A, Le Maresquet. The wall runs north/south. It must be the structure which is marked on the 1898 Ordnance Survey (Fig. 5) as a hedge or fence: GPS confirms that it is in the correct position. The fact that it is not marked on the Duke of Richmond map of 1787 is curious, since the archaeological stratigraphy indicates that it must be medieval in date. Given the level from which the foundation trench was cut, it cannot date from the period between 1787 and By 1938 it has vanished again from the Ordnance Survey map. It is possible that the hedge or fence which marked it on the ground surface had been removed since the 1898 survey, and the existence of the buried structure had been forgotten.

28 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Fig. 5. OS map of 1898, showing the hedge or fence corresponding to the wall in trench A. No further features or structures were identified in this trench. A total of 21 sherds of medieval pottery were recovered, from topsoil A/002 (6), subsoil A/003 (12) and ditch fill A/005 (3). All of these are in Normandy gritty ware, dating to the fourteenth century or earlier. There were six sherds of prehistoric pottery (three each in A/003 and A/005) and 27 pieces of flint (6 in A/002, 13 in A/003 and 8 in A/005). These are sufficient quantities to indicate prehistoric and medieval occupation or activity in the vicinity. Trench B This trench was located in the north-eastern part of the site, in an area which had been occupied by glasshouses between c.1930 and c The construction of the glasshouses had a significant impact on the archaeology of this area. Beneath the turf (B/001, 8-10cm thick) and topsoil (B/002, 26-28cm thick) the subsoil had been almost entirely removed during either the construction or operation of the greenhouses, replaced by a thick (up to 35cm) deposit of fine, orange gravel (B/004). This was presumably introduced to improve drainage. In some areas, spikes of the previous subsoil (B/003) had been left standing between the gravel deposits.

29 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION About 15cm beneath the gravel, the subsoil was observed to change in colour, from a dark to a light grey. Finds ceased at this point, and thus this marks the transition to a purely natural subsoil. Excavation ceased at 106cm below the current ground surface. As a consequence of the removal of much of the subsoil, finds were fewer in this trench, but the surviving B/003 context contained nine prehistoric sherds and five flints. As with test-pit A, this suggests prehistoric activity in this area. No medieval pottery was recovered from this test-pit, despite its proximity to the Maresquet farmhouse. Trench C The third trench was placed in the south-eastern part of the site. The turf (C/001) and topsoil (C/002) were identical to test-pit A, and again as in test-pit A these were underlain by an orangey silt, C/003 (14cm thick), which included finds of prehistoric and medieval date. This graded into a lighter grey silty subsoil (C/005, 15-20cm thick) with no finds equivalent to A/007 which in turn graded into a more clayey soil (C/006), also devoid of finds (equivalent to A/008). Excavation ceased at a maximum of 74cm below the current ground surface. Cut through C/005 and down into C/006 in the northwest corner of the trench was a deep feature, approximately 60cm x 42cm by 45cm deep (colour plate V). This contained a flattish stone at the base and was filled with stones, probably serving as packing for a post. The fill contained some 25 sherds of prehistoric pottery and half a dozen flints, strongly suggesting that this is a prehistoric feature. Smaller quantities of prehistoric pot and flint were also recovered from the first subsoil layer, C/003, and in addition a piece of Roman tegula, or roof-tile, was also discovered in this context. The 14cm or so of C/003, beneath the modern topsoil and above the natural subsoil, marks the zone of most archaeological activity in this trench: the post-hole was cut down from the lower levels of this layer, and most of the finds came from this context and from the fill of the post-hole. Apart from one or two sherds of early post-medieval pottery from the top few centimetres of C/003, the remainder of the finds were medieval or earlier. No other structures were observed in this trench, but the presence of the substantial post-hole C/004 implies that other prehistoric features may lie beyond the 2m x 2m of the test-pit.

30 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Summary The three test-pits excavated at Le Maresquet produced interesting results, suggesting that occupation of this site certainly dates back to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. Sherds of prehistoric pottery, and flints, were discovered in all three trenches, and in quantities greater than the typical background material found in almost every field in Guernsey. The presence of the large post-hole in test-pit C is particularly interesting because it strongly suggests settlement on this site. Even test-pit B, where the most productive layer of the subsoil had been removed by greenhouse construction, yielded prehistoric pottery and flint from the small surviving deposits. Across the site as a whole, it is evident that the key archaeological horizon lies beneath the topsoil, at a depth of approximately 40cm, and it extends downwards to a depth of about 55-60cm beneath the current ground surface although features such as the post-hole, which bottoms out almost exactly one metre below the present surface, may be cut much more deeply. There is less medieval material than might have been expected in test-pits B and C, particularly given the proximity of Le Maresquet farm, but a significant quantity in test-pit A, and of course the wall structure which is almost certainly of medieval origin. The presence of a chunk of Roman roof-tile in test-pit C is tantalising no other Roman material was recorded from the site, and it could have been re-used in the medieval period, but it raises the possibility of Roman occupation in the vicinity. More extensive archaeological work, particularly in the southern half of the site, would be useful and productive. Asterix: the return of the Romano-Celtic wreck At the start of 2015, the Romano-Celtic shipwreck popularly known as Asterix returned to the island, having been at Portsmouth since Its return provides a good opportunity to summarize its story so far, and to briefly consider what the future might hold. The vessel was discovered by local diver Richard Keen on Christmas Day, It was noticed on subsequent dives that the wreck was being rapidly exposed from the harbour silt, as the propellers from ferries and other shipping passed closely overhead. When a piece of timber from the wreck was carbon-dated to the Roman period, a decision was made to raise it. This work was done in 1984 and 1985 through the combined efforts of the Guernsey Maritime Trust and the Mary Rose Trust, together with Richard Keen and other local divers. Under the management of the GMT, the ship was stored in purpose-built freshwater tanks on Guernsey. This allowed time for it to be properly cleaned of salt and dirt while the recording of the timbers and associated artefacts took place. The report which resulted from this work was published in 1993 (Margaret Rule and Jason Monaghan, A Gallo-Roman trading vessel from Guernsey ).

31 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION In the late 1990s the Mary Rose Trust was contracted to carry out the conservation and preservation work necessary so that the timbers could be taken out of water and potentially put on display. This process essentially involved the replacement of water in the saturated timbers with polyethylene glycol (PEG), which would support the wood from within and maintain its structure while preventing rot. As part of this process the timbers were freeze-dried, to draw out the water and allow the PEG to soak in more deeply. The timbers, by this time (1999) under the care of the then States Heritage Committee and latterly the Culture and Leisure Department, were transported to the Mary Rose Trust at Portsmouth for this treatment to take place. The process took just over a decade, and by the early 2010s the timbers were ready for return to Guernsey. But where to put them? A temporary solution was found in the form of Sir John Leale House, previously occupied by Guernsey Post. This provided a large space in which the timbers could be spread out and studied in their newly-conserved state. The opportunity was taken to make a complete photographic record, to be used as part of an ongoing monitoring project designed to check for any signs of deterioration in the timbers in the future. In 2015 the wreck was installed in a new albeit still temporary home at Guernsey Pearl, opposite the Fort Grey shipwreck museum (colour plate VI). The timbers are laid out in the correct order in an environment with controlled humidity and temperature, visible to the public and with a small display of information boards providing further information. The process of digitising all the original records of the discovery and excavation of the wreck has begun, which together with the accessibility of the timbers themselves, should allow students and other researchers to develop new lines of enquiry into this extraordinarily important survival from the third century AD. Meanwhile, the search for a permanent home for Asterix continues. The Brothers Cemetery Work has continued at the Brothers Cemetery through the year, weather permitting. Among the most significant achievements of 2015 is the reconstruction of a wholly collapsed vault in the south-east corner of the cemetery, shown here in its before and after states (Fig. 6). This is the tomb of David Thomson (died 1795), of Montrose, Scotland, who had a long and successful career as a wine merchant in the island.

32 ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION Fig. 6. The vault of David Thomson in the Brothers Cemetery, before and after restoration. The bulk of the restoration work is now complete, save for one particularly challenging vault. We are also searching for sponsorship to replace the railings around the group of three Lukis/Mansell tombs in the centre of the cemetery.

33 ASTRONOMY SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 Our annual general meeting was held on the evening of February 10th, The meeting was relatively straight forward as each officer was prepared to continue with their responsibilities in the coming year. However, I gave a year s notice of my intention to retire as secretary on the grounds that, although I thoroughly enjoy being secretary, I needed more time to pursue other interests. Thursday February 5th was the start date of our Workers Education Association (WEA) evening classes in astronomy under the guidance of David Le Conte. As usual this was over subscribed. We were fortunate this year with the weather and the skies were clear for the viewing aspect of the course. March 20th was an important day for us. We staged an open day rather than an open evening in order to watch an eclipse of the sun. This occurs when the moon moves between the earth and the sun, so blocking out part of the sun s disc. It was not a total eclipse, but 86% of the sun was covered making it the best for 16 years, and it will be another 11 years before the next. The day before, on March 19th, I gave a talk on the eclipse to students of Blanchelande College. Unfortunately, on the day itself, it was cloudy but nevertheless it was a very rewarding day. His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor Peter Walker and Mrs Walker were both present along with school children from the nearby La Hougette School. Pat Costen was present in her position as the President of La Société Guernesiase. As always Pat found it so easy to talk with the children and generally help with proceedings of the day. Members of the media were invited, but not the general public. This allowed the children to mix very informally with His Excellency and Mrs Walker and to freely ask us questions. Although the clouds prevented us from seeing the sun we were able to link with a television network from Svalbard to follow proceedings there. In all, a very good day with the invaluable help of Mrs Damsell, who allowed car parking in her field. The event was organized by David Le Conte. It is a great sadness that His Excellency Peter Walker and La Société President Pat Costen are no longer with us. I feel it a great honour and privilege to have met and talked with these wonderful people. March 27th was our first open evening when we invite members of the public to see our telescopes. Unfortunately the weather was disappointing, but those who came enjoyed seeing our large telescopes and listening to illustrated talks. On May 25th we staged another open day. It was again to look at the sun and all members of the public were invited. It went very well; quite often when we use our coelostat, a motorized mirror which reflects the sun s image to a convenient wall, the clouds obscure the sun, but on this occasion the clouds kept away at least most of the time allowing our visitors and the reporter from the Guernsey Press to see the sun as it really is. Along with illustrated talks and film shows, it made the day something special. On June 23rd David Le Conte gave a talk to the Ladies College year 8 and 9 students as part of the College astronomy day.

34 ASTRONOMY SECTION Our summer open evenings started on July 23rd and were held every Thursday evening until August 27th. These open evenings coincide with the summer school holidays so that children can come with their parents. They also give visitors to the island an opportunity to see our night sky, which many comment is clearer than in the cities. Debby Quertier, David Le Conte, Geoff Falla, Colin Spicer, Paul Gavey and Matt Skillett give up their time to help with these open evenings and this year Jason Hill was invaluable with his lectures. On Saturday July 11th we joined other sections of La Société Guernesiaise at the West Coast Week-end. This was an event at Fort Grey organized by Jo Dowding of Guernsey Musuems. July 14th was a day to remember for astronomers, amateur and professional. On this day New Horizons flew past Pluto; The rocket had taken nine years to travel nearly 4,000 million miles and was only 8 minutes late. NASA had expected Pluto to be a grey cratered object, but it turned out to be quite an interesting colourful world with very few craters. Our annual barbecue took place on Tuesday August 11th, to coincide with the Perseids meteor shower. The idea is to enjoy the barbecue and then sit in a comfortable chair to watch the meteors. Sometimes it works, but on this occasion it poured with rain. We knew that the forecast was not good, so, with Edith Le Patourel s help, I borrowed the Société s gazebo. I must say that it turned out to be one of our better Perseid barbecues. We didn t see a single meteor but the food and company were amazing. On the afternoon of Saturday September 5th, Colin Spicer and I entertained the Junior Section of La Société at the observatory. It had been arranged by Pat Costen. Once again we decided to look at the sun but clouds prevented us from using our coelostat. But during a short break in the clouds we used the special eclipse glasses, and along with illustrated talks on the sun, they made the afternoon successful. For a number of years we have had on loan from Hertfordshire University an All Sky camera. It takes night pictures of the full sky every minute or so. The results are sent to the univeristy to be compared with those from other cameras around the country. But the software owned by Hertfordshire appears to be faulty. It is hoped that this can be corrected, as the pictures are interesting as can be seen on our web page On the evening of Wednesday September 16th Dr Robin Catchpole gave a lecture to a full house at Candie entitled From here to the edge of the observable universe. Dr Catchpole is based at the Institute of astronomy at Cambridge University and has been well received in places such as New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Africa. The evening was the result of working closely with the Jersey Astronomy Club. Sue and Jim Drew advised us that Dr Catchpole was giving a talk in Jersey and asked if we would like him to come to Guernsey. We immediately agreed. October and November saw many groups of people, such as social clubs, school children and scout groups, visit our observatory.

35 ASTRONOMY SECTION Sark opened their new observatory on October 10th. Astronomy in Sark has been a great success story; it is the first island in the world to be granted Dark Sky Status and now has built an observatory. The opening ceremony was performed by Marek Kukula of Greenwich Observatory and was witnessed by our members David Le Conte and Paul Gavey. Annie Dachinger and her team deserve all the credit they have received. On November 12th David Le Conte gave a talk on astronomy to The Carers Getting Together in the Harry Bound Room at Les Cotils. This was very well received. December is a quiet month for visitors as it is getting close to Christmas, but it does allow more time for astrophotography. One of our newer members, Matt Skillett, is particularly skilful at this. Matt and David Le Conte have taken some remarkable pictures of the night sky, some of which can be seen on our web page astronomy.org.gg Every year a number of us enjoy a Christmas meal. This year was no exception. Moore s Hotel was chosen and the event was enjoyed by everyone. It has been a busy year and my thanks go to everyone who has helped to make it a good one. I always say this and mean it, but this has been my last year as secretary, so I am particularly pleased it went well. I am by no means leaving the section and am looking forward to the coming year which I know will be extremely successful with Peter Langford as our new secretary. FRANK DOWDING

36 LEPIDOPTERA BUTTERFLIES ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 Below is a summary of the rarer and more interesting sightings of insects reported in Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus 2, Lihou Island, 12/9 to 3/10 (IH,AS) very rare sighting away from Herm Common. Queen of Spain Fritillary Issoria lathonia 1, Mont Herault, 28/9 & 3/10 (AS). White Admiral Limenitis camilla 1, Sark, 4/7 (DW). Long-tailed Blue Lampides boeticus 1, Pleinmont, 30/6 (ND,AS). An influx in late summer with up to 45 individuals recorded between 26/8 and 10/9, all along the south coast, plus two in Vale. Also recorded from Alderney, Sark and Herm at this time. Maximum count 8 at Jerbourg on 6/9. Brown Argus Aricia agestis 1, Lihou Island, 28/9 (AS). MOTHS Teleiodes luculella 1, St. John, 21/7 2nd island record (RAA) Coleophora lusciniaepennella 1 larva on Willow, Les Vicheries, 28/5 2nd island record (MPL) Dioryctria abietella 1, Petite Vallette, 23/7. (RAA) Catoptria verellus 1, Damouettes Lane, 30/7. (TJB) Oncocera semirubella 1, Petite Vallette, 13/8 (RAA). 1, Le Chene, 19/8 (TP). 1, Damouettes Lane, 30/8 (TJB). 4th to 6th island records. Palpita vitrealis 1, Le Chene, 5/8, 7/8, 8/8 & 8/9 (TP). 1, Airport, 25/10 (AS). Barred Hook-tip Watsonalla cultraria 1, Petite Vallette, 25/6 (RAA). 1, Damouettes Lane, 2/11 (TJB) 5th & 6th island records.

37 ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION Pine Tree Lappet Dendrolimus pini 1, Petite Vallette, 6/8 (RAA). 1, Le Chene, 21/8 (TP). Convolvulus Hawk-moth Agrius convolvuli 5, Icart, 20/8 (TP). 1, Le Chene, 21/8 (TP). 1, Damouettes Lane, 10/9 & 7/10 (TJB). Elephant Hawk-moth Deilephila elpenor 1, Damouettes Lane, 22/7 & 25/7 (TJB). Bright Wave Idaea ochrata 1, Damouettes Lane, 4/7 (TJB). 1, Rousse, 10/7 (MPL). Blair s Mocha Cyclophora puppillaria 1, Cobo, 23/7, 2/10 & 8/10 (JC). 1, Damouettes Lane, 3/9 (TJB). Spruce Carpet Thera britannica 1, Damouettes Lane, 1/11 & 2/11 (TJB) 4th & 5th island record. Barred Yellow Cidaria fulvata 1, Damouettes Lane, 4/7 (TJB) 4th island record. Small Seraphim Pterapherapteryx sexalata 1, Baubigny, 13/6 (MPL) 3rd island record. Little Emerald Jodis lactearia 1, St. Martins, 5/8 & 23/8. Pine Processionary Thaumetopoea pityocampa 1, Le Chene, 7/7, 3/8 & 22/8 (TP) 3rd to 5th island record. Black Arches Lymantria monacha 1, Baubigny, 20/8 (MPL). Rosy Underwing Catocala electa 1, Cobo, 6/9 (JC). Mother Shipton Euclidia mi 1, L Ancresse, 8/6 (RAA) 5th island record. Scarce Merveille du Jour Moma alpium 1, Le Chene, 28/6 & 30/6 (TP) 2nd & 3rd island record. Ni Moth Trichoplusia ni 1, Cobo, 4/7 (JC). Splendid Brocade Lacanobia splendens 1, Le Chene, 7/7 & 5/8 (TP). Brown Rustic Rusina ferruginea 1, St. Martins, 5/7. Cosmopolitan Leucania loreyi 1, Le Chene, 24/10 (TP).

38 ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION ODONATA Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella 1, Grand Pré, 3/6 (MH) 2nd island record. Red-veined Darter Sympetrum fonscolombii 1, Mont Herault, 3/7 (AS). ORTHOPTERA Mole Cricket Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa 1, calling from under greenhouse, L Ancresse, 6/4 to 12/5 at least (FT). COLEOPTERA Red Longhorn Beetle Stictoleptura rubra 1, on pine stump, St. Saviours Reservoir, 22/7 (MPL) 1st island record. Phalacrus fimetarius 1, Pulias, 1/6 (MPL) 1st island record - a shining flower beetle. Cantharis livida 1, Les Vicheries, 28/5 (MPL) 1st island record - a soldier beetle. Melanotus punctolineatus 1, Bordeaux, 14/6 (MPL) 1st island record - a click beetle. HYMENOPTERA Large Gorse Mining Bee Andrena bimaculata 1, St. Germain Nature Reserve, 23/6 (MPL) 1st island record. Privet Sawfly Macrophya punctumalbum 1, Moulin Huet, 1/6 (BGW) 1st island record. Zaraea fasciata 1, Bordeaux, 28/6 (NM) 2nd island record - a sawfly. Rose Slug Sawfly Endelomyia aethiops Many larvae, Rousse, 17/6 (MPL) 1st island record, although perhaps widespread in gardens. HETEROPTERA Dyroderes umbraculatus 1, Rue des Marais, St. Peters, 28/6 (AM) 1st island record - a shieldbug. DIPTERA Safflower Fly Acanthiophilus helianthi 1, to MV light, Baubigny 3/7 (MPL) 1st island record.

39 ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION (List of observers: RAA = Rich Austin, TJB = Trevor Bourgaize, JC = Jane Cleal, ND = Nick Dean, IH = Ian Hall, MH = Min Henry, MPL = Mark Lawlor, AM = Andy Marquis, NM = Nathan Miller, TP = Tim Peet, AS = Andy Smith, FT = Fran Torode, DW = David Wedd, BGW = Barry Wells) MARK LAWLOR

40 FAMILY HISTORY SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 It is rewarding to find that our membership, 194, is only nine fewer than in The Overseas Enquiry Secretary, Maria van der Tang, reports that she had 90 enquiries, again only nine down on Indexing of the various church records held at the Priaulx Library continued, thanks to the willingness of the Library s staff to open the building for us in the evening. This year the following registers were indexed: St. Stephen s Church baptisms, Town Church baptisms, and and some early burials, St. John s Church baptisms and burials, and marriages at the Greffe. Our thanks go to the team of indexers who have been working at this task for many years; so making research easier as the indices cut out much time spent searching. Subjects chosen by our guest speakers at section meetings were varied. In February Allan Harris s topic was Captain Legg. In March there was an open evening at the section room at Blanchelande College. Members were welcomed and given help with their own research. May s meeting was an introduction to the visit in June to Warwick House, home of the Sporting Club, in the Grange. Alan Cross spoke on the exploits in the War of the local men who enlisted in the 16th (Irish) Division and their association with Warwick House. In July we held an outdoor meeting at the Castel Church cemetery to check the grave inscriptions which had been noted on previous visits. The annual dinner was held at La Grande Mare in October, and at the annual general meeting in November, Graham Guille spoke about the career of Henry Mahy ( ), master mariner and harbour master. Thanks go to these speakers and to those who organised these talks. We continued to open the section room for research by the general public on two Saturday mornings per month. Unfortunately the Wednesday afternoon openings had to be cancelled. Without the help of the committee members, running the section would be difficult. Thanks must go to Graeme Cox, membership secretary, and assistant, Mary Falla; Sheila Greenhough, archivist; Allan Harris, treasurer; Celia Nicolle, editor of the journal and Juliette Hargetion, assistant. Edith Le Patourel, secretary, deals with the media and Maria van der Tang is overseas enquiry secretary and also keeps the section room tidy. The coming year will be a busy one, as the section will be looking for a new home because the lease on our room at Blanchelande College ends in June. This year we are sorry to record that two members passed away: Mr. and Mrs Ivan Way of St. Sampson s. EDITH LE PATOUREL

41 HISTORIC BUILDINGS SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 The Section continued to do well in 2015, with a scattering of new members and good support from those of many years standing. The year was to some extent overshadowed by the publication, delayed several times, of Channel Island Houses, which necessitated the Secretary being away to co-ordinate this, and it was regarding this book that our first two sessions of the year were concerned, with explanations of the somewhat complicated abbreviations about to appear in the inventories for Guernsey and the other islands, and what use could be made of them. The next meeting looked at another book the 1680 Legge Report of the islands, republished in various forms in recent years, with the opportunity to examine at leisure all the superb illustrations. This gave rise to many comments as to the veracity of the draughtsmanship, the depiction of actual buildings, especially in St. Peter Port, which is shown in detail for the very first time, and the depiction of such features as the Braye du Valle with the bridge at St. Sampson s and the ruins of Corbière Castle, which we know from La Descente des Aragousais was in use in 1372, probably manned by the militia (and thus disproving John Dryden s seventeetnh-century assessment of militiamen as Mouths without hands, maintain d at vast expense, In peace a charge, in war a weak defence; Stout once a-month, they march, a blustering band, And ever, but in time of need, at hand. Our first summer visit was a walk, led by Sylvia Brouard, around Le Guet, when as usual on such visits, we had our attention drawn to all sorts of features that usually go unnoticed. The various ancient houses below Le Guet were taken in, of course, including those demolished by the Germans opposite the church hall; we wondered about a wellhead by Le Rocré that leans so much that it appears to be decending into the void it should be protecting; and we were shown the fixing places of the signalling masts that were used in the Napoleonic period alongside the watch-house, which itself is of two phases. A second visit took us to the Lower Rouvets in St. Saviour s, where an interesting house is gradually emerging from the neglect of several years. And it was on this visit that Channel Island Houses eventually appeared and was collected by many of the subscribers. The house itself, though of a length suggesting medieval origins, in fact is very puzzling, as containing no features more ancient that the sixteenth century, and even these probably largely re-ordered 100 years later. Our last visit was to Les Domaines, also in St. Saviour s, to a house very definitely medieval, but with that pleasing medley of successive alterations, additions and adornments that makes so many of our ancient houses full of interest, especially when, as in this case, it is arranged internally and used in a traditional manner, without regard to the dictates of modern interior design. With origins in the fifteenth century,

42 834 HISTORIC BUILDINGS SECTION 2015 including rare carved kneeler stones at the bases of the copings, good fireplaces and a tourelle, one of the more unusual survivals is a sixteenth-century door to the stair, scratched with the graffito of a man smoking a pipe of seventeenth-century type. The summer also saw many of us in France for three days as usual, this year in the west of Brittany, between Pontivy and Quimper. We had managed to find a number of interesting chambres-d hôtes, four of which allowed us to bring the whole group for a look at the houses and other buildings, including, in one case, a fascinating detached bakery. In another there was woodwork to puzzle over, and a feature found in our islands, chamfer-stopped jambs to windows that indicate a projecting sill below instead of mason s mitres at the lower corners when chamfers are just returned around the bottom of the opening. We saw some rare supports for bee-skeps, and in two places there were divisions formed of enormous sheets of stone, split like giant slates. An afternoon in Quimper itself brought something completely unexpected. We had requested an architectural tour from the information centre, forgetting to qualify the request by asking for something medieval. We were, in consequence, treated to an hour of modern architecture and had to make strenuous efforts to be allowed into the cathedral. But one of the chief delights of these few days were some quite outstanding medieval church furnishings and other woodwork. At Le Faouët, the rood-screen and loft at Saint-Fiacre is well-known but never ceases to astonish with their intricacy and with their paintwork, including dated inscriptions. Both here and at the gigantic chapel as big as many a minor cathedral at Quelven were side-altars with built-in lavabos, not so far noticed elsewhere, and at Kernascléden most wonderful paintings on the chancel vaulting and elsewhere. A small chapel at Carmès near Pontivy was opened for us, allowing us to see, close-up, many panels from a fifteenth-century ceiling that had been discovered above an inserted eighteenth-century makeover, then taken down and displayed in a room above the vestry or sacristy. At all of these churches one could not help but be impressed by the vigour of devotion on the eve of the so-called Reformation, and the survival of superb carved saints and many other features all lost in our islands for centuries. Our Breton visit finished with most of a day at the village of Poul-Fétan, near Quistinic, which is as atmospheric as such open-air museums as The Weald and Downland Museum near Chichester or St. Fagan s Folk Museum in Wales, but unlike these consists not of resited houses rescued from reservoirs or motorways, but an actual village, restored, after the last of its inhabitants had left, from a state of advanced decay. Here were many thatched houses, arches of various sorts, either single or paired, at ground level or at the top of outside staircases, and, our archaeological eyes were pleased to find such details as clear evidence for the sinking of floor levels inside some buildings in the seventeenth century, where now the low fireplaces no longer make much sense near high windows and window-seats. We were treated to a fine lunch in one such hall, open to the roof as in medieval times, and in other buildings were fires lit for cooking, a bakehouse in operation, a potter and various other activities and exhibitions relevant to traditional rural life. It was a splendid climax to a really

43 2015 HISTORIC BUILDINGS SECTION 835 memorable few days. The autumn programme continued with the usual talks at Candie, starting with an evening looking back at the Breton visit for the benefit of those who had not been able to participate or for the reminding of those who did. The next talk tried to address the possibility of taking different directions, as a Section, now that the rather intense discussions and research over several years, all leading up to the publication of the new book, were past. That is not to say that the Section (and especially the Secretary) saw any prospect of fewer discoveries being made, or interpretations having to be revised, from time to time, but it seemed sensible to ask whether we should perhaps look more closely at buildings post-dating the Richmond Surveys of 1787; whether we should attempt more detailed recording, leading up to the publication of at least one house a year not described in detail in the book, and whether this should, where appropriate, include more documentary researches to supplement architectural discussions. A last evening devoted to The Making of Channel Island Houses was opened to the Société as a whole, giving an opportunity to present to a slightly wider audience the sort of things that the Section had been involved in disentangling, over the years, both as to the evolution and the layouts of houses not only in Guernsey but in the other islands; and then, after a break, a description of the rather tedious process of arranging all this material and supervising its publication. The autumn and winter finished with two more talks: one on the sorts of mouldings found on ceiling joists over the ages specially requested by one of our members and how to date them; and finally with a look at fireplace corbels arranged in peculiar ways. Two fireplaces contain corbels deliberately placed upside-down, and other fireplaces seem to have their sides arranged so that chamfer-stops are at rightangles from what one would expect. The talk was extended to include the peculiarity of those fireplaces either now stranded in mid-air or sunk half into the ground, due to changing floor-levels within buildings. JOHN MCCORMACK

44 MARINE BIOLOGY SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 The Marine Biology Section (MBS) has continued working on some great projects during 2015, so here is a summary of what we got up to over the year. Annual Ormer Event 2015 was the third annual Ormer Event for the MBS, and this is an event that has previously proven pretty popular with section members. As always, we conducted the event in the intertidal zone of the Lihou Island causeway, part of the first Guernsey Ramsar site. The survey was carried out on an ormering tide, so that not only can information on the population density of Ormers at this site be noted, but also the popularity of the local activity of gathering. This year we had a chat to three different groups of gatherers in the area, and discussed the importance of making sure rocks are put back the way they were originally found. Although all the individuals and groups we encountered confirmed they agreed with this, we still noted that a significant proportion of the rocks in the area had been left over-turned. On a more positive note, it was encouraging to see the number of juvenile Ormers found by the Section. Photos of the Ormers found were taken and can be found on the La Société Guernesiaise Facebook page. The information collected was shared with the Alderney Wildlife Trust and the Guernsey Biological Records Centre. Annual Ormer Event The Marine Sightings Programme, developed by the MBS and the Guernsey Biological Records Centre (GBRC), was rolled out online on 6th May The Programme was created to encourage more people to submit records of the marine species that are being spotted, so that representative species data can be accumulated by the Records Centre. The Marine Sightings Pack produced by MBS and GBRC includes species ID guides for seabirds, marine mammals, mermaids purses, jellyfish, and has sightings forms which can be filled out and submitted. It also includes a Code of Conduct to help ensure that wildlife is not being negatively impacted and provides advice for boat users. Records can be submitted online via the GBRC website: Forms can be posted or ed, or the details can easily be ed through to marinebiology@societe.org.gg or gsybiorec@cwgsy.net. Packs are available for a minimum donation of 5 from the MBS. Several local maritime organisations and interested individuals have taken part in this programme. Beach Clean-Ups The Marine Biology Section led a beach-clean event with the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on Saturday 23rd May at L Erée as part of their community involvement scheme. This isn t the first time the section has led a beach clean with RBC, and it was good to see individuals getting involved again. The weather was great, and lots of non-waste items of interest were found, such as whelk eggcases, cuttlefish bones and a dogfish

45 2015 MARINE BIOLOGY SECTION 837 eggcase. Later on in the year, on Monday 21st September, the Rotary Club and MBS got together in the early evening for a beach clean of Port Soif. This location is one that I always think is going to be rubbish-free, but unfortunately that was not the case this time. Although significantly less rubbish was found here than at L Erée in May, 171 plastic pieces were found as well as various other bits of rubbish As previously, these beach clean events were carried out following the procedures put in place by Beachwatch, and the final data forms were submitted to the Marine Conservation Society and the GBRC. Copies of the survey sheets are available, which provide more detail about exactly what was found at each location. Seasearch 2015 saw the start of our first full year of Seasearch surveying. During the year, local Seasearch divers completed seven seabed surveys at five different sites around Guernsey. Due to unfavorable weather conditions for some of the year, we did not complete as many surveys as we had hoped for. However, Seasearch is an important project for the Marine Biology Section and we will continue to dive, dive, dive! Further Seasearch training is in the pipeline for 2016, and I hope to see an increase in the number of surveys completed next year. During the 2015 Inter-island Environmental Meeting it was interesting to hear about Seasearch in Jersey, and the data that has been collected through them. The Marine Biology Section and Seasearch Jersey communicate regularly, sharing data and discussing projects, and I know this positive engagement will continue forward for next year. As with all data collected by the Section, copies of the Seasearch survey forms are provided to the GBRC for recording, and in this way we hope to assist in expanding availability of local marine data, particularly in relation to the littoral zone. Other events and involvement The West Coast Weekend, all about shipwrecks, science and nature exploring, was held at Fort Grey on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July. The MBS had a stall throughout the weekend, and various trips to the intertidal zone were carried out to explore rockpools and local seaweeds. Although it was a fairly windy weekend, the sun was shining and it was much enjoyed by all. It is hoped that the West Coast Weekend will go ahead again in 2016, and the MBS is looking forward to getting involved. The Inter-island Environment Meeting (IIEM) was hosted by the Alderney Wildlife Trust and the States of Alderney on 1st and 2nd October 2015, and incorporated posters and presentations of both marine and terrestrial topics, as well as a field trip to a local Ramsar site. Guernsey is set to host the IIEM in 2016, and organizers are hard at work getting this prepared.

46 838 MARINE BIOLOGY SECTION 2015 After the success of the Seashore Life of Jersey intertidal ID guide, produced by the Société Jersiaise in 2014, the Marine Biology Section of La Société Guernesiasie considered the benefits of creating our own Guernsey version. We began collating marine species photos taken historically by the Section, and on Saturday 14th November section members braved the wind and cold weather and ventured down to Portelet to take more photos. Several great shots were captured, and we re looking forward to expanding on our photo collection over Towards the end of 2015, the Biodiversity Strategy, produced by the Environment Department of the States of Guernsey, was debated by the States. Concerns had been raised prior to the debate as to the chances of the Biodiversity Strategy receiving the necessary support, and so La Société Guernesiaise, along with several other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and interested individuals joined together to show our support: and the Standing Up For Guernsey s Environment campaign was generated. A petition was created which reached over 1,000 signatures, and the amazing Guernsey general public contacted their Deputies to voice their support. As a result, on the 9th December 2015, the Biodiversity Strategy was voted through with funding! A very successful outcome, not only for the Environment Department, but particularly for the wildlife and habitats of Guernsey. A big thank you to all who were involved and took part, this could not have been done without you. All in all it has been a busy and interesting year! The Marine Biology Section is looking forward to seeing ongoing projects progress over the next year, and to expanding our knowledge and skills. For further information on any of the events/ projects run in 2015, details on upcoming Marine Biology Section events, or for any questions or queries, please visit the La Société Guernesiaise website, Facebook page ( LaSocieteGuernesiaise/?ref=bookmarks) or me (marinebiology@societe.org.gg). JESSI JENNINGS

47 NATURAL HISTORY SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 At the beginning of 2015, the section adopted a change of name and direction. It became known as the Natural History section to reflect the change in emphasis of its aims and activities away from an involvement in the management of Société reserves and towards improving members knowledge of the habitats which exist in Guernsey, and the flora and fauna they support. To fulfil this objective it was decided to increase the number of outdoor meetings, beginning in February and going on until October. For our first outdoor meeting of the year the group met at Iscart carpark. Alan Ritchie led the outing and showed members the potential locations for field gates where it was hoped La Société s Conservation Herd would be able to gain access to the land for grazing. We then walked southwards from the car park along the cliff path to a point where it was possible to scramble over the old field enclosure boundary bank and wall, and found the ungrazed field was largely colonised by bracken. Pine trees had also suppressed herbaceous vegetation, but made it possible to see old boundary banks. Several World-War-II bunkers were seen and the site of the Icart Barracks was pointed out; these had been partly demolished prior to 1900, then completely cleared soon after The well associated with the barracks still exists, adjacent to the present access path along the ridge of the headland. Our next outing involved visiting the ponds at Port Soif and St Germain looking for amphibians. The outing was led by John Lihou and Tanya Walls, and although no newts or frogs were sighted, we learnt a lot about this type of habitat and the importance of introducing water into our own gardens. In May Jane Gilmour led a walk around the Ozanne Fields at L Ancresse. Section members were amazed at the number of orchids seen, these being Heath and Common Spotted, Southern Marsh and Loose Flowered. An interesting discussion ensued about how the fields had been managed in recent years. Members were invited to a breakfast meeting in July to join Trevor Bourgaize when he emptied his moth trap. We were impressed at the number and variety of species he recorded, 79 in all, including Beautiful Hook Tip, Pale Oak Beauty, Small Mottled Willow and Elegia similella (no English name). This last species was of particular interest as it was the first time it had been recorded at this site. John Lihou and Tanya Walls led a second outing in August, but this time the emphasis was on reptiles and their habitats. They invited us to begin the outing at their home where they showed us how to encourage a variety of wildlife into a garden. Members then moved on to the Grand Pré. We walked around it anti-clockwise. There were four refugia at the side of the path on the northern boundary. There was nothing under the first two. Then, near the hide overlooking the pond, we had success, finding three newts (which made up for not having seen any in March!) and two slow worms. Unfortunately no green lizards were spotted at this site. In early September Jane Gilmour led a walk around the reservoir looking for ferns and galls. A range of common ferns were seen but we were disappointed not to see Hard Fern, which has been recorded here in the past. A good range of galls were also

48 840 NATURAL HISTORY SECTION 2015 spotted including Common and Smooth Spangle Galls, Silk Button Galls and Truffle Galls. One interesting feature noted was the fact that in Guernsey Truffle galls can be seen on the trunk and branches of trees approximately six feet from the ground, whereas in most places they are seen on exposed tree roots. Our final outing of the year took place in October and was led by Nick Aubin from Jersey. He led a walk through the Foulon Cemetery looking for fungi. A good range of species was found, including one which may be a new addition to the island list but we are still awaiting confirmation. In the evening we met for a meal at Saints Bay Hotel which proved an enjoyable end to our year. LESLEY BOURGAIZE

49 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION REPORT FOR 2015 The highlights of the year were rarity dominated, with one new species for Guernsey, a Glossy Ibis, bringing the island bird list to 323 species. There were also the second record of Little Swift, 4th Canada Goose, 5th Black-headed Bunting and Great White Egret, and 6th Red-rumped Swallow. Also, the first Tree Sparrow for many years, and a returning Rough-legged Buzzard. The breeding highlight was a pair of Black Redstart, a species that has bred only a handful of times before. There were no notable influxes this year, and winter bird numbers continue to be on the decline. SEASONAL REPORT Winter The warm winters continue and so the number of wintering birds on the island remains below average. In the early part of 2015 there were only small numbers of birds feeding in the bays about 6 Great Northern Divers, 10 Great Crested and 7 Slavonian Grebes as maximum totals. No Black-throated Divers were seen at all in the early winter period, but two Black-necked Grebes were found in January one in Grand Havr from 4th and one in Belle Grève Bay from 7th. Wildfowl were also scarce, with just 3 Wigeon sightings and only a single Red-breasted Merganser reported, at Fort Le Crocq on 22nd February. Teal peaked at 75 birds at Colin Best NR, but Shoveler again preferred the Vale Pond with a maximum of 15 present there, and there were up to 7 Tufted Ducks residing at Gallotin Quarry. Scarcer species of duck included a pair of Pintail at Colin Best NR from 13th to 18th January and a male Gadwall moving between Grande Mare and Saumarez Park on 27th. There are two wintering Brent Goose flocks around Guernsey, although accurate counts may be difficult as birds may move between them. A peak of 65 birds was counted for the west coast flock, whilst there were about 50 individuals in the east coast/herm flock. Wader numbers were never swelled by incoming birds from the continent, and remained pretty constant throughout. There were generally less than 10 Golden Plovers present in the first few months of the year and Lapwings were restricted to flocks at Colin Best NR and Rue des Hougues. These groups peaked in early February at 22 and 48 respectively. The majority of the local Sanderling winter on the beaches along the upper west coast. The peak counts at the main sites were 62 at Grandes Rocques, 50+ at Baie des Pecqueries and 40 at Grand Havr, although birds move between these areas. Scarcer waders included about 6 Jack Snipes in the various mares, the usual Whimbrel at Pezeries and a Common Sandpiper at Havelet/Salerie. A Spoonbill was seen flying over L Ancresse on 2nd January. Great Skuas were seen from the north coast on 3rd and 24th January and two Common Gulls were sighted during February, although no Sandwich Terns appeared to be wintering this year. Winter thrushes were scarce in the late winter, with the larger groups present in the fields around The Track. Here there were up to 100 Redwing, 30 Fieldfare and a single Mistle Thrush.

50 842 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 The only Bramblings were seen at the very start of the year with one at Bas Capelles on 1st January and one at Saumarez Nature Trail the next day. Siskins were also more or less absent although a flock of up to 5 Reed Buntings was discovered at Corbiere/Le Bigard, plus 2 at St. Sampsons Marais. A Water Pipit remained in the Pulias area until 25th January, and presumably a new bird was found at St. Sampsons Marais on 1st February, staying right until 22nd March. This is an unusual location for the island, but a much more usual habitat for the species. Spring migration During the first week of March, northward migration became obvious as Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and the like headed across the Channel back to the UK. A brief Purple Sandpiper at Grandes Rocques between 7th and 10th March was probably passing through, rather than a late winterer. Also on 7th a Short-eared Owl was seen at Fort le Marchant. The next day, the 8th March, was the first day of the birders spring as the first Wheatears came in from the south and a Richard s Pipit arrived with them at Pleinmont, present until 16th. The rest of March stuttered, with migrants arriving in just dribs and drabs. The first Sand Martin was on the 13th, but only 5 more were recorded before April. A fine Osprey was seen flying over the Little Russell on 12th March, and about 6 Merlins were logged during the month. The Brent Goose flock on Herm appeared to have been boosted by north-bound migrants as over 100 were seen on 17th March, the same date as the first Puffins were recorded off there. A Ruff was present for three days at Colin Best NR from 20th, sharing the fields with a peak count of 64 Shelduck. A drake Gadwall commuted between Grande Mare and the Reservoir on 24th and was probably present on the island for nearly a month. There were no singing Cetti s Warblers noted at Grand Pré this spring, so we were lucky to have a single bird appear briefly at Marais Nord on 26th. This was the same date as the island s first Willow Warbler of the season, with a Swallow arriving the day after. The final good bird of March was a Black-necked Grebe bobbing off Salerie on 29th and 30th. As usual, April was busy, busy, busy for migration with an endless supply of new and interesting birds noted as they passed through the island. The first House Martin was seen on 3rd, the same day that a gaudy drake Garganey was showing off at the Claire Mare, which stayed until 12th. A selection of waterbird species arrived on 3rd 2 migrant Slavonian Grebes at L Erée, a Black-tailed Godwit at Colin Best NR, a female Red-breasted Merganser at Cobo and two hulking Whooper Swans at L Erée. The next day the first Little Ringed Plover was there, and on 5th the highlight was the arrival of a wide-ranging Osprey which stayed around for five days. The 5th also saw a Woodlark at Pleinmont, and the 6th had the first spring Common Sandpiper as well as 2 fantastic Dotterels on Herm Common. The 7th produced the first Ring Ouzels at Pleinmont, and it was a great month for this species with probably 35+ birds recorded altogether.

51 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 843 The second week of April began with the spring s only Greenshank and a Green Sandpiper at Rue des Bergers on 8th, when the first Common Scoters passed by Pleinmont. The 9th was another good day for migrants with Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Tree Pipit and Little Ringed Plover recorded, as well as a female Hen Harrier at Rue des Hougues. The 10th saw the first Yellow Wagtails and the 11th the first Whimbrels and Sedge Warblers, plus a bonus Hoopoe in a garden in Pont Vaillant. On 12th, the Bordeaux area had an unseasonal Mistle Thrush and a sparkling duo of Serin and Beeeater. Whitethroats arrived that day, and Reed Warblers the next. On 14th a resplendent white and buff Cattle Egret was discovered feeding in fields near Pleinmont. The quality stretch continued into the second half of the month with the first Common Tern, Whinchat and Cuckoo reported on 15th. There were about 11 of the latter recorded during the whole spring, but none seemed to stay into the breeding season. On 16th there was a Spoonbill at the Claire Mare (until 23rd), a Hawfinch at Pleinmont and a Hoopoe at Jerbourg. The next day there was some movement spotted over the sea when 12 Common Scoter and 56 Brent Geese were observed flying north past Jerbourg. The 17th also had sightings of Black Redstart, Coal Tit, Grasshopper Warblers and the first of the Swifts. A well-watched Short-toed Lark fed on the beach at Vazon between 18th and 20th April, and a Red-breasted Merganser was seen offshore. The pace slowed a little during the next week or so as the weather turned chilly and breezy. A Wood Warbler was at Rue des Clercs on 20th and one was present by St. Peters Church on 23rd. The Airport had a Hen Harrier on 24th and a brace of Dotterel on 25th. A Hoopoe was present around the L Erée area on these two days. The first confirmed Garden Warbler sang on 25th and the first of 5 spring Lesser Whitethroats was noted on 26th. The 28th April saw another Wood Warbler, at Rue de la Marette, plus a Short-eared Owl heading over Chouet. May was very much quieter than April but still gave out some big surprises. The first rare bird of the month was a fine Red-rumped Swallow which arrived with hirundines over Grande Mare during a clear spell on 3rd May. The 3rd also had the first Manx Shearwater of the year and an exceptionally late Siskin at Silbe. The 4th saw a nice selection of species, with a Serin on Lihou Headland, a Wood Warbler in the Fauxquets Valley, a Little Ringed Plover at the Claire Mare and the first of only 4 Turtle Doves in the spring at Valniquets. On 8th May, a Honey Buzzard was recorded over L Erée, and finally, the Spotted Flycatchers arrived. On 10th an Osprey went over La Ronde Cheminee and a fine female Golden Oriole was ringed at Jerbourg. On the 11th, one of the biggest shocks of the year was a repeat of 2014, when a Rough-legged Buzzard appeared in the Rue des Hougues fields. Unsurprisingly, after studying photos, this was shown to be the same returning bird, highlighting the importance of remembered migration routes from one year to the next. It was just a short stay for this bird this year. Between 15th and 21st there were three different Golden Orioles reported in the centre of the island.

52 844 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 The final week or so of May was very quiet but two big rarities left it late to arrive. A bright male Black-headed Bunting was seen in a garden at Jerbourg between 22nd and 24th. A coincidence was that this was in exactly the same garden as the previous record of this species. On 29th May, a Temminck s Stint spent the day on the scrape in front of the Claire Mare hide, the first for many years. In June, the final throws of spring migration brought a pair of Spoonbills to the island, being seen over Lihou Headland on 1st. The same day a Canada Goose appeared on the Grande Mare. The last few migrant waders passed through with Bar-tailed Godwit and Green Sandpiper seen on 3rd, and the final Sanderlings on the 7th. There was a taste of the exotic when a group of about 10 Bee-eaters circled over Pleinmont on 3rd, and a male Golden Oriole was singing along Rue de la Marette the next day. The last obvious land migrant of the season was a lone Wheatear at Fort Doyle on 6th. Breeding season The scarce nesting species seemed to be holding their own in 2015, with only Marsh Harrier showing a slight decline perhaps four pairs were on territory, but only one definitely fledged chicks. Buzzards were very much in evidence and are clearly increasing, and the few pairs of Peregrine are still present in the usual spots. Longeared Owls were noted at three sites during the breeding season, and chicks were seen at two of these, however it is an elusive species which may be more widespread. The Little Egret colony has risen to perhaps 20 nests and plenty of young birds were seen there in the summer. The number of breeding Puffin pairs was unknown, but the 31 counted around Jethou on 29th June should give some indication of the population size. A single pair of Little Grebes bred at the Reservoir. Stonechat numbers are on the up, with most empty spots along the coast now filled with a breeding pair. We still have no Dartford Warblers breeding in these locations. Firecrests were heard singing in the late spring at a few spots but no summer birds were recorded this year. However, the highlight of the breeding season was the pair of Black Redstarts which nested at a site near the Bridge, St. Sampsons. Other interesting birds seen during the mid-summer period included a very rare Tree Sparrow which was briefly at Fort Doyle on 14th June. A Pochard was present at the Claire Mare or the Reservoir between 16th and 19th, and two Bee-eaters visited a garden at Courtil de Bas on 19th. On 23rd June the first Balearic Shearwater of the summer was noted, but this year we did not witness the spectacle of 2014, as no large flocks were noted around our coastline. On 24th June, a Great Crested Grebe appeared at the Reservoir and stayed until 28th, a very unusual mid-summer sighting. There were a few surprising sightings in mid-july, such as a Whinchat at Pleinmont on 16th and a Merlin over L Islet on 17th. Only a single Turtle Dove was seen in the summer at Pleinmont on 16th July.

53 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 845 Autumn migration The first of the southward-bound returning migrants was, as is often the case, a Greenshank which was present at the Claire Mare on 30th June. Waders are often very early back usually adults which haven t found a mate or have failed in their nesting. The breeding season is short in the far north, so it is not worth sticking around! More waders appeared in July, with a Black-tailed Godwit on 10th, Common Sandpipers from 14th and an impressive flock of 11 Green Sandpipers seen at Grande Mare then Claire Mare on 24th. Seabirds also began moving off the northern headlands late in July with the first Common Scoters and Great Skua seen on 23rd, and the first Sooty Shearwater and Arctic Skua on 25th. Unfortunately, the autumn ahead would not be classic for seawatching. A Black Tern flew past Jaonneuse on 29th July. Mediterranean Gulls again built up during the month, but the peak flock of 44 birds in Belle Greve Bay on 31st July was well down on 2014 s record counts. August began with a Great White Egret appearing at Rue des Bergers briefly on 2nd, and two Pomarine Skuas passed Jaonneuse on 8th. After the first returning Wheatear on 7th, other passerines began arriving on the island mid-month, with an Aquatic Warbler trapped at Claire Mare on 9th being one of the stars. The first of 8 autumn Pied Flycatchers was seen on 13th and the first of 9 autumn Redstarts on 16th. The 17th was excellent for passerine migrants with a Wryneck noted at Fort le Marchant, and both Nightingale and Melodious Warbler present around the same field at Pleinmont. A fine flock of 15 Knot, together with 3 Curlew Sandpipers dropped in at Vazon on 14th August for a brief visit, the same date as a second Black Tern passed Jaonneuse. On 17th a Spoonbill was spied at Claire Mare and, to end a very productive week, an Osprey was observed fishing off Herm on 18th. The remainder of August was more quiet but another Osprey was seen at Le Gouffre on 23rd. The odd Yellow Wagtail and Tree Pipit was noted and a Shoveler returned to Rue des Bergers. On the final day of August a Ruff was present at Colin Best NR, a Black Tern passed Chouet, and a Wryneck started a week s stay at Rue des Bergers. The 1st September saw the autumn s peak count of 32 Balearic Shearwaters past Jaonneuse, and a Black Tern was off there the next day. The 2nd also saw another Spoonbill at Claire Mare, as well as Wryneck and Blue-headed Wagtail at Pleinmont. A tired juvenile Turtle Dove was discovered at Jaonneuse on 5th, the only autumn individual of this declining species. On 6th, a young Rose-coloured Starling was discovered in the Starling flock at Fort Hommet which stayed in the Vazon area until at least 4th October. The same day a Honey Buzzard was reported at Les Grantez and the first Grey Plovers and Siskins had returned to the island on their way south. There was a large southerly Swallow passage on 8th September when over 3000 passed through Jerbourg in less than 3 hours.

54 846 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 A few interesting waders were seen during this period with the first returning Golden Plover on 8th, and a Knot at L Erée on 11th and 12th. A Grey Phalarope made a brief pit-stop at Claire Mare on 14th. A Little Tern dropped in on L Erée beach on 12th. On 12th September a Wryneck was found on Lihou Island and a Coal Tit was at Pleinmont. The next day was a great day for scarce migrants up at Pleinmont with a Honey Buzzard, Tawny Pipit, 2 Ortolans and at least 25 Whinchat seen during the morning. A Blue-headed Wagtail was also at Rue des Hougues. The next week was somewhat quieter but the first Grey Wagtail (19th) and Firecrests (20th) of the autumn were logged and a Wryneck appeared at Prevoté. Seawatching produced a very low peak autumn count of 19 Sooty Shearwaters on 19th and the final few Common Terns, Arctic Skuas and Manx Shearwaters, plus a Little Tern at Pulias on 24th. The final week of September saw a constant easterly airflow and so another surge of interesting migrants was recorded on the island, starting with a ringtail Hen Harrier at Pleinmont on 25th. The next day, on the same headland, the first Skylarks appeared, two more Ortolans were found, as well as a fine Red-backed Shrike. On 27th, Pleinmont continued its run of good birds with a Richard s Pipit flushed from a field and a flyover Great White Egret observed. Also, a Rose-coloured Starling was seen near the Airport. On 28th a flock of 6 Spoonbills was noted flying over Perelle, a Common Gull was off Jaonneuse and a Wryneck fed at Chouet. Quite a busy few days! October started as September finished with many interesting species appearing, such as 4 migrant Lapland Buntings on Herm on 2nd. The 4th October was an excellent day with both Spotted Redshank and Little Gull at Bordeaux and Crossbill, Lapland Bunting and Yellow-browed Warbler in the Pleinmont area. The next week saw a mini-influx of Snow Buntings, with a bird in the Vazon area from 7th to 13th, one at Fort Saumarez on 7th, one at Rocquaine on 9th, and one at Chouet on 12th. The first of 7 autumn Merlins was at Pleinmont on 7th and another Yellow-browed Warbler was seen at Fort Hommet. The first push of winter thrushes occurred with Redwings noted from 10th and Fieldfares from 11th, with good numbers of Mistle Thrush (about 20 birds) and Ring Ouzels (about 10 birds) recorded before the end of the month. A Jack Snipe was flushed at Pleinmont on 14th, an unusual location for this species. On 17th October the winter migrants were observed pushing through, with, at Pleinmont, a few hundred Redwing and Fieldfare, a Short-eared Owl, a Brambling and Woodlarks (up to 4, staying around until 31st October) seen. Two very obliging Snow Buntings were on the path at the east side of Vazon between 18th and 21st. At Pleinmont on 19th, a Lapland Bunting was discovered and the final of c.10 autumn Hobbies was recorded. A welcome sighting was of two wandering Dartford Warblers one on Herm on 19th and one at Fort Hommet on 20th the first for quite a few years. The 20th saw the first of an influx of Coal Tits to the island with at least 25 recorded during the final few months of On 23rd October a further Snow Bunting was present at Havelet briefly and another wave of migrant birds started to arrive. At least 100 Siskin were noted on 24th and also a group of 12, seemingly migrating, Coal Tits went south-west over Pleinmont Seven Crossbills passed over there the next day, with Redpolls at Mont Herault and

55 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 847 Delancey Park. Two Common Gulls were seen at Fort le Crocq. On the 26th, a Coal Tit appeared at Le Guet and another Yellow-browed Warbler was nearby at Fort Hommet headland. Also, a Cetti s Warbler returned to Grand Pré for the winter perhaps a new bird. A Lapland Bunting stayed at Mont Herault from 27th to 31st, and the next day a very late Lesser Whitethroat was present in the Vaux de Monel and a further Yellowbrowed Warbler was at the Silbe. The rarest bird of the year was seen on 28th October, as it was a species that had never been recorded in Guernsey before a Glossy Ibis. This has long been predicted to be added to the island list due to the increase in the European population. However, the sighting, at the Vale Pond, was very brief, and only one observer managed to see and photograph the bird. October finished with the eighth Snow Bunting of the month, at L Ancresse on 30th, followed by a good passage of birds at Pleinmont the next day. Birds passing overhead, or resting on the ground, included over 3000 Chaffinch, 200 Siskin, 35 Brambling, 100 Song Thrushes and 5 Reed Buntings, with a Richard s Pipit the rarest find of the day. A Green Sandpiper was seen at the pond of the Silbe. This great passage continued into November, and on 1st in the Mont Herault and Pleinmont area, there were 500 Chaffinch, 25 Brambling, 50 Skylark, 50 Siskin, 3 Shorteared Owls, 12 Reed Buntings and a Redpoll quite a selection! On the 2nd, additional birds there included a Yellow-browed Warbler, 2 Crossbills, a late Swallow and 2 swifts sp. At this time there were a few extra sightings of Woodcock at less-than-typical locations, clearly new arrivals. On 7th November another Lapland Bunting was seen, quite tame and friendly, in the car park at Chouet. The last Wheatear was at Pulias on 19th. The last drips of autumn migration occurred between 21st and 23rd November when birds were seen moving at sea off the northern headlands. In amongst the 100 s of Kittiwakes were 14 Little Gulls (23rd), a Pomarine and 27 Great Skuas (21st) and the final Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters of the year. On 28th November a lone juvenile Pomarine Skua was seen off Chouet. Winter Wintering birds started arriving back to Guernsey in the last week or so of November. The first Great Crested Grebe was seen on 20th, followed by Great Northern Diver on 28th and Black-throated Diver on 29th. The number of birds of these species which stayed to winter in the island s bays were approximately six, four and two respectively. The only Slavonian Grebe seen was on 26th December at Grandes Rocques. One of the rarest birds of the winter was a Whooper Swan which arrived at the Reservoir on 29th November and stayed into Wintering wildfowl were present in similar numbers to last year with about 5 Wigeon, about 60 Teal, 12 Shoveler and 10 Tufted Duck. A Red-breasted Merganser was briefly at Portelet on 2nd December with another at Fort le Crocq on 29th. Wader numbers on the beaches were again low, with the birds nowadays

56 848 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 preferring the more rocky bays such as Pecqueries rather than the sandier ones such as Vazon. Sanderling and Lapwing flocks were small and there were no Golden Plovers at all wintering. The three Jack Snipes noted included a well-watched bird in front of the hide at Grand Pré. Single Whimbrel at Pezeries and Common Sandpiper at Havelet were no doubt returning birds from last year. Two Bar-tailed Godwits were noted and the only Purple Sandpiper seen was at Rousse on 22nd December. Sandwich Tern sightings were up on last winter with up to 7 birds present in the Perelle to Vazon area. Passerine flocks were not very evident on the island, with just a handful of Redwing and no Fieldfare at all seen after 17th December. About 10 Skylark were spending the season in fields at Rue des Hougues. A Brambling was at Courtil de Bas on 11th December and a Water Pipit returned to Fort le Crocq on 14th. Coal Tits were still present to the end of the year, with one at Rue des Bergers on 18th and up to six birds in Saumarez Park from 21st. The most exciting sighting of the year only just squeezed into 2015, when a superb, dashing Little Swift was found at Fort le Crocq on 30th December. This was only the second island record and extremely rare this far north, since it is mainly an African species, and it was the first ever seen in the British Isles in mid-winter. Unfortunately, it only stayed a couple of hours, but for the lucky birders who managed to get there in time, it was an unforgettable experience! MARK LAWLOR

57 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 849 SELECTED ORNITHOLOGICAL RECORDS FOR 2015 The following records were submitted to, and accepted by, the Bailiwick of Guernsey Rarities Committee, Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus 8th & 9th records Two adult birds were present at Colin Best NR on 3rd and 4th April, no doubt stopping to rest during their northward migration to the far north (A. Marquis, et. al.). This is the first record of this winter swan for 14 years. Also, later in the year, a single adult bird was found at the Reservoir on 29th November and stayed there into 2016 (J. P. Down, M. C. Simmons, et. al.). What was presumably the same individual was seen briefly flying over Grand Rue, St. Martins a few days previously, on 24th but the identification could not be clinched at the time (M. A. Guppy). Canada Goose Branta canadensis 4th record A single bird was present at the main Grande Mare golf course pond on 1st and 2nd June (A. J. Bisson, et. al.). Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 9th record A breeding-plumaged bird was feeding amongst cattle along Route du Crolier and surrounding area, near Pleinmont, from 14th to 16th April. Despite the regular records between 2007 and 2011, and the presumption that the species would become annual, this is the first one since then. Great White Egret Ardea alba 5th & 6th records A single bird was photographed during a very brief visit to Rue des Bergers NR on 2nd August. A second was seen as it flew over Pleinmont on 27th September, another typically brief sighting of this species on the island (W. R. Turner, M. A. Guppy, J. M. Medland, A. J. Bisson, D. Spicer, A. Loaring, et. al.). Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus 1st record A single bird was observed as it made an aborted attempt to land at the Vale Pond on 28th October (D. Tulie). It flew off towards the Bridge, but fortunately returned for another fly-past where a record photograph was taken. This is the first ever sighting for Guernsey, but it has long been predicted to occur here due to the increase in the European population, and the increase in the number of records in the UK.

58 850 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus A second-year bird was discovered at Rue des Hougues on 11th May, and close studies of photographs proved that it was the same individual that visited the same site in late spring 2014 (W. R. Turner, et. al.). This amazing record shows that site fidelity is not restricted to breeding or wintering birds, but to migrant and vagrant birds also. Temminck s Stint Calidris temminckii 8th record The first island sighting of this species for thirteen years was made at the Claire Mare on 29th and 30th May, where it showed well in front of the hide. Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus A winter-plumaged adult bird was discovered feeding in Bordeaux Harbour on 4th and 5th October (C. Carré, et. al.). This species was added to the official rarities list just last year as there had been only a handful of recent records. Little Swift Apus affinis 2nd record On 30th December a superb Little Swift was found around lunchtime, racing around Fort Le Crocq headland and the western end of Vazon (J. Brown, et. al.). It stayed in the area for just a couple of hours, but luckily many of the local birders managed to watch it as it hunted for insects in the mild weather. Not only is this an exceptionally rare bird in Europe, but the mid-winter date is highly unusual for this African vagrant. A plume of warm air from the tropics had clearly pushed it northwards. Bee-eater Merops apiaster 20th, 21st & 22nd records One was feeding around the Bordeaux area on 12th April (C. Carré). About ten birds circled over Trinity, Pleinmont on 3rd June (J. Hooper). Two birds fed in a garden along Courtil de Bas on 19th June. Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio 28th record A juvenile bird was present in scrub at Pleinmont on 26th September and showed very well at times (W. R. Turner, et. al.). Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla 9th record One was discovered on the beach at Vazon on 18th April and stayed there until 20th (M. C. Simmons, et. al.). This was quite a bright and rufous bird, which indicates that is was probably from a western population. Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica 6th record A single bird dropped in with a large flock of hirundines over the Grande Mare on 3rd May, feeding for a few hours over the fields until the group moved on later in the day (M. P. Lawlor, M. A. Guppy, C. J. Mourant, W. R. Turner, et. al.). This is the second spring running there has been a bird in that area.

59 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 851 Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola One was trapped for ringing at Claire Mare NR on 9th (C. J. Mourant, et. al.). Rose-coloured Starling Pastor roseus 40th & 41st records One juvenile was first seen at Fort Hommet on 6th September and was present in the Vazon area until at least 4th October (J. Hooper, M. Hooper, et. al.). A second juvenile was seen by the main road outside the Airport on 27th and 28th September (J, Hooper, M. Hooper, et. al.). Nightingale Luscinia megarhychos 26th record One bird was showing intermittently in scrub by the Sociéte fields at Pleinmont on 17th August (J. Hooper, A. Loaring, et. al.) Tree Sparrow Passer montanus 13th record A surprising sighting was of a Tree Sparrow at Fort Doyle on 14th June (A. J. Bisson). This species has not visited the island for over 25 years, so it was a real shame that it was just a brief stay and no other birders were able to catch up with it. Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris A single bird was a brief visitor to the Société fields at Pleinmont on 13th September (M. P. Lawlor). Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes 21st record As last year, there was a mid-spring Hawfinch briefly at Pleinmont. This year it was seen on 16th April (J. Hooper). Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala 5th record A stunning male bird fed on the lawn of a garden near the Doyle Monument on Jerbourg peninsula between 22nd and 24th May (L. Harborow, et. al.). A big coincidence for such a rare bird, with so few records, was that it chose exactly the same garden as the previous record in 2009! ALDERNEY Great White Egret Ardea alba One bird was photographed at Longis Common on 9th July, and there was also a wandering bird at various locations between 27th September and 13th October. Black Stork Ciconia nigra A single bird was photographed soaring over the Community Woodland on 25th June (R. Manzano Rubio).

60 852 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 Great Bustard Otis tarda As last year, a single bird from the Salisbury Plain reintroduction scheme was seen in Alderney. It was first observed near the campsite on 25th April. Long-tailed Skua Stercorarius longicaudus A juvenile passed Mannez Lighthouse on 30th August (P. K. Veron, C. Veron). Bee-eater Merops apiaster One was seen on Longis Common on 8th June (R. Manzano Rubio). One was also photographed there on 19th June which may have been a new bird. Rose-coloured Starling Pastor roseus A juvenile was present at Longis Common from 17th to 20th September (R. Manzano Rubio, et. al.). Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus On 8th November a juvenile bird of this North American species was seen late in the evening at Mannez Lighthouse but could not be located the next day (P. K. Veron, C. Veron). What was presumably the same bird was seen in Jersey a while later. BIRD RINGING REPORT 2015 This year it was decided to take full advantage of the facilities offered by the ringing programme. It means a change in the ageing and sexing codes but also gives us the time elapsed since the bird was ringed, see details below. Also we are able to use the EURING initials of the various Schemes. There were no new species added to the list for the year and a grand total of birds ringed within the Bailiwick was 3815 of 50 species. Rich and I are still trying to balance the yearly species totals on the computer with the printed ones but it a slow job as sometimes we have to check over 1000 lines of data for one species in one year. At the end of the year two of our ringers, Paul and Catherine Veron moved up to Alderney and have become very involved in the formation of the Alderney Bird Observatory. They will be sorely missed on Guernsey but we wish them every success in this exciting new venture. There has never been a full time observer/ringer on Alderney so this will provide very valuable data on both resident and migratory birds. I would like to take this opportunity in thanking all the ringers for their continual support no matter what the weather. Thanks also go to members of the public in sending in details of either local or foreign birds found dead; they are all gratefully received.

61 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 853 A Totals ringed in Guernsey 2015 B - Totals ringed in Alderney 2015 C - Totals ringed in Sark 2015 D -Totals ringed 1946/2015 E - Recoveries received in 2015 F - Total recoveries 1946/2015 Species A B C D E F Storm Petrel Cormorant Shag Sparrowhawk Kestrel Lesser B-b. Gull c280* c3773* Herring Gull C80* c1574* Yellow-legged Gull Great B-b. Gull c27* c151* Woodpigeon Collared Dove Barn Owl Short-eared Owl 1 4 Kingfisher Swallow House Martin Rock Pipit Wren Dunnock Robin Redstart Whinchat Stonechat Blackbird Song Thrush Redwing Grasshopper Warbler Aquatic Warbler Sedge Warbler Reed Warbler Melodious Warbler 1 41 Lesser Whitethroat Whitethroat Garden Warbler Blackcap Chiffchaff Willow Warbler

62 854 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 Species A B C D E F Goldcrest Firecrest Long-tailed Tit Blue Tit Great Tit Golden Oriole 1 10 Carrion Crow 1 61 House Sparrow Chaffinch Greenfinch Goldfinch Linnet Bullfinch plus 142 species Ringing Recoveries and Controls Reported During 2015 The symbols in connection with the actual ringing of the bird has been updated. The sex of the bird is now listed first with the new ageing criteria following. On the second line the time elapsed since ringing of the bird is given (e.g = 7 years one month four days). Also changed is the Scheme name abbreviations as follows:- GBT = BTO London, FRP = Paris, CSP = Czech Republic, Rey = Iceland; BLB = Belgium; HGB = Hungary: DDH = Germany Key to symbols and terms used in the recovery lists: Ringing: 0 - Age unknown, i.e. not recorded. 1 - Pullus: nestling or chick, unable to fly freely, still able to be caught by hand. 1cy+(2) - Full-grown: able to fly freely but age otherwise unknown. 1cy(3) - First-year: full-grown bird hatched in the breeding season of this calendar year. 2cy+(4) - After first-year: full-grown bird hatched before this calendar year; year of hatching otherwise unknown. 2cy(5) - 2nd year: a bird hatched last calendar year and now in its second calendar year.

63 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 855 3cy+(6) - After 2nd year: full-grown bird hatched before last calendar year; year of hatching otherwise unknown. 3cy(7) - 3rd year: a bird hatched two calendar years before, and now in its third calendar year. 4cy(8) - After 3rd year: a full-grown bird hatched more than three calendar years ago (including present year as one); year if bird otherwise unknown. 4cy(9) - 4th year: a bird hatched three calendar years before, and now in its fourth calendar year. 5cy+(A) - After 4th year: a bird older than category 9 - age otherwise unknown. B - 5th year: one year older than category 9 - age known exactly to the year. C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, etc. onwards et seq. M. Male F. Female U. Sex unknown Recovery: v Controlled (caught alive and released with ring intact) vv Ring number read in the field x Found dead or dying xa Found long dead + Shot or killed by man () Caught or trapped alive and not released, or released but with ring removed /?/ Manner of recovery unknown Ringing details are given on the first line and recovery details on the second. Date of recovery: where this is unknown the date of the reporting letter is given and is shown in brackets. Local: found within 5 km of where ringed. The entry for each species is headed with the vernacular and scientific names followed, in brackets, by the age in years and months (e.g years 11 months) of the oldest bird so far recorded for that species ringed in the Channel Islands. Storm Petrel - Hydrobates pelagicus (20.0) This year saw a good selection of retraps as well as foreign controls with the oldest being years and the youngest retrapped later the same night. There were two Jersey/Burhou controls as well as the following:- P cy Burhou Alderney x Brighton Marina, England 195 km

64 856 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 GBT 2 cy St Alban s Head, England v Burhou, Alderney 96 km GBT 2 cy Portland Bill, Dorset v Burhou, Alderney 90 km GBT 2 cy Gwennap Head, Cornwall, England v Burhou, Alderney 248 km GBT 2 cy The Lizard, England v Burhou, Alderney 213 km GBT 2 cy The Lizard, England v Burhou, Alderney 213 km GBT 2 cy Portland Bill, Dorset, England v Burhou, Alderney 90 km Gannet Morus bassanus (30.11) A total of 28 birds were reported either found dead or controlled at the nest. The breakdown is The Netherlands 8; Denmark 1; Spain 1, Belgium 1; England 4; France 8, Inter island 1; and 4 recorded at the nest in Helgoland, Germany. The oldest being Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo (2.3) G Godin, The Humps, Herm x Pornichet,France 248 km

65 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 857 Shag - Phalacrocorax aristotelis (27.2) There were two locally found dead birds Herm/Guernsey and Jethou/Guernsey. The oldest being Marsh Harrier - Circus aeruginosus (1.11) One colour ringed bird seen inter site years. Water Rail - Rallus aquaticus (1.01) This is the first foreign ringed recovery in the Channel Islands of this species. CSP 1 cy Dobromerice Czech Republic H x The Giffoine, Alderney 1142 km Moorhen Gallinula chloropus (10.7) One locally found dead bird Sanderling - Calidris alba This is the first sighting of an Iceland ringed Sanderling in the Channel Islands. This bird was also seen in autumn 2012 at Les Moitiers d Alonne, Manche; early spring and autumn 2013 and atumn 2014 Baubigny area, Manche, France. Rey 3 cy Sandgeroi, Iceland vv Grand Havre, Guernsey 2018 km G(Flag)Red,Red:M.Wh.Wh Mediterrean Gull - Larus melanocephalus BLB 3 cy Antwerpen, Belgium E vv Belle Greve Bay, Guernsey vv Belle Greve 549 km

66 858 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 BLB Antwerpen, Belgium E vv Belle Greve Bay 549 km BLB Antwerpen, Belgium E vv Belle Greve Bay, Guernsey 549 km HGB Retszilsd, Hungary vv Belle Greve Bay, Guernsey 1583 km Black-headed Gull - Larus ridibundus (6.09) DDH F 1 cy Dresden Kaditz, Germany IA vv Braye Common, Alderney vv Braye Common, Alderney vv Braye Common, Alderney 113km WW Lesser Black-backed Gull - Larus fuscus (24.03) The oldest bird recorded this year was one done on Burhou years previous. Herring Gull - Larus argentatus (20.10) The oldest bird recorded was Great Black Backed Gull - Larus marinus The oldest bird recorded as * Once again there were a large number of movements of all three main gull species ringed in the Bailiwick and all details can be found on Paul Veron s gull web site. Puffin - Fratercula arctica (9.3) Z cy Burhou Island x Cala Sa Galera. Banyalbufar, Spain 1176 km

67 2015 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 859 Robin - Erithacus rubecula (6.5) One locally bird found dead. Blackbird - Turdus merula (9.11) T34314 F 1 cy Damouettes Lane, St Peter Port v Greifswalder,Germany 1246 km Aquatic Warbler - Acrocephalus paludicola (4 days) This is the first foreign control for this species. AK cy La Claire Mare, LEree v Sausgalviai, Lithuania 1748 km Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus scirpaceus (8.11) There were 2 inter site controls. AK4557 F 2 cy Le Grand Pre, La Rochelle v Litlington England 238 km Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs (8.07) One locally bird found dead.

68 860 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION 2015 Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis (5.8 AK7923 M 2 cy St John v Portland Bill, Dorset, England 118 km GBT F 1 cy Black Dog, Crediton, England Z v St John, Guernsey 177 km MARGARET AUSTIN

69 2015 WEATHER REPORT ANNUAL WEATHER SUMMARY 2015 (Guernsey Airport Meteorological Office) MEAN AIR TEMPERATURE C RAINFALL mm SUNSHINE hrs MONTH DIFFERENCE PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE FROM AVERAGE OF AVERAGE OF AVERAGE JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV 12.2 * DEC 11.6 * YEAR * NEW RECORD

70 OBITUARY PAT COSTEN ( ) President and Pat arrived in Guernsey at the age of sixteen from Yorkshire, and never lost her enthusiasm for that society or her Yorkshire twang. She will be remembered as our president as a person who guided La Société with humour and positive thinking, a can do approach to problems and an ability to encourage people of all enthusiasms to enjoy our island. Her special enthusiasm for bats had begun as a child, and as soon as she joined La Société she formed a bat group. With access to the Bat Conservation Trust and the help of visiting experts she became Guernsey s bat lady, with visits to caves, attics, lofts, anywhere where bats might be found. I have a special memory of sitting with her outside the St. Peter s Stores at dusk, counting emerging pipistrelles. After 80 we gave up, reckoning there were lots. Pat was in demand for the care of injured bats; her home had pots of mealworms and cages with recovering bats. She maintained a bat was fit for release when it could fly two circuits of her living room, and she delighted in taking bats to schools and Guide groups. On a memorable occasion at La Houguette School she needed a ladder to retrieve a lively bat flying around a classroom. Her advice was sought by builders concerning bat roosts, and recently in the roof space of Frossard House concerning suitable bat-friendly roofing materials. Peter and Pat kept open house for visiting naturalists, moth men (and women), and most famously for Julia Henney s calves from the Conservation Herd, which invaded her kitchen and made a frightful mess. The pictures went viral on the net and in the press: she enjoyed every minute of it. Her humour was reflected in a witty paper published in the Entomologists Record, entitled I married a mother. Her drive and enthusiasm are a real loss, of course, to Peter and her family, but also to her wider circle of friends all over the island. She contributed enormously to the contemporary image of La Sociéte, and the emergence and support she gave to fresh initiatives, as well our long-established sections, will stand as her memorial. TIM PEET

71 Mary Eily de Putron ( ): her work in archaeology and stained glass JOHN LUCEY Mary Eily de Putron, who was born in Dublin in 1914 and died in Guernsey in 1982, is best known as a stained-glass artist, responsible for window plan and repair schemes in the Channel Islands and beyond. Previously, when in her late teens and twenties, de Putron had worked as an archaeology assistant in Guernsey and Ireland as well as in England before embarking on a career in stained-glass window design, construction and restoration. The work in Ireland was mainly in archaeological illustration, at which she excelled, but she also assisted in excavations there and during her short career in archaeology worked with the most eminent in that field. The Guernsey Society, La Société Guernesiaise and the National Trust of Guernsey were fortunate in having such a stalwart member whose expert knowledge also extended into the realms of architecture and botany. The main objective of the biographical memoir is to illustrate the artistic legacy left to us by the gifted Mary Eily de Putron through her dual, preand post-world War II, careers. Introduction The name de Putron, obviously of French origin, is an old Guernsey one and the family apparently were anciently seigneurs of the island. However, neither Mary Eily de Putron the subject of this biographical memoir nor her parents were born in the Bailiwick but all lived out their last years there. Her paternal grandfather was John Augustus de Putron ( ), a shipowner and merchant, who had been born in Guernsey to Peter de Putron, a shipwright of St Martins and farmer s son, and Mary Le Lievre. A painted window in the south aisle of the parish church (Town Church) in St Peter Port had been contributed by the Le Lievre and de Putron family as a memorial to two of its members (Le Lievre, 1863). Three generations later a de Putron family member would be responsible for designing and repairing such windows in the same church and elsewhere in the Channel Islands and beyond. The name Shaw, on Mary Eily de Putron s maternal family side, is of old Anglo- Irish stock the Shaw Baronetcy of Bushy Park Dublin. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Frederick W. Shaw ( ) a distant cousin of George Bernard Shaw ( ) and Eleanor Hester de Vere ( ). Mary Eily de Putron was born at Bushy Park, Terenure, Dublin (Plate 1) on 8 July 1914 the only child of Annie Kate, née Shaw ( ), and Cyril de Putron ( ). Her parents had met while Captain de Putron was stationed in Ireland with the Lancashire Fusiliers and were married on 20 December 1910, at Rathfarnham Church, Dublin, by the Rev. John Percy de Putron, vicar of Stow, brother of the bridegroom. Cyril de Putron had a distinguished military career serving in the Boer War, for which he earned the King s South Africa Medal, as well as in the Great War at Gallipoli on the Western Front and was awarded the French Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre. He was officer commanding the

72 864 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 Lancashire Regiment during the Irish War of Independence (Sheehan, 2007) but apparently took no part in the operations ( ). Then a Lieutenant-Colonel he was, however, in Ireland in August 1922, two months after the start of the Irish Civil War ( ), when he and his wife Annie Kate took part in the mixed doubles at the Dublin District Lawn Tennis Tournament (Anon., 1922). They retired to Lower Bertozerie, George Road, in St Peter Port when he left the army, as a Colonel, and he became a Jurat of the Royal Court in Guernsey. (1) For many of the previous generations, the de Putron home had also been at the Bertozerie in St Peter Port. Miss Mary Eily de Putron attended the Ladies College in St Peter Port between 1926 and 1931 (Marr, 1992) and would later, in 1938 after seven years working as an assistant in archaeological excavations in Guernsey, Ireland and England gain a diploma in archaeology from University College London. Work in archaeology After leaving school de Putron took part in her first archaeological excavations. Both parents had become members of La Société Guernesiaise in 1931 and her father was elected to the council in 1932 (Anon., 1934a). Doubtless Mary Eily was influenced by the interests of her parents and through her father, who was a member of the excavation committee, she assisted Vera Christina Chute Collum ( ) in the investigations of Le Déhus dolmen by Sir Robert Mond ( ) for the States of Guernsey in September-October 1932 (Collum, 1935). In the same year she also took part in the excavations at Delancey Park (2) with Collum (Plate 1), who it is believed, stayed with the de Putrons when she was in the island then and later, in 1936, when she again visited to arrange and label pottery from the Déhus (P. de Jersey, personal communication). Between 1931 and 1932, she also took part in the excavations conducted by Mortimer Wheeler ( ) and his wife Tessa Verney ( ) at the Roman site Verulamium in Hertfordshire (Marr, 1992). There, de Putron would have met two of the up-and-coming women archaeologists in Joan du Plat Taylor ( ), an amateur but practical and prolific archaeologist, and Kathleen Kenyon ( ), who would become the leading female archaeologist of her time. Many younger women, like Mary Eily, assisted in the excavation work at St Albans (Plate 2) under the Wheelers and over the next few years she would again team up with some of these during archaeological digs elsewhere. In 1933 de Putron went to Ireland to work as a researcher/volunteer at the National Museum in Dublin. Her first involvement with the museum was when she assisted in the excavation of two Viking burials (inhumations) at Islandbridge in the city (An Roinn (1) In the course of a murder case, in 1935, Colonel de Putron suffered a heart attack and although it was decided the trial would continue in his absence he, nevertheless, resumed his seat in court the following day (Sly, 2013) and would die six years later during the German occupation. (2) Recent research has indicated that the Delancey Park monument belongs to a diverse and complex group of burial-ritual monuments with origins firmly rooted in the Late Neolithic (Nash, 2011).

73 MARY EILY DE PUTRON Bushy Park House, Terenure, Dublin where Eily de Putron was born in (Image courtesy of the Irish Architectural Archive - formely in the collection of Miss M.E. de Putron) Delancey Park monumnent, St. Sampson s Guernsey, during excavation in 1932, showing Vera Collum and possibly Mary Eily de Putron. (Image courtesy of Guernsey Museums and Galleries, The States of Guernsey) PLATE 1

74 MARY EILY DE PUTRON Excavation of Roman site at Verulamium in Hertfordshire - women working on the dig included Mary Eily de Putron. (Image courtesy of St Albans Museum) Cairn at Poulawack, Clare, Ireland, summer (Image courtesy of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland) PLATE 2

75 MARY EILY DE PUTRON The Good Shepherd west window of the nave of St. Mary s Church, East Hendred, Oxfordshire, completed by Mary Eily de Putron in (Image courtesy of Maria Brown) PLATE 3

76 MARY EILY DE PUTRON Memorial window to Sir Clive Burn at the eastern end of the south aisle in the Parish Church, Stoke Climsland, Cornwall, completed by Mary Eily de Putron, c (Image courtesy of Donna Faull) PLATE 4

77 MARY EILY DE PUTRON Stained glass memorial window to Charles Harry Rew, at Vale Church, Guernsey, completed by Mary Eily de Putron in 1974 and depicting the risen Christ appearing to St. Peter, who is wearing a traditional fisherman s Guernsey. (Image courtesy of John Dempster)

78 MARY EILY DE PUTRON Christmas postage stamp sheet (1993) showing Guernsey stained glass windows by Mary Eily de Putron. (Image courtesy of Guernsey Post Ltd.) PLATE 6

79 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 865 Oideachais, 1935) which had been exposed during the building of the World War I memorial there. In 1934, while in Dublin staying with her grandmother, Lady Shaw, at Bushy Park House, the place of her birth, she was elected member of the Archaeological Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Anon., 1935). Thus, it would appear that in her twentieth year de Putron had earnestly set out to gain the relevant experience for a career in archaeology. Over the next two years she would work at sites throughout the country particularly for what was the Third Harvard University Archaeological Mission to Ireland. Joseph Raftery ( ), then newly graduated from University College Dublin, was with de Putron on the Irish side during the Harvard Archaeological Expedition, (3) as he would write later in retirement after he had been Director of the National Museum having succeeded Adolf Mahr (Raftery, 1988). The Harvard Mission in Ireland was led by Dr Hugh O Neill Hencken and his assistant Dr Hallam L. Movius. Also in the team were Frederick Richardson and Dorothy Newton, both of Harvard, Nancy de Crespigny of Australia, and, on the Irish side, Mary Eily de Putron and the writer, both of Dublin. The sites selected for examination ranged in time from the Mesolithic to the Viking period and, geographically, from Clare in the south to Down in the north. These large-scale excavations, by the Harvard Mission to Ireland, the first of their kind in the country, were epoch-making in their impact. Thus, Mary Eily de Putron was part of the first truly scientific approach to what O.G.S. Crawford ( ) later called dirt archaeology (Raftery, 1988). With the Harvard Mission she worked at such places as the Poulawhack megalith (Plate 2) and the stone cashel at Cahercommaun both in Clare and the famous crannogs (lake dwellings) of Westmeath, Offaly and Meath. As well as assisting in the excavations de Putron made drawings of some of the finds, e.g. those from that Bronze Age burial mound (Poulawhack) on a high limestone plateau in Clare (Figure 1). From the excavation of a Bronze-Age tumulus, with cremated remains, carried out in June 1934 in Mayo she drew the associated artefacts including a primitive axe (c B.C.), javelin head and the flint tools (Hencken, 1935). The following month she went to London to attend the wedding of her cousin Grania Goodliffe ( ), from Donegal, to Cosmo Nevill ( ), when she acted as one of the bridesmaids (Anon., 1934b). She was a member of the Harvard excavation party, along with District Justice Liam Price ( ) and Raftery, of a stone fort in Clare and again with Raftery, on the Irish side, at the demanding Lagore crannog in Meath (An Roinn Oideachais, 1936). With Nancy Champion de Crespigny ( ), who had been with the Harvard Expedition to Samaria (Israel) in 1933, she drew four illustrations of finds from the Kilgreany Cave excavations carried out in September and October The cave in (3) The object of the Harvard Archaeological Expedition in Ireland ( ) was to study as far as could be done by excavations the successive cultures in Ireland from the first inhabitants down to the Anglo-Norman invasion in the twelfth century. The campaign was financed by the then Ministries of Finance in the two jurisdictions in Ireland as well as through various American societies (Hencken, 1941). The work was also aided by monies from the Board of Public Works, through the Unemployment Relief Fund, to employ men at the sites.

80 866 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 Waterford, apparently occupied from the Bronze Age through to the Early Christian Period, yielded among the artefacts a very fine, silver-plated, decorated, eighth-century art object (Movius et al., 1935) (Figure 2). Away from her Harvard Mission work she was also illustrating artefacts for others from her base at the museum. For example, she drew objects, in 12 illustrations, from finds at Sandhills, the habitation sites of the sand-dunes of the north coast of Ireland (Figures 3 and 4), for a paper (Hewson, 1935) by the Rev Lindsay Massy Hewson ( ). She appears to have signed just one of her many drawings, viz. M.E. de Putron fec. (Figure 5) meaning she made it (fecit), probably at the insistence of the County Galway doctor and antiquarian Thomas Bodkin Costello ( ) for whose paper (Costello, 1935) she did the drawings of finds from a tumulus in Mayo. Figure 1 Drawing, by Mary Eily de Putron, of finds from Cairn at Poulawack, County Clare, Ireland: a.-potsherd, b. -hollow flint scraper, c and d. -flint scraper and bone point (Hencken and Movius, 1935) (Drawing courtesy of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland)

81 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 867 Figure 2 Silver-plated bronze object, Early Christian Period, from cave at Kilgreany, County Waterford, Ireland (Movius et al., 1935) (Drawing courtesy of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland) Figure 3 One of the 12 drawings, by Mary Eily de Putron, of finds from Sandhills in the north of Ireland: Top-half of stone lamp (two views) and Bottom-pair of grain rubbers (Hewson, 1935) (Drawing courtesy of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland)

82 868 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 Figure 4 One of the 12 drawings, by Mary Eily de Putron, of finds from Sandhills in the north of Ireland: 1-6-arrow tips, 7-12-scrapers and 13-a borer (Hewson, 1935) (Drawing courtesy of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland)

83 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 869 Figure 5 Drawing, by Mary Eily de Putron, of finds from Tumulus at Carrowlisdooaun, County Mayo, Ireland: a-oblong flint scraper, b-javelin head and c-either an ornament or more probably a handle of some instrument (4) (Costello, 1934) (Drawing courtesy of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society) (4) This is an incomplete bone object that appears to be either the head or the handle of a larger instrument and to have been carved from a solid piece of animal bone into five (or more) segments (Chitty et al., 1935).

84 870 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 In a letter to her father, Colonel Cyril de Putron, dated 28 March 1935, Vera Collum wrote of Mary Eily having taken up archaeology seriously and of feeling some pride in the fact (P. de Jersey, personal communication): I am so pleased that Mary-Eily has been able to take up archaeology seriously. A week or two back I got a publication from O Riordain, the schoolmasterturned-archaeologist who was over here at the Farnham Summer School (held by Dr. Wheeler) some years ago, with the illustrations in it drawn most beautifully by Mary-Eily. I was delighted! I feel a sort of vicarious pride in her, you know! I shall know to whom to apply next time I want any objects drawn. With Eileen Barnes ( ), the resident artist at the National Museum in Dublin, Mary Eily had done drawings for Ó Ríordáin, (5) the man mentioned in the letter, in ten figures, of objects acquired from County Donegal (Ó Ríordáin, 1934/1935). Howard Kilbride-Jones ( ), from Scotland, was at the museum in 1935, to draw zoomorphic penannular brooches for a research paper, during de Putron s tenure there. He recounted (Kilbride, 1993) how Adolf Mahr, (6) then Director at the museum, would summon Mary Eily to his office at tea break to be provided with an apple. While Kilbride s hazy recollection of her exact name and where she came from might not be altogether accurate, his account of the afternoon tea breaks at the museum does serve as an example of a misguided attitude to political correctness of the time by both men: Mahr always kept a row of apples on top of his old-fashioned rolltop desk: these were for the special benefit of Miss Mary Eily du Putron, a researcher from Jersey (her family were seigneurs of the island). She was slightly overweight and Mahr felt that she would be better with an apple than with tea and biscuits. So every day at four o clock precisely Mahr would sing out: Miss du Putron and she would come forward to collect her apple. That was typical of the man; he always thought of other people s welfare. (5) Seán P. Ó Ríordáin ( ) then working in the museum was appointed Professor of Archaeology at University College Cork in 1936 at the early age of 31. Later he was elected to the Chair of Archaeology at University College Dublin and in his short life, this schoolmaster-turned-archaeologist, progressed from being a young provincial archaeologist to the status of a major figure in European archaeology (Daniel, 1960). (6) Adolf Mahr ( ), from Austria, was appointed Keeper of Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland in 1927 and became its Director in His contribution to Irish archaeology was immense (Stephan and Gosling, 2004) being instrumental in adopting a more scientific approach to excavation and in greatly increasing acquisitions to the museum. However, Mahr became leader of the Nazi Party in Ireland (Mullins, 2007) in the lead up to World War II although he does not appear to have been involved in espionage. In 1939 he left Ireland, ostensibly to attend a conference, but did not return. He coordinated Nazi propaganda broadcasts to Ireland and Britain during the war and was afterwards interned by the Allies. Later, he tried unsuccessfully to return to his job at the museum and died, aged 64, in Germany.

85 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 871 Such an act of looking after a staff member s welfare, by a boss in the workplace, would nowadays not be considered in such a light manner and could even be classed as discriminatory! Nevertheless, they did have a good working relationship and Mahr described Mary Eily as being an excellent draughtsman and well trained in the Museum (M. Carew, personal communication). She had helped Mahr in the preparation of the illustrations for his paper on finds from a bog in County Monaghan (Mahr, 1934/35). However, she must have reflected on him afterwards, particularly in view of his wartime activities and what happened in Guernsey! Her last work in Ireland was assisting the Harvard team at excavating a megalithic long burial cairn, with an open court for mourners, in Sligo between 25 July and 4 September 1935 from which she also drew some of the finds for the report (Hencken, 1939). At the end of the Third Harvard University Archaeological Mission to Ireland, in October 1935, she left Dublin to read a Diploma in Archaeology at University College London. She passed her Diploma in June 1938 (R. Winckworth, personal communication). The years 1937 and 1938 were again busy ones in the archaeological life of Mary Eily de Putron. She worked on excavations in England and having received her diploma was temporarily back in Guernsey to rearrange the two main archaeological collections which were amalgamated to form the Island Museum. With Ralph Durand ( ), who was librarian at the Priaulx Library and became curator of the museum until his death in December 1945, she gave a talk to La Société Guernesiaise on the history of the Lukis archaeological collection the transcript of which appeared in the Transactions (Durand and de Putron, 1938). During the summer of 1937 de Putron had assisted with the work in Hampshire carried out by Cecily Margaret Piggott ( ) helping in the excavations of barrows (Piggott, 1938) and in the following summer of 1938 again with Piggott and husband Stuart ( ) in Dorset (Piggott and Piggott, 1944). Also in the summer of 1937 she had worked with Dorothy Liddell ( ) and Christopher Hawkes ( ) on excavations in Hampshire. Liddell was by then in poor health but before she died, early in 1938, had left her notes, drawings and other documents in good order. It was her wish that the report on the excavations should be compiled from these materials by de Putron and Miss Barbara Laidler, who had worked with her on the site, with the help of Hawkes and Stuart Piggott. It transpired that Mary Eily worked on the report that Liddell had started and by the outbreak of war in autumn 1939 had produced a preliminary note with the help of Hawkes (de Putron and Hawkes, 1940). Afterwards, notwithstanding her war-service duties, she completed what she called a draft report on the Choseley Farm excavation (de Putron, n.d.). Michael Morris, who more than 40 years later worked on the original material, (7) (7) We know from Hawkes s foreword to the paper by Michael Morris, on Dorothy Liddell s excavations in Hampshire, that the material and archive were despatched to Guernsey and lay safe in the basement of the island s museum throughout the German occupation. They were returned to the Hampshire Field Club in Winchester at the end of the war and in due course to the Hampshire County Museum to be studied at length by Morris (1986).

86 872 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 wrote that the conclusions reached by de Putron and Hawkes, on the Iron Age and Romano-British settlement, were substantially confirmed (Morris, 1986). World War II Mary Eily de Putron was back in Guernsey in 1939 at the outbreak of war but soon left for London again where she enlisted in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Women s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). Joining as an Aircraftwoman 1st Class she gained promotion becoming Assistant Section Officer in 1941, Section Officer in 1942 and reaching the rank of Flight Officer in She earned a Mention in Dispatches in June 1945 in the King s Birthday Honours List (London Gazette, 1945) for operational Service in the Second World War and was entitled to the Star Medal as well as the War Medal The war years were a time of great sorrow for the family particularly for her mother, who not only lost her husband but also her brother. Colonel Cyril de Putron died, on 4 July 1941, during the occupation and her maternal uncle, Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Charleton Shaw ( ), died, following a car accident, on active service in Germany in July 1945, two months after the surrender. The pain of separation at the time of her father s death must have added greatly to the grief felt by the still relatively young Mary Eily. The war brought de Putron s direct involvement in archaeology to a standstill and would ultimately lead her on a completely different career path. Work in stained glass Mary Eily de Putron s introduction to the world of stained glass had its origin in a chance meeting with the celebrated artist Joan Howson ( ), in the Victoria and Albert Museum, when living in London during the war (Coysh, 1982). This encounter, though also said to have occurred after the war, has been described by James Marr (1992): She was living in London at the time and was making sketches in the Victoria and Albert Museum when a commissionaire told her that this was not allowed. It so happened that Miss Joan Howson, the wellknown stained glass artist, was just then passing by and overhearing what was said, intervened, stating that as a close acquaintance of the Museum s Director, (8) she would take up the matter with him immediately if Mary Eily were not allowed to complete her sketches. The sketching thereupon continued and the incident led to a long partnership between (8) The director was Eric Maclagan ( ) who kept the museum open during the war (

87 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 873 these two gifted women, working on stained glass at Miss Howson s studio at 9 Deodar Road in Putney. (9) With Howson, she removed some of the older windows at Westminster Abbey in order to make them safe and they restored them to the abbey after the war (Coysh, 1982). The Victorian stained glass windows in the Chapter House there, however, were badly damaged during air raids when the House of Commons was bombed and these were repaired by Howson with the help of de Putron between 1948 and Together, they repaired and reinstalled the glass in the ante-chapel of New College, Oxford and readily placed their records at the disposal of Christopher Woodforde for his book on the stained glass there (Woodforde, 1951). Joan Howson had reopened her studio and workshops in Putney after the war and between October 1945 and July 1947 they journeyed to New College every Monday, with the glazier, L. Banks, to reinstate the medieval windows (de Putron, ). After the publicity received through newspaper coverage of the Westminster Abbey repairs, other commissioned work followed. Queen Mary visited the studio in Putney in the autumn of 1951 and Howson was asked to prepare a portrait of King George VI for the altar window of the Savoy Chapel, Covent Garden, during which construction he died in February During her apprenticeship with Howson she doubtless assisted with many other important commissions of stained glass window plan and repair schemes. Mary Eily de Putron, along with the Victoria and Albert Museum, was thanked for assistance with the dating and description of the fragments of ancient stained glass material that had been found during the excavation of Calder Abbey, Cumbria, in 1947 (Fair, 1953). Meanwhile, she was designing and making windows, through commissions, in her own right. In 1950 she did the badges, of places, in each light of three of the south nave aisle windows of the, neo-gothic style, late nineteenth-centuary, chapel at Bradfield College in Berkshire. Later, in 1954, she added her depiction of St Raphael the Archangel to one of the north nave windows there in memory of a past pupil, R. Master ( ), who had excelled in middle distance running (Blackie, 1976). She designed and made the beautiful stained glass west window at St Martin s Church Guernsey, depicting Saint Martin in episcopal robes, in In 1959, she completed the Good Shepherd west window of the nave in St Mary s Catholic Church, East Hendred, now in Oxfordshire (Plate 3). The window was commissioned by the Eyston family in memory of T.M. Eyston (Anon., 1965), i.e. Captain Thomas More Eyston who died of wounds in 1940 in France aged 38. Sometime in the period she executed the stained glass window at the eastern end of the south aisle in the 15th-century Parish Church at Stoke Climsland in Cornwall, which had been restored in 1860 (Polsue, 1872), in memory of Sir Clive Burn ( ) (Plate 4) who was Secretary of the Duchy from 1936 until his death. (9) In the 1950s and into the 1960s Deodar Road on the Thames was a place of artistic creativity whose inhabitants included other pioneer stained-glass artists such as Margaret Aldrich Rope ( ), Lady Rachel de Montmorency ( ) and Margaret Traherne ( ) as well as young writers such as Nell Dunn (b. 1936) and Edna O Brien (b. 1930). Joan Howson owned, and held leases of, properties on Deodar Road and the little road became an artist s village (de Putron, ). The building at 79 Deodar Road, where Mary Eily de Putron lived up until 1961, was later occupied in the 1960s and 1970s by the Australian artist Sidney Nolan ( ) and his tragic wife Cynthia (Underhill, 2015).

88 874 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 A list of de Putron s known works is given in Table 1 (see end of article) with the year of completion where this is also known. The greatest expression of her work is to be seen in the churches of Guernsey wherein she designed or replaced windows in seven of the 10 parishes in the island. She also executed repair works in Sark at St Peter s Church. Beyond the Channel Islands her work is known from at least three places in England, i.e. in Berkshire, Cornwall and Oxfordshire. Most of her work in stained glass in the Bailiwick was executed after she became resident there in the 1960s. However, she had worked there at times during the 1950s, e.g. at Le Monnaie Chapel in St Andrews and La Bellouse Church in St Martins, while also working in England. During the 1970s de Putron had engaged in work at churches in St Sampson, St Pierre du Bois and the Vale. One of her two windows in the Vale Church, the south side window completed in 1974, depicts Christ with St Peter who is wearing the traditional blue guernsey and sailcloth trousers of a local fisherman (Plate 5). She was actively working in stained glass down to at least the late 1970s when she transformed Holy Trinity Church, in St Peter Port, by removing all the windows and putting in new panes of tinted clear glass throughout (Anon., 1982a). Other interests Mary Eily de Putron was a benign supporter of women s rights. While in London she was doubtless active in the women s movement as were her mentors Howson and Townshend before her. When writing to The Times in 1955, regarding a painted glass window at Merton College, Oxford, she signed herself as the gender-neutral M.E. de Putron. However, in the index to the letters page for that day, her name appeared as Mr. M.E. de Putron (de Putron, 1955) which, somewhat, defeated the original purpose! After her return to Guernsey permanently, she became a member of La Société Guernesiaise in 1961 (Anon., 1967) and was for a time a member of its Council (R. Hocart, personal communication). She and her mother moved from Lower Bertozerie to Fontaine Fleurie where Mary Eily also set up her studio and workshop. Her mother, Annie Kate, died there on 18 January Two years later her good friend and mentor Joan Howson died at her home in Wales the Studio Morfa Bychan, Portmadoc in Caernarvonshire and would remember Mary Eily in her will by leaving her 50 and her book of Canterbury Glass. She was a keen gardener and expert on roses. In her lovely garden, at Fontaine Fleurie, Havelet, high above St Peter Port with its wide view of the Russel, she had more than 100 rose bushes of different varieties (Coysh, 1982). She participated on field trips with the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) and is mentioned for her taxonomic expertise at a Guernsey field meeting in July 1971 (McClintock, 1972): Miss M. E. de Putron proved to be a local devotee of old Roses and named from Fort Saumarez the Apothecary s Rose, and May Queen, which have thriven in the scrub there in full face of the sea for well over 40 years; and Seven Sisters and Jean Guichard were doing the same on a low cliff at Cobo. And the prettiest plant of all? Large-flowered, very dwarf (because it

89 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 875 was eaten down by goats) Dianthus armeria, a very rare plant in the island and in quite a new locality here on L Ancresse, jewels in the sun, much better than when they are on long thin stalks! In The Wild Flowers of Guernsey the same allusion is made regarding her recording of the several wild species growing below Le Guet at Cobo (McClintock, 1975). Mary Eily helped Charles Brett ( ) in compiling his survey of the buildings of St Peter Port and is thanked first among those members of the architectural team of the National Trust of Guernsey who had played an active part (Brett, 1975). Her instinctive architectural judgement led to her being co-opted to the sub-committee of the Trust organized to advise the States in relation to proposed building development and alteration in the capital (Marr, 1992). The Trust greatly valued her help at its book stall at the Folk Museum, Saumarez Park and for assisting at the annual Viaer Marchi there (Coysh, 1982). She was a member of the Guernsey Society almost from the beginning (Anon., 1982a). In she published, in three parts in the Review of the Guernsey Society (de Putron, 1961a, 1961b and 1962), the diary of her great-uncle, the Reverend Pierre de Putron ( ) best known as the author of an illustrated book on archaeology in Sussex (de Putron, 1875) for the year 1851 when he was curate at the Vale, Guernsey. Through La Société Guernesaise de Putron had kept up her interest in archaeology and she delivered a lecture, on the dolmens at L Ancresse, to a meeting of the society in September 1971 (Anon., 1972). She wrote a comprehensive article on the life and work of her friend Joan Howson in the Journal of Stained Glass (de Putron, ). Her final published writing was when she compiled the obituary of Thomas Downing Kendrick ( ), the anthropologist and author of The Archaeology of the Channel Islands who became Director of the British Museum, for the Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise (de P., 1979). Death and legacy Mary Eily de Putron died, from carcinomatosis, in the early hours of 9 February 1982 at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in St Martins, aged 67. It is somewhat ironic that, when she was writing of Joan Howson, she should refer to her and partner Caroline Townshend ( ) as both having sadly died from cancer (de Putron, ). Howson had been apprenticed to Townshend after whose death she mentored de Putron and they had spent long hours in workshops where dust and fumes containing lead, now classified as a carcinogen, were generated. That all three of these stained-glass artists should succumb to the same disease may likely be more than mere coincidence and may have had an occupational causation. Her funeral service, officiated by the dean of Guernsey, was held in the Town Church, where three of her windows lent coloured illumination to the solemn ceremony, on 15 February She had wished that in lieu of flowers, donations be made, if desired, to La Société Guernesiaise Centenary Fund (Anon., 1982b). Appropriately, a window to the memory of Mary Eily de Putron was erected by a number of her friends in the Monnaie Chapel, at St Andrews, where she

90 876 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 worshipped regularly (Anon., 1982c) which also, fittingly, was designed and made by her glazier Hedley Ogier (Marr, 1992). There her work can be seen in all the other windows and this work was commemorated with the issue at Christmas 1993 of postage stamps, designed by the Suffolk artist Jennifer Toombs, showing examples of de Putron s Guernsey stained glass windows (Plate 6). It is, perhaps, somewhat apt, although purely coincidental, that this celebration of her work should also have an Irish dimension in that the postage-stamp sheets were actually printed in Dublin, the place of her birth and where she had trained at her other special interest. Mary Eily de Putron was equally proud of her Guernsey and Irish heritage (Marr, 1992). Mary Eily de Putron s personal qualities have been described as a charming person to look at, cheerful, forthright and passionate, immensely kind and sympathetic and deeply religious (Anon. 1982a). A photograph of her late in life was reproduced in More people in Guernsey s Story (Marr, 1992) where the first of those features is clearly evident. It has been said that her great asset was her ability to mix with all kinds of people (Anon., 1982a). This is indeed borne out by her having mixed with those who held different socio-political views, particularly in Ireland where her background was different to most of the people she worked with. During the 1930s, when in her late teens and twenties, Mary Eily de Putron worked with some of the most eminent archaeologists of the time and alongside those who would later attain distinction. (10) Her contribution to archaeology should not be passed over lightly, as just an excavation assistant and illustrator, for we see that she interpreted and reported, along with Hawkes, the findings at an Iron Age and Romano-British settlement in Hampshire and that when just 25 years of age. The list of people she worked with is a veritable who s-who of the leading figures in the field from Europe and North America including Mond, Collum, the Wheelers, Kenyon, du Plat Taylor, Liddell, the Hawkes, the Piggotts, Mahr, Hencken, Movius, Ó Ríordáin and Raftery. The same can be said of those with whom she was associated in the world of stained glass design including Davy Woore ( ) as well as the women glass artists Townshend, Howson, Aldrich Rope, de Montmorency and Traherne, mentioned in footnote 9, and the Irish glass painter Evie Hone ( ). During her short time at the museum in Dublin, the young de Putron drew numerous objects found during excavations around Ireland north and south. With others in the museum she is acknowledged for illustrations to many reports/papers and contributed original drawings for The Irish Stone Age (Movius, 1942). The attention to detail and the skill of draughtsmanship is plainly visible in the examples of her drawings shown here (see Figures 1-5). That fundamental artistic skill would develop further in her subsequent career lasting four times longer. (10) These included three young women who worked with de Putron on the Harvard Mission in Ireland, i.e. Nancy de Crespigny ( ), Thalassa Cruso ( ) and Veronica Seton-Williams ( ). The first two married respectively Hallam L. Movius ( ) and Hugh O Neill Hencken ( ), the leaders of the Mission, while the last would form a life partnership with Joan du Plat Taylor.

91 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 877 A chance meeting had changed de Putron s career path from one in archaeology to a whole new world of stained-glass window design, construction and restoration. Just a year after she graduated her active involvement in archaeology would diminish, with the outbreak of World War II, although she would hold a lifelong interest in the subject through her involvement with La Société Guernesaise. Mary Eily de Putron s talent was essentially an artistic one and while involved in archaeology she had excelled at illustration. That she was sketching when her career conversion took root would suggest that her professional fulfilment somehow always lay in the arts! In her dual careers, in archaeology and stained glass, Mary Eily de Putron has left a lasting artistic legacy which this biographical memoir has endeavoured to illustrate. Location/Parish//Church Guernsey Saint Andrews Rohais Methodist Church Chapel of Christ the Healer, Le Monnaie Saint Peter Port Town Church St Stephen s Church Holy Trinity Church St John s Church Saint Martins St Martin de la Bellouse Church Castel Castel church Saint Pierre du Bois St Peter-in-the-Wood Church Saint Sampson St Sampson s Church Description Window, depicting Christ the Good Shepherd reset in clear glass with new roundels, which had been removed from Morley Chapel in St Peter Port. All of the windows except for the memorial to her in the Tower, erected by friends shortly after her death. Three windows, commemorating the Queen s Silver Wedding, the Jubilee of the British Legion and memorial to Frank Wall Poat and the Reverend Basil Joseph Reginald Guille. Window, depicting Ascension of Our Lord and His encounter with Mary Magdalen outside the tomb, in memory of the Hart family Removal of old windows and replacement with panels of tinted/clear glass. Window on south wall depicting the church s patron. East Window, displaying a Victorian Ascension, in memory of Captain Richard Charles McCrea, reset in clear glass. West Window, depicting Saint Martin in episcopal eucharistic robes. Inset on north wall commemorating Sir Ambrose Sherwill Small round-headed window, depicting St Peter wearing a guernsey and pulling in a fishing net, on the north side of the chancel in memory of Canon S.W. Gerhold. Window, depicting St Sampson standing before the west front of church, in the south side of the porch in memory of Canon Edward Louis Frossard. Year s (1982) Late 1970s

92 878 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 Location/Parish//Church Vale Vale Church (St Michael of the Vale) Sark Saint Peter St Peter s Church Description South side window, depicting Christ with St Peter who is wearing the traditional blue guernsey and sailcloth trousers of a local fisherman, in memory of Charles Henry Rew (Plate 7). North side window, depicting Christ knocking at the door of the human soul, in memory of Albert E. and Emile Guilbert. Executed window repairs. Year England Bradfield South nave windows (3): badges in each light (Berkshire) Bradfield College Chapel North nave window, Archangel Raphael added in memory of R. Master East Hendred (Oxfordshire) St Mary s Church Stoke Climsland (Cornwall) Parish Church West window of nave depicting the Good Shepherd (Plate 5). Window, incorporating the Coats of Arms of Winchester and Oriel Colleges, at eastern end of south aisle in memory of Sir Clive Burn (Plate 6) c Table 1 Church works, with dates where known, executed by Mary Eily de Putron (Sources: Anon., 1965; Blackie, 1976; Lemprière, 1980; Marr, 1992) Acknowledgements The author wishes to state his gratitude to the following people and institutions for their help in the compilation of this article: Jean M. Vidamour, Priaulx Library, for newspaper search and retrieval; Elaine Burns, Librarian, British Society of Master Glass Painters, for providing archive literature; Stephen Foote, Guernsey Society, for helpful information and for providing additional literature items; Richard Hocart, La Société Guernesiaise, also for helpful information; Robert Winckworth, University College London Records Office, for information on student records; Muiris O Sullivan, Professor of Archaeology, University College Dublin, for helpful information; Mairead Carew, School of History and Archives, University College Dublin, also for helpful information; Colum O Riordan, Irish Architectural Archive, for permission to reproduce Plate 1; Lisa Burton and Philip de Jersey, Guernsey Museums & Galleries, for permission to reproduce Plate 2 and Phil is also thanked for providing correspondence on the de Putron family and other helpful information; Catherine Newley, Verulamium Museum,

93 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 879 St Albans, for permission to reproduce Plate 2; Maria Brown, Parish Administrator, St Mary s Church, East Hendred, Oxfordshire, for providing her photograph in Plate 3; Donna Faull for her photograph in Plate 4 with thanks also to Di Gibbs, Wiltshire, the Online Parish Clerk (Genealogy) for Stoke Climsland in Cornwall; John Dempster for his photograph in Plate 5 with thanks also to Mike Bubb, Rectors Warden at Vale Church; Bridget Yabsley, Acting Head of Philatelic, Guernsey Post Ltd, for permission to reproduce the postage-stamp sheet in Plate 6; Anna Rowland, Librarian, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland for permission to reproduce Plate 2 as well as Figures 1-4 and finally the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society is acknowledged for Figure 5. References Anon Lawn Tennis. Dublin District Tournament at Wilton Place. Freemans Journal 24 August: 7. Anon. 1934a. Extracts from the minutes for Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 11: Anon. 1934b. Anglo-Irish wedding. Irish Independent 18 July: 9. Anon List of members. Archaeological Journal 91: Anon Centenary booklet: St. Mary s Church, East Hendred. Abbey Press, Abingdon. Anon List of members Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 18: Anon Report and Transactions September 16th. The Dolmens at L Ancresse Miss M. de Putron. Transactions of La Société Guernesaise 19: 121. Anon. 1982a. Mary Eily de Putron. Review of the Guernsey Society Spring: 20. Anon. 1982b. Deaths. Guernsey Evening Press 12 February: 6. Anon. 1982c. Deaths. Review of the Guernsey Society Winter: 94. An Roinn Oideachais, Report of the Department of Education Stationery Office, Dublin. An Roinn Oideachais, Report of the Department of Education Stationery Office, Dublin.

94 880 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 Blackie, J Bradfield, Warden and Council of St. Andrew s College, Bradfield. Brett, C.E. B Buildings in the town and parish of Saint Peter Port. National Trust of Guernsey. Printed in Belfast. Chitty, L.F., Shea, Professor [S.] and Mahr, A Notes on Iberian affinities of a bone object found in County Galway. Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 16: Collum, V.C.C The re-excavation of the Déhus chambered mound at Paradis Vale, Guernsey. La Société Guernesaise, Guernsey. Costello, T.B Discovery of Bronze Age burial with cremated remains. Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 16: Coysh, V Death of Miss Mary Eily de Putron. Guernsey Evening Press 13 February: 6. Daniel, G Professor Sean O Riordain: An Appreciation. University Review 2: de Putron, M.E. n.d.. Unpublished draft report on the Choseley Farm excavation. Hampshire County Museum Service. de Putron, M.E That dog in the window. The Times 8 October: 7. de Putron, M.E Joan Howson. Journal of Stained Glass 16: de P, ME [de Putron, M. E.] Obituary: Thomas Downing Kendrick. Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 20: de Putron, M.E. and Hawkes, C.F.C Excavations at Choseley Farm, Odiham, A preliminary note. Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society 14: de Putron, P Nooks and corners of old Sussex. Choice examples in Sussex archaeology. Farncombe & Co., Lewes. Durand, R. and de Putron, M. E The Lukis and Island Museum. Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 13:

95 2015 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 881 Fair. M.C Calder Abbey. With survey and plans by W. K. Calvert, F.R.G.S., and H. Peck. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society 53: Hencken, H. O N. (1935). A tumulus at Carrowlisdooaun, County Mayo. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5: Hencken, H. O N A long cairn at Creevykeel, Co. Sligo. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 9: Hencken, H. O N The Harvard Archaeological Expedition in Ireland. American Journal of Archaeology 45: 1-6. Hencken, H. O N. and Movius, H.L A cairn at Poulawack, County Clare: with a report on the human remains. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5: Hewson, L.M Notes on Irish Sandhills. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5: Kilbride-Jones, H.E Adolf Mahr. Archaeology Ireland Autumn: Lemprière, R Buildings and memorials of the Channel Islands. Robert Hale, London. Le Lievre, F Le Lievre s guide to Guernsey. F. Le Lievre, Star-Office & Arcade Office, Guernsey. London Gazette, Mention in Dispatches. Women s Auxiliary Air Force: Flight Officers. London Gazette 14 June: Mahr, A. 1934/35. A wooden cauldron from Altartate, Co. Monaghan. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 42C: Marr, L.J More people in Guernsey s story. Guernsey Society, Guernsey. McClintock, D Field Meetings, 1971: Guernsey, 9th-18th July. Watsonia 9: McClintock, D The Wild Flowers of Guernsey. Collins, London. Morris, M An Iron Age and Romano-British site at Choseley Farm, Odiham: the excavations of Dorothy Liddell, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society 42:

96 882 MARY EILY DE PUTRON 2015 Movius, H.L The Irish Stone Age: its chronology, development & relationships. University Press, Cambridge. Movius, H.L., Roche, G., Stelfox, A.W. and Maby, J.C Kilgreany Cave, County Waterford. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5: Mullins, G Dublin Nazi No. 1: the life of Adolf Mahr. Liberties Press, Dublin. Nash, G Uncovering complex histories: excavation of the Gallery Grave within Delancey Park, St Sampson, Guernsey. Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 27: Ó Ríordáin, S.P. 1934/1935. Recent acquisitions from County Donegal in the National Museum: With addendum: chemical examination of ancient Irish bronze and silver objects, by K.C. Bailey. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 42C: Piggott, C. M., A Middle Bronze Age barrow and Deverel-Rimbury urnfield, at Latch Farm, Christchurch, Hampshire. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 4: Piggott, S. and Piggott, C.M Excavation of barrows on Crichel and Launceston Downs, Dorset. Archaeologia 90: Polsue, J A complete parochial history of the county of Cornwall. Vol. 4. William Lake, Truro. Raftery, J A backward look. Archaeology Ireland Spring: Sheehan, W Fighting for Dublin: The British battle for Dublin, Collins Press, Cork. Sly, N Channel Island murders. The History Press, Stroud. Stephan, A. and Gosling, P Adolf Mahr ( ): his contribution to archaeological research and practice in Austria and Ireland. In Holfter, G., Krajenbrink, M. and Moxon-Browne, E. (eds). Beziehungen und Identitäten: Österreich, Irland und die Schweiz Connections and Identities: Austria, Ireland and Switzerland, 6: Peter Lang, Bern. Underhill, N Sidney Nolan: a life. NewSouth Publishing, Sydney. Woodforde, C The stained glass of New College, Oxford. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

97 Introduction The Effect of Habitat Type on the Distribution of Small Mammals on the Island of Guernsey DANIELLE SORRELL AND MARCO CROTTI 1.1 Aim of the Project The main aim of the project was to establish a distribution map of the small mammals within La Société Guernesiaise s nature reserves and in some areas owned and managed for conservation by the States of Guernsey. The information gained from this survey will help with sustainable land management and conservation decisions in the future 1.2. Small Mammals Small mammals are critical to many terrestrial ecosystems as they are primary prey species for birds of prey. Moreover, they are also indicators to changes in habitat quality (for example, the loss of hedgerows and wildlife corridors). Small mammals serve as prey for other species and they can be vital to sustaining populations of the threatened Barn Owl (Duarte et al, 2003). The use of pesticides on crops and amenity grassland as well as for the control of rats and mice for hygiene purposes can lead to poisoning of other small mammals and birds. Most notably, predators such as Barn Owls and Kestrels are at risk of secondary poisoning, which can be immediately fatal or may lead to health problems or death over time, as these pesticides can accumulate in the liver (see Eason et al, 2002). The effect of the structure of the landscape on a species distribution is a major concern in ecology (Delattre et al, 1996). Habitat complexity has a positive influence on species richness and diversity, and countryside features such as hedges, stream banks, woodlands, grasslands and meadows are important for small mammals, as they provide refuge, food source, and breeding grounds (e.g. Pollard and Relton, 1970; Doyle, 1990; Naiman and Decamps, 1997; Aschwanden et al, 2007) White-toothed Shrew, Crocidura russula The White-toothed Shrew is a generalist small mammal whose distribution is limited by cold environments (Torre et al, 2014). It is insectivorous and widely distributed in south-western Europe (Brändli et al, 2005). The species appears to have originated in Africa, spreading northwards following glacial retreat (Brändli et al, 2005). These origins, alongside small body size and endothermy, imply a dependency on warmer climates with its distribution constrained by its ability to tolerate colder, northern climates (Churchfield, 1990). However, this shrew can overcome these limitations by its generalist feeding habits and opportunistic microhabitat selection (Torre et al, 2014).

98 884 SMALL MAMMALS 2015 The White-toothed Shrew shows preference for grassland and woodland habitats and its diet solely consists of invertebrates. It also exhibit cryptic colouration which aids in evading predators as it must feed constantly throughout daylight hours and during the night. Guernsey Vole, Microtus arvalis sarniensis (a subspecies of the Common Vole, Microtus arvalis) In the British Isles, the Common Vole occurs only on various islands of Orkney and the island of Guernsey (Berry and Rose, 2009). This vole migrated to Guernsey when the island remained attached to France after the last ice age. Miller (1909) described the Guernsey Vole as a distinct species, Microtus sarnius, largely due to its larger size. However, DNA analysis shows that it is related to the voles of the islands of Orkney and to the extinct Microtus corneri of the British mainland (see Berry, 1996) and it is now classified its own subspecies: the Guernsey Vole, Microtus arvalis sarniensis. The Orkney Vole is represented by a number of subspecies that developed with the separation of the various islands of Orkney (see Berry, 1996). The foraging behaviour of this vole is regulated by a circadian timing system although feeding is spread evenly over night and day (Daan and Slopsema, 1978). The Common Vole feeds mainly on green parts of grasses and herbaceous plants (Amori et al, 2008). The dominance of permanent grassland and the decrease in cultivated fields favours the population of voles (Amori et al, 2008), including the Common Vole. House Mouse, Mus musculus The House Mouse, demonstrates explosive demography, adaptable ecology and opportunistic behaviour which allow this species to have fast population growth which in turn can lead to the species being considered as a pest in human habitats (Zhang et al, 2003). The House Mouse spread from its origin in Asia and has now spread worldwide by human transportation, aided by its ability to adapt to a variety of climates and habitats (see Pococh et al, 2005). However, the House Mouse competes poorly with other rodents, which can limit its dispersal and its habitat use (Léon et al, 2010). The Field Mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus The Field Mouse, extends over much of Eurasia with little differentiation (Berry, 1996). The Channel Islands Field Mouse, although larger than its mainland Europe counterpart, is considered the same species (Delany and Healy, 1966). Differences between the populations of the Channel Islands are minor with morphological differences arising in the islands of Herm and Sark, where they are even larger than in the rest of the islands (see Delany and Healy, 1966).

99 SMALL MAMMALS 1. A White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura russula)

100 SMALL MAMMALS 2. A Guernsey Vole (Microtus arvalis sarniensis), a subspecies of the Common Vole, in a Longworth Trap prior to release.

101 2015 SMALL MAMMALS 885 The Field Mouse is a very adaptable species which inhabits a wide variety of seminatural as well as man-made habitats. This species is almost entirely nocturnal with a diet consisting of seeds and invertebrates, although it primarily feeds on the former. 1.2 Importance of island populations Studies of the distinctiveness of small mammals on islands have shown that genetic differences arise, compared to mainland ancestors, due to chance genetic composition of the founding population (Berry, 1996). These populations prove evolutionary significant as subspecies may arise, leading, in some case, to the eventual evolution of new species (see Berry, 1996). All of the above species are categorised as of Least Concern according to the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, but can still face threats from pesticides and water pollution as well as human interference through urbanisation and desiccation or where farming practices lead to certain species becoming pests. For instance, The Common Shrew is sometimes considered a pest due to the vast damage it can cause to crops and, as a result, it may be specifically targeted with control measures (see Zhang et al, 2003). 2. Methodology 2.1 Study sites With the assistance of the Jane Gilmour, the manager of the Guernsey Biological Records Centre, seven sites, which had no previous distribution data for small mammals, were chosen to be sampled. Below is an outline of the main habitat types found at each site based on the Digimap website for the habitats of the Bailiwick of Guernsey ( Site 1: La Bouvée, St Martin s (a field owned by The States of Guernsey) Improved grassland surrounded by dense scrub, continuous bracken and woodland, although on two sides these habitats are narrow, with gardens and arable fields adjoining. Site 2: Les Vicheries Nature Reserve, St Pierre-du-Bois (a group of fields managed and largely owned by La Société Guernesiaise) Semi-improved marshy grassland and marshy grassland (additionally, the fields are surrounded by hedge banks). Site 3: La Saline et Sécage, a field adjoining the above reserve (owned by La Société Guernesiaise) Coastal grassland surrounded by saltmarsh on three sides and a garden on the fourth.

102 886 SMALL MAMMALS 2015 Site 4: Silbe Nature Reserve, St Pierre-du-Bois (fields, woodland and scrub owned by La Société Guernesiaise) Semi-improved marshy grassland, semi-improved grassland, improved grassland, semi-natural broad-leaved woodland and with some patches of continuous bracken and dense scrub. Site 5: La Claire Mare Nature Reserve, St Pierre-du-Bois (fields owned by La Société Guernesiaise) Semi-improved grassland (only the inland fields were used in the survey). Site 6: Colin Best Nature Reserve, St Pierre-du-Bois (fields leased by La Société Guernesiaise) Coastal grassland, improved grassland, dense scrub consisting of bracken. Site 7: Land at the top of Le Val des Terres, St Peter Port (owned by The States of Guernsey) Improved grassland with patches of semi-natural broad-leaved woodland 2.2 Trapping The survey took place during a period of four weeks in August and September Site 1,2,4,5 and 7 were surveyed for three days, Site 3 for one, and site 6 for two days. Longworth traps were used and were placed at 10 metre intervals, which were deemed a suitable interval for the size of the sites whilst ensuring they were well covered and out of the way of public footpaths. Each trap was positioned carefully at a downward angle to make sure water could not collect at the end of the nest box, and the tunnel entrance was level with the ground, as small mammals do not like to climb up into holes. Each trap was covered with vegetation to minimise temperature variation. The traps were then set so that they would be triggered if an animal entered the nest box. Traps were positioned and set up for trapping immediately, except at La Saline et Sécage where they were left in the pre-bait position (fixed open) to enable the animals to familiarise themselves with traps. The aim was to reduce trap shyness in order to catch more individuals. La Saline et Sécage is a much smaller site and presumably has a smaller population of small mammals so, hopefully, by increasing the trap rate, the results would be comparable with the other sites and statistical inaccuracies would be prevented. Seeds, mealworms and straw were placed inside the traps; the seeds were for the voles and mice and the mealworms for the shrews, whilst the straw acted as bedding and warmth. Each time the traps were checked these items were replaced where necessary. The traps were checked every twelve hours, at 7am and 7pm.

103 2015 SMALL MAMMALS Processing the animals Captured animals were placed into plastic bags where they were identified, sexed and then taken out of the bag to be marked Marking Those that were caught on the first capture at each site were given temporary marking in the form of fur clipping and these clippings can remain visible for a several weeks to six months depending on the species.. Marking is used to check captured animals on subsequent visits to see if they had been trapped before and, if so, which individuals were revisiting the traps. This is because some animals can become traphappy due to the guaranteed food supply. In addition, marking is needed to estimate population size within a site. This form of marking was the obvious choice as it is easy to detect and does not harm the animal in any way or make it stand out and be more susceptible to predators, unlike some methods of marking, such as dying the fur. The fur of the individuals was clipped at four points of the body, indicated by A, B, C and D in our records. A represented the front left leg, B the front right leg, C the back left leg and D the back right leg. Fur was clipped just above the limbs. In cases where more than 4 individuals of each species were caught in one trapping session, two or more areas were clipped. In some cases, points, indicated as E and F in our records, referred to clipping the fur at the points between A and C, and B and D respectively. 2.4 Problems encountered Initially, 24 traps were employed in the survey, but, whilst surveying at the Colin Best Nature Reserve, six traps were damaged beyond use during mechanical cutting of grassland that is normally grazed. Unfortunately, the reserves team were unaware that this was taking place; as a result, the Longworth traps had to be removed from this site before completion of the site survey and a new area was found to finish off the survey: land at the top of Le Val des Terres. Because the number of survey days and the number of Longworth traps varied between different sites, only site 1, 2, 4 and 5 were used in the initial analysis. 3. Results La Les La Saline Bouvée Vicheries Et Secage Silbe La Claire Colin Le Val Mare Best Des Terre Total Fieldmouse Housemouse Vole Shrew Total Table 1. Number of the small mammals trapped at the seven sites. Sites that are underlined were used in the statistical analysis.

104 888 SMALL MAMMALS 2015 La Claire Mare supported the highest number of small mammals, followed by La Bouvée and Les Vicheries, and the Silbe. Statistical analysis, using a chi square test, was carried out to determine whether the distribution (number of individuals) of each species differed between habitats. The results suggest that Field Mice and shrews are not equally distributed between surveyed habitats. House Mice were only found at three sites, and not enough individuals were caught to estimate the species habitat preference. (see appendix 1) When the time of capture was examined, there was no significant difference for shrews, but voles were more frequently caught during the day and Field Mice were more frequently caught during the night. Location Simpson s Index La Bouvée Les Vicheries Silbe La Claire Mare Table 2. Simpson s diversity index values of four sites. Simpson s diversity index was preferred to other indices because it focuses more on the evenness aspect of diversity (Nagendra, 2002). The higher the figure in this index the higher the diversity. The highest value was recorded at Les Vicheries (Table 2), probably because the number of individuals for each species was more similar than in other sites (Table 1). The low diversity at La Bouvée is due to the fact that its community was dominated by a single species (Table 1), therefore its evenness was very low. Site Captures per 100 trap rounds La Bouvée 42 Les Vicheries 43 La Saline et Secage 109 Silbe 31 La Claire Mare 49 Colin Best Le Val des Terres Table 2. Captures per 100 trap rounds for each site.

105 2015 SMALL MAMMALS 889 To enable comparison with future surveys, or surveys at other sites, the capture rate for each site can be expressed as Captures per 100 Trap Rounds (See Appendix 2 for the formula used). 4. Discussion 4.1 Survey results The aim of the study was to investigate the distribution of small mammals across a range of sites managed for nature conservation in the island of Guernsey and to compare population sizes between different habitats. In an earlier study, Bishop and Delany (1963) reported that the Field Mouse was common and distributed in all habitats in the island, the Guernsey Vole preferred meadows and banks, and the White-toothed Shrew was widespread and relatively abundant all around Guernsey. Our results agree only partially with previous findings. Even though a smaller number of traps was used at Le Val des Terres, this site had the highest number of Field Mice (see Table 1). Field Mice are primarily seed eaters (see Fedriani, 2005), particularly tree seeds, and the presence of woodland patches in land above Le Val des Terres might represent a suitable environment for this species. Vegetation cover, as a means of protection from predation, is an important habitat characteristic for Common Voles (Briner et al, 2005), which was shown by the majority of voles being found in meadow type environments and along stream banks. Shrews were more abundant in improved and semi-improved grasslands. Only four House Mice were caught, in sites that were close to human habitations. Although not significant, it could indicate that House Mice are closely associated with humans. La Saline et Sécage had the highest capture per 100 trap rounds, even though only two days of trapping took place on the area. Interestingly, the capture rate for this field exceeds 100. This result might be due to the high number of tripped and empty traps, and the fact that two traps captured two individuals and one trap captured three individuals. Similarly, the same number of individuals were caught at La Bouvée and Les Vicheries, but the latter had a slightly higher capture rate because it also had a higher number of tripped and empty traps. One of the aims of the survey was to estimate population sizes for each species, and the capture-mark-recapture method was originally chosen to estimate the number of individuals in each population (Sutherland, 1996). However, it was not possible to carry out the analysis because not enough individuals were caught during the survey, and the capture-mark-recapture method requires that at least one marked individual is caught each trapping session. If further studies are conducted, it is recommended to employ a higher number of traps in order to increase the chances of trapping.

106 890 SMALL MAMMALS Implications for habitat management Even though the La Saline et Sécage was sampled for only two trap rounds, it was the richest site in terms of individuals according to the capture per 100 trap rounds. This result indicates that the site is very important from a conservation prospective, since it harbours a large population of voles and shrews. Therefore, it is recommended to preserve this area of coastal grassland, especially because it is in close proximity to houses, gardens and roads. On the other hand, the Silbe had the lowest capture rate out of all sites. This site was particularly favoured by voles, given the presence of grassland and stream banks. However, dense patches of bramble and bracken are also present on site, and these could have a negative effect on the abundance of Guernsey Voles. As it feeds primarily on the green parts of grasses and herbaceous plants, bramble and bracken do not represent suitable food sources. Restoring more of the site to speciesrich permanent grassland will have huge benefits on the population of Guernsey Voles in Silbe, by creating a more favourable environment for this species. La Bouvée, Les Vicheries, and La Claire Mare had good populations of small mammals, suggesting the habitat management work carried out by La Société Guernesiaise is effective, and the society is encouraged to continue with current efforts. References Amori, G., Hutterer, R., Krystufek, B., Yigit, N., Mitsain, G. and Palomo, L.J. (2008) Microtus arvalis, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species [online]. Available at (Accessed: 22/02/2015). Aschwanden, J., Holzgang, O. and Jenni, L. (2007) Importance of ecological compensation areas for small mammals in intensively farmed areas, Wildlife Biology, 13(2): Berry, R.J. (1996) Small mammal differentiation on islands, Philosophical Transactions; Biological Sciences, 351(1341): Berry, R.J. and Rose, F.E.N. (2009) Islands and the evolution of Microtus arvalis (Microtinae), Journal of Zoology, 177(3): Bishop, I.R. and Delany, M.J. (1963) The ecological distribution of small mammals in the Channel Islands, Mammalia, 27: Brändli, L., Handley, L.J.L., Vogel, P. and Perrin, N. (2005) Evolutionary history of the greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula) inferred from analysis of mtdna, Y, and X chromosome markers, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 37:

107 2015 SMALL MAMMALS 891 Briner, T., Nentwig, W. and Airoldi, J-P. (2005) Habitat quality of wildflower strips for common voles (Microtus arvalis) and its relevance for agriculture, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 105(1 2): Churchfield, S. (1990) The natural history of shrews, Christopher Helm, A&C Black, London. Daan, S. and Slopsema, S. (1978) Short-term rhythms in foraging behaviour of the common vole Microtus arvalis, Journal of Comparative Physiology, 127: Delany, M.J. and Healy, M.J.R. (1966) Variation in the long-tailed field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus (L.)) in the Channel Islands, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 166(1005): Delattre, P., Giradoux, P., Baudry, J., Quéré, J.P. and Kichet, E. (1996) Effect of landscape structure on common vole (Microtus arvalis) distribution and abundance at several space scales, Landscape Ecology, 111(5): Doyle, A.T. (1990) Use of Riparian and Upland Habitats by Small Mammals, Journal of Mammalogy, 71(1): Duarte, L.C., Bouteiller, C., Fontanillas, I.P., Petit, E. and Perrin, N. (2003) Inbreeding in Greater White-Toothed shrew, Crocidura russula, Evolution: International Journal of Organic Evolution, 57(3): Eason, C.T., Murphy, E.C., Wright, G.R.G. and Spurr, E.B. (2002) Assessment of risks of brodifacoum to non-target birds and mammals in New Zealand, Ecotoxicology, 11: Fedriani, J.M. (2005) Do frugivorous mice choose where or what to feed? Journal of Mammology, 86: Geduhn, A., Esther, A., Detlef, S., Mattes, H. and Jacob, J. (2014) Spatial and temporal exposure patterns in non-target small mammals during brodifacoum rat control, Science of the Total Environment, 496(15): Jacquiéry, J., Guélat, J., Broquet, T., Berset-Brändli, L., Pellegrini, E., Moresi, R., Hirzel, A.H. and Perrin, N. (2008) Habitat-quality effecs on meta-population dynamics in greater white-toothed shrews, Crocidura russula, Ecology, 89: Léon, V.A., Fraschina, J. and Busch, M. (2010) Population subdivision of house mice (Mus musculus) in an agrarian landscape: consequences for control, Canadian Journal of Zoology, 88:

108 892 SMALL MAMMALS 2015 Miller, G.S. (1909) Twelve new European voles, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 8(3): Nagendra, H. (2002) Opposite trends in response for Shannon and Simpson indices of landscape diversity, Applied Geography, 22: Naiman, R.J. and Decamps, H. (1997) The Ecology of Intefaces: Riparian Zones, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 28: Pococh, M.J.L., Hauffe, H. and Searle, J.B. (2005) Dispersal in house mice, Biological Journal of Linnean Society, 84(3): Pollard, E. and Relton, J. (1970) A study of small mammals in hedges and cultivated fields, Journal of Applied Ecology, 7(3): Riley, J. (2012) Small mammal survey at Sunnybank Nature Reserve, Sheffield. UK: The Wildlife Trusts. Sutherland, W.J. (1996) Ecological Census Techniques: A Handbook (eds). Cambridge University Press. Torre, I., Díaz, M. and Arrizabalaga, A. (2014) Additive effects on climate and vegetation structure on the altitudinal distribution of greater white-toothed shrews, Crocidura russula, in a Mediterranean mountain range, Acta Theologica, 59(1): Zhang, M., Wang, Y. and Li, B. (2003) Changes in community composition and population dynamics of commensal rodents in farmhouses in the Dongting Lake region of China. In: Rats, mice and people: rodent biology and management. Edited by G.R. Singleton, L.A. Hinds, C.J. Krebs and D.M. Spratt. Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

109 2015 SMALL MAMMALS 893 Appendix 1 Detailed results of the Chi SquareTest: Field Mouse: X-squared = , df = 3, p-value < 0.001) i.e. it is not evenly distributed between the sampled sites Guernsey Vole: (X-squared = , df = 3, p-value < ) i.e. it is not evenly distributed between the sampled sites White-toothed Shrews:= X-squared = , df = 3, p-value < ) i.e. it is not evenly distributed between the sampled sites Day/night differences: Guernsey Vole: (X-squared = , df = 1, p-value < 0.05) i.e. more commonly caught during the day Field Mouse: (X-squared = , df = 1, p-value < ) i.e. more commonly caught at night Appendix 2 Captures per 100 Trap Rounds is calculated as follows: Index of abundance = captures x 100 / (CTN), where CTN (corrected trap rounds) is calculated as: trap rounds (0.5 x (capture + sprung, empty traps)) (Riley, 2012). The average capture rate of the survey was 49%, and capture rates for each site are reported in Table 3.

110 Rousse Tower Periphery: The 2015 re-evaluation of the 1993 excavation, including a review of all finds DONOVAN HAWLEY AND LAURIE WAITE Clifton Antiquarian Club 2016 CLIFTON ANTIQUARIAN CLUB was founded in 1884 and has a membership across southern England consisting of working archaeologists, PhD students, retired people and those who hold a keen interest in archaeology. The society organises excavations, lectures and a range of trips, both at home and abroad. A proceedings is published periodically. Consult for further details. Introduction On Rousse Headland, north-west Guernsey, a late 18th century pre-martello defensive round tower stands at the coast edge. In June 2015, the ditch and bank which surrounds the tower were the subject of an archaeological investigation (RT15) to re-evaluate part of a previous excavation carried out in 1993 from which Late Neolithic/ Early Bronze Age pottery and worked flint had been recovered. A possible stone feature mentioned in the 1993 field diary was another consideration. However, records of the original trench that was dug across the ditch and into the outer bank to examine the phases of the outer tower earthworks and any underlying earlier activity were lost, and only a few photographs remained together with a field diary. Our remit was for the 1993 trench to be relocated and recorded. At the same time an extended area was to be explored and the putative circular stone setting fully appraised. Site Location and Geology Rousse Tower is situated at the northern extremity of a small headland on the west coast of Guernsey, in the parish of Vale (Figure 1: see colour plate). The underlying geology of the headland forms part of the Northern Igneous Complex composed of Bordeaux Diorite groups comprising alternating bands of diorite and coarse grained granodiorite of Chouet type running in a northwest-southeast alignment (BGS Map Guernsey). Exposed areas of Marine Isotope Stage 5e (MIS-5e) raised beach from the last interglacial maximum, kya (thousand years ago) (Rohling et al. 2008), are visible on the north facing Rousse Headland beach continuing up to the current sea wall at around five metres above ordnance datum (AOD). Pockets of loess deposits from the last glacial maximum (LGM) are also visible amongst the rocky outcrops on the beach. Both of these elements were found to continue up into the RT15 excavation area where they are overlain by a dark prehistoric soil layer and wind-blown sand, these contexts will be discussed further in the Holocene environment section.

111 1. The Rousse Tower excavation location. (Guernsey, SMR, D. Hawley & L. Waite) ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY

112 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2. Four views of the 1993 trench across the bank and ditch. The lower two show part of the stone setting. (Guernsey SMR)

113 3. View of the 2015 excavation taken from the tower (D.Hawley & L. Waite) ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY

114 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 4. RT15 trench detail showing the final phase of the excavated areas. The base of the 1993 trench with the in-situ boulders is visible at the top with Sondage West (lower left) and Sondage East (lower right) at the lower (south) part of the excavation. (D. Hawley & L. Waite)

115 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY Rousse Tower (RT93) Excavation In April 1993, Guernsey Museum conducted an archaeological excavation as part of the Fortress Guernsey initiative. The aim of this project was to better display the historical inventory of various defensive structures throughout the island, in a bid to boost tourism by making them more accessible. The Rousse Tower with its integral battery and separate magazine merited special attention for investigation and restoration. The five gun platforms were re-discovered at this time, having been covered over by a thick turf layer, rich in late 19th and early 20th century domestic rubbish. The outer brick lining that linked the gun embrasures had long since been removed. A planned separate element of this work, conducted by the Guernsey Museum s archaeologist, Bob Burns, was for a 1.5m wide slot trench to be dug from the outer edge of the berm surrounding the gun platform, out across the ditch and culminating about two metres short of where the new (post 1993) crest of the outer bank is, some 10 m in trench length (Figure 2). As this was an associated feature, Burns wanted to examine the original profile and form of the ditch. The team were rewarded with finds of Bronze Age pottery and worked flint, also polished stone axe fragments in a sealed prehistoric land surface; the lowest point of the ditch had cut through this earlier evidence of human occupation. Three boulders some 1.5 m down in the eastern half of the trench were thought to be part of a possible circular stone setting (Burns 1993). The excavation concluded at this juncture and the array of finds, a handful of photographs, two section drawings and a field notebook were archived in Guernsey Museum. A brief report on the Rousse Tower (RT93) excavation appeared in the 1993 Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise: An excavation took place in the early part of the year at Rousse Tower led by Bob Burns and the Guernsey Museum Group. This late 18th century coastal defence is situated on Guernsey s north-west coast. The work was part of Fortress Guernsey s project undertaken by the States of Guernsey, to upgrade the island s many fortified sites from the Neolithic period to the Second World War, as tourist attractions. During the excavation the turf rampart and the surrounding ditch were sectioned and five gun platforms were revealed, made from imported [Purbeck] stone. The tower and the associated battery have been refurbished as part of the project and ultimately it is hoped to site three 24-pound cannon on iron carriages on the gun emplacements. The archaeology of the site was particularly interesting however, as towards the end of the excavation a large stone circular setting was located set into a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age horizon. The finds associated with this layer included large fragments of polished axes, worked flints and decorated pottery. It was only possible to examine a small area of the site but there was enough evidence uncovered to suggest it was of great importance. As with other sites nearby on L Ancresse Common there was approximately a metre and a half of wind-blown sand covering the archaeological layers. (Sebire 1993, ).

116 896 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY Excavation In June 2015, a ten-day excavation was conducted by members of the Clifton Antiquarian Club under the direction of Donovan Hawley and Laurie Waite, and site supervisor Kit Hughes of Guernsey States Museum. The project design focused on locating the original 1993 trench, re-excavating it and recording all the evidence. It was outside the remit of this project to excavate from the ditch westwards into the berm that surrounded and supported the tower, so only the last five metres from the ditch eastwards, was possible. However, there was clearly an opportunity to further explore the putative circular stone feature and look for more evidence of past human occupation in the area. It was therefore decided to extend the excavation to a 4 m x 5 m trench that would include the 1993 one within it. Accordingly, the vital first task was to find the old trench with the help of one photograph that contained in the background a view across the bay (Figure 2: see colour plate). There was also an inexact pencil sketch in the 1993 field notebook. All digging for the excavation was carried out by hand and fortunately, the 1993 trench was rediscovered with only a 0.5 m error. After de-turfing, the first discovery was that the outer bank had been re-modelled since 1993 and raised by some 300 mm but once through this level the subsequent stratigraphy matched up very well when compared with a section photograph from the 1993 excavation. The small error in pinpointing the 1993 trench was corrected by increasing the new trench to 5 m x 5 m, thereby allowing an investigation to extend north, east and south of the old trench if necessary. A clear stratigraphy of soils was displayed in the east section edge as the excavation progressed to a depth of around one metre, which revealed a sequence of ten distinct contexts (Appendix 1: Figure 7). An explanation of these follows in a section on Holocene environment later. The first five layers represented various phases of post medieval earthworks: post 1993 re-modelling of the bank, the 1993 ground surface and a lower level which was perhaps contemporary with the tower construction. Below this were two layers of wind-blown sand contexts (006 & 007), in total almost one metre thick, and archaeologically sterile. A clear change was marked by context 008, a grey/black sandy palaeosol, in which some small pieces of charcoal were found. Three samples (S01, 2 & 3) were removed for radiocarbon dating. Beneath this saw a transition to a very dark brown sand and grit level (013) from where one charcoal sample was obtained, followed by a mid dark brown, clay-like soil (014) which provided two charcoal samples. Context 015 was a hard, orangey brown, gritty layer of degraded granite immediately above the bedrock (019). A further context (018), of a fine orange-yellow loess combined with head material and beach rolled pebbles occurred in patches overlying the bedrock. A 0.5 m wide baulk was left on the eastern edge of the excavation at 1 m depth downwards, as the high sand content in the end section was at risk from slumping (Figure 4: see colour plate). Two small extensions were opened from 011, an East Extension to examine the area around the base of Stone 1 and a North Extension to follow more of a boulder found in section (Appendix 1: Figure 5).

117 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 897 Early in the excavation, two cut lines in the form of shallow scoops (contexts 009 & 010) were found 1.5 m from the west edge of Sondage 1 West, cutting into 008, in a contiguous line separated by around 0.7 m. As it was now known that the outer bank had been raised post 1993 and with 009 completely within Sondage 1 West measuring 1.2 m, an interpretation was that a mechanical digger had been involved in remodelling the ditch and bank, therefore the cut line could represent the width of a digger bucket. At about the same time it was realised that one of the three stones, described as a possible circular stone setting by Burns in his 1993 field diary, was missing and had been removed from 011. A re-examination of one of the 1993 photographs established that it had indeed been taken out of the trench during the excavation yet it was not mentioned in their field diary. The missing stone had left no visible socket and its former location was underlain by loess deposits, therefore it is likely that it had come to rest here after the last glacial maximum as a result of solifluction from the adjacent outcrop where the tower now stands. A white patina visible in the original excavation photos on the crown of this stone suggests that it had lain partially exposed above the palaeosol before the ingress of wind-blown sand. A large stone in Sondage 1 West was examined for a potential link to the possible stone setting in 011 and the question of whether they could have been positioned by human agency. It was clear that with all the large stones scrutinised for their placement, there was no evidence of a socket being cut and nor were there any signs of packing stones being used; the stones all appeared to be naturally strewn and lying on the bedrock. RT93 & RT15 Finds The site proved to be rich in finds of prehistoric date with 338 pieces of flint, 810 fragments of pottery, fragments of dolerite axes and several stone artefacts. These finds are reviewed separately for both excavations in the following sections. The majority of the pottery finds from RT93 derive from context S L2, understood from the 1993 excavation diary to be the western extremity of the trench that cuts into the tower mound. This context is anomalous as L9 is stated as being the prehistoric layer in the excavation diary (Burns 1993). Redeposited Bronze Age pottery was reported as being found in the turf rampart around the gun platform however, therefore it is probable that the Bronze Age pottery is not in the original context as the tower mound is likely to have been extensively reworked to accommodate the gun platforms. In contrast to the pottery the RT93 lithics originate for the most part from context L9 at both the eastern and western extremities of the trench. The RT15 prehistoric lithic and pottery assemblages derive exclusively from contexts 013 & 014 with the majority from 014 (Appendix 1: Figure 7). The Sondage trench, context 013 (before the trench was divided into west and east to excavate context 014) contained 47 pieces of flint and two fragments of pottery. The most prolific area for finds was context 014 of the Sondage West trench with 164 artefacts recovered, comprising 144 pieces of flint and 20 fragments of pottery, or just over 40 finds per m 2. Although the pottery appeared to be randomly scattered in the excavated area much of the flint was found in close proximity to the partially buried boulder in the centre of

118 898 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 the Sondage West trench suggesting that flint knapping may have taken place in this location. In contrast, the Sondage East trench contained 52 pieces of flint and one piece of pottery, approximately 25 finds per m2. The remainder of the excavated area contained few finds although nine pieces of flint and two of pottery were found in the East Extension, context 013. RT93 & RT15 Pottery Overview The prehistoric pottery assemblage from 1993 and 2015 Rousse Tower excavations comprises largely of fragmented, orange-brown, coarse fabrics ranging in size from 1cm 2 to approximately 20cm 2. Diagnostic pieces include 13 rim and four base fragments, eight decorated fragments, one pierced piece, one carinated and a sherd with a portion of cordon (Appendix 2: Figures 8 & 9). Fifteen of the sherds are burnished with a brown slip, all excepting one on the exterior face. It was not found possible to refit any of the fragments. The coarse sherds range from around 7 mm to 22 mm in thickness, many with a friable, biscuity and unevenly-fired fabric containing a large quantity of sub-rounded quartz or feldspar inclusions, some as large 6 mm across. Petrology carried out on a selection of prehistoric pottery from around the island by Bukach suggests that temper was not deliberately added but was a natural component of the clays used, which were typically sourced close to the point of use (Bukach 2002, ). The presence of quartz and feldspar in the Rousse Tower pottery fabrics certainly matches the underlying diorite and granodiorite geology of the area and suggests the clay for the pots may have been sourced in the immediate vicinity. The firing of the thicker-walled vessels appears to have taken place in oxidizing conditions, i.e. open firing resulting in the orange/brown surface colour (Gibson & Woods 1997, 216). Some of the sherds have a darker inner surface indicating vessels fired upside down. In contrast, the finer fragments tend to have a homogenous darker colour overall, notably the fragments of Jersey Bowl which suggests a more controlled firing in a partially reducing atmosphere. RT93 Pottery Detail A total of 312 prehistoric sherds of pottery were recovered from the RT93 excavation. Of these, six are decorated sherds which are of a notably different character from the coarse material, having a much finer wall thickness (< 6 mm) and being darker brown in colour as a result of the firing conditions discussed above. Four of the sherds (Appendix 1: Figure 8; 3, 4, 5, 8 & 9) are identifiable as the Beaker derivatives known as Jersey Bowl (Hawkes 1937, 76; Patton 1995, 66; Salanova 2001, 67). These vessels are typically carinated, with rows of uneven horizontal striations above the shoulder and generally topped by one or two rows of impressed dots or oval impressions. Note that despite the fine wall thickness, the inclusions are in some cases still relatively large suggesting the people frequenting this site were exploiting the same clay source as for the coarse sherds. As far as it possible to judge from such small fragments, the vessels have a diameter of cm, within the typical range for Jersey bowls (Salanova 2001, 269). A further

119 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 899 fragment (8) has a similar horizontal decoration pattern and two rows of impressions but belongs to a much larger vessel some 20 cm in diameter. The fabric also differs by being orange in colour but is considered to belong to the same Jersey Bowl pot group (Hawkes 1937, 77). The pierced fragment of pot (7) is similar to perforated pottery found in Late Neolithic contexts in Brittany (Polles 1985) although two pierced fragments found at the Royal Hotel site are classified in the report as Early Neolithic (Sebire et al. 2012, 190). A rim fragment (4) with a horizontal row of dotted impressions may belong to the Jersey Bowl family although differs in having an orange/brown fabric. The undecorated rim fragments are biased towards the coarser fabrics having wall thickness of > 8 mm (Appendix 2: Figure 9). There are two everted examples with the remainder are rounded rims representing a variety of vessels. One base fragment is present (1) representing a pot of 12 cm diameter. A fragment of cordon is also present on a coarse tempered sherd (2). RT15 Pottery Detail Twenty-six sherds of pottery were found during the RT15 excavation, all excepting two from context 014. The assemblage includes two decorated sherds, one of which is very abraded but has traces of parallel grooves and may be from a Jersey Bowl vessel (Appendix 1: Figure 8; 2). The second decorated piece is unusual in design with a curved arrangement of fingernail impressions (1). This does not appear to resemble any other piece found on Guernsey, the other Channel Islands or the adjacent French mainland. Fingernail impressions are typically Early Neolithic (Pioffet pers. comm.) but as the contexts appears to be securely Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age in date it seems unlikely that the piece dates to an earlier period and it should be considered for the time being as a unique example. The undecorated fragments are coarser fabrics having wall thickness of > 8 mm and large inclusions. There is one base fragment present (Appendix 1: Figure 9; 3) representing a pot of approximately 15 cm diameter at the base. RT93 & RT15 Lithics Overview The flint assemblage from both the 1993 and 2015 excavations comprises 810 pieces of predominantly olive grey flint with a total weight of 4.9 kg. The rolled and pitted appearance of the remaining cortex on the pieces suggests that people at the site were utilising what would have been a ready and nearby source of flint beach pebbles. The original source of this flint is uncertain, cretaceous chalk deposits exist under the sea some 15 km off the north-west coast of Guernsey. However, Keen postulates that the flint is equally likely to have derived from Quaternary fluvial gravels that lie underwater to the north of the island (Keen 1975, 1). There is no evidence of any imported material from either of the Rousse Tower excavations apart from two post-medieval gunflints, one of which is likely to be Brandon flint from the UK (De Lotbiniére 1984).

120 900 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 RT93 Lithics Detail A total of 132 pieces categorised as flakes and blades were recovered, representing 26 per cent of the total assemblage. Of these, 39 per cent are primary flakes (> 50 per cent cortex on dorsal face), including 15 starter flakes with 100 per cent cortex covering the dorsal face, this is a comparatively elevated quantity of primary material suggesting core reduction from beach pebbles taking place in the location. Of the remainder, 45 per cent are secondary and 15 per cent cortex free tertiary. The length/width ratios of the worked pieces are biased towards flakes and squat flakes (63 per cent) with no blades and only one bladelet present. Six retouched pieces were recovered comprising two scrapers, two utilised pieces a transverse arrowhead and a splintered piece (piece esquillée). The arrowhead (Appendix 2: Figure 10 ; 6) is manufactured from a mesial flake fragment abruptly retouched on either side; typologically it is dateable to the Mid to Late Neolithic but derives from the upper layers of the bank (turf stack) so is probably residual. The percentage of retouched pieces (1%) in the 1993 assemblage is significantly lower than other investigated sites on the island apart from the coastal site of Albecq and Crève Coeur (Hawley in prep). This lack of tools may be suggestive of the purpose of the site which was the collection of flint pebbles and preparation of cores before taking the material to sites elsewhere on the island. Twenty-two cores were found, amounting to four per cent of the assemblage (Appendix 2: Figure 11). Core types comprise single platform, multi-platform (2 & 3) and chopper cores. Multi-platform are the most frequent at 45 per cent of the category. There is an absence of any core preparation or trimming elements which suggests an expedient Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age flint working industry. A partial refit of one of the cores was possible; it is globular in shape and appears to have been abandoned at an early stage after just four flake removals. This does suggest that context S L2 where it was found has remained relatively undisturbed since the prehistoric era. Fragments of a polished stone axe were also found during the excavation. The example on display in the Candie Gardens museum appears to be made from dolerite and was possibly brought to Guernsey from the axe factory at Le Pinacle, Jersey. RT15 Lithics Detail A total of 84 flakes were recovered, representing 27 per cent of the total RT15 assemblage. Of these, 35 per cent are primary flakes (> 50 per cent cortex on dorsal face), including three starter flakes with 100 per cent cortex covering the dorsal face, this is a moderate quantity of primary material suggesting core reduction from beach pebbles taking place in the location. Of the remainder, 48 per cent are secondary and 18 per cent cortex free tertiary. The length/width ratios of the worked pieces are largely biased towards flakes and squat flakes (79 per cent) with no blades and only one bladelet present. The assemblage includes six retouched pieces comprising three scrapers, one notched piece, one retouched and a splintered piece (piece esquillée). Similar to the RT93 assemblage, the percentage of retouched pieces in the RT15 assemblage is significantly lower than most other investigated sites on the island. Two

121 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 901 of the scrapers are very similar in form, retouched around to the left hand side, the third is a smaller thumbnail scraper, also retouched around to the left hand side (Appendix 2: Figure 10; 5). None of the scrapers seems to have been used heavily before discard. The notched piece has been worked from a flake and displays some use-wear. The retouched piece is of triangular section and has been worked along one edge, presumably to provide an improved cutting edge (Appendix 2, Figure 10; 3). Sixteen cores were recovered. Core types comprise single platform (Figure 11), multi-platform and chopper cores. As opposed to the 1993 assemblage, single-platform are the most frequent at 45 per cent of the category. Several pieces of non-flint material were found including a broken tip fragment of a polished dolerite axe (Appendix 2: Figure 12; 1); this is not from the same axe as the example from the 1993 excavation as the material is slightly different. The source of the dolerite is uncertain and although it could have come from Jersey, there are outcrops on Guernsey (Renouf 2015 pers comm.). Additional items include a pebble that has been smoothed on one side and is abraded on one end from use as both a rubber and hammerstone (Appendix 2: Figure 12). A large flattened pebble with a smooth, slightly polished surface may be a quernstone. RT93 & RT15 Finds Analysis In a local context the Jersey Bowl fragments recovered at Rousse Tower have strong similarities with those found at The Royal Hotel (Sebire et al. 2011), L Erée, (Cooper pers. comm.) La Hougue Catelain (Hill 1990) and Jerbourg (Burns 1988). Jersey Bowl was first acknowledged by Hawkes (1937, 78) and was at first thought to be specific to Jersey. However, finds of this type of vessel are also common on Guernsey, if not more so than Jersey with the largest single group of the Channel Islands thus far found at La Hougue Catelain (Hill, 1990, 827; Salanova 2001, 67). Although similar in form to Beaker vessels and from the same chronological period, Jersey Bowls are specific to Jersey, Guernsey and Herm and appear to represent a strictly insular development of the Beaker form. Intriguingly, whereas Beaker vessels are largely associated with funerary monuments on the Channel Islands, Jersey Bowls appear equally both in burial and non burial contexts (Hawkes 1937, 76). The most recent dating evidence for the Beaker period based on Bayesian analysis of a range of 14 C results gives a range of 2570 BC 2050 BC for central and northwestern Europe (Manning et al. 2014), although typically this period is extended to c BC for the Normandy region. Chronologically therefore, and assuming parallel development of Jersey Bowl and Beaker, the pottery belongs to the cusp of the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, similar to other Guernsey sites such as La Hougue Catelain, Jerbourg and L Erée, as well as much of the pottery assemblage from the Royal Hotel. This is of relevance, as a mid third-millennium dating would put the Rousse Tower pottery assemblage in the same time period as the construction and use of the nearby double cist (RH14/A) recently excavated by the Clifton Antiquarian Club. The coarse undecorated wares in the assemblage are more difficult to date and

122 902 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 arguably represent a longer, more conservative tradition of pottery manufacture on the island. Burns (1988, 7) groups this style of pottery together with Jersey Bowls to the Bronze Age; Salanova (2001) however, is more specific dating fabrics of this type to the Chalcolithic, essentially the Early Bronze Age, and the presence of a coarse sherd with a cordon would confirm this (Cooper pers. comm). The character of the Rousse Tower lithic assemblage is different to most other major Guernsey sites analysed as it contains a high proportion of fully cortical starter flakes that indicate the primary stages of knapping, large amounts of debris and a very low number of retouched pieces that could be interpreted as tools. However, there are striking resemblances with the Albecq site (AL94), which shares a similar coastal location to Rousse, a site overlooking the sea and close to a ready supply of flint beach pebbles. Based on the character of the lithic assemblage it seems reasonable to argue that people were exploiting the ready supply of beach pebble flint and preparing cores before transporting the partially worked material to settlements elsewhere on the island. The paucity of chronologically diagnostic tools in the assemblage makes dating rather difficult. Nevertheless, the lack of a blade industry indicates a post Mid Neolithic to Early Bronze Age date for the bulk of the lithic material, beyond this it is not possible to be more specific. Similarly, the lack of burnt flint (from hearths) would argue for Rousse Tower being a short-term site rather than one of any long-term residence. The stone artefacts on the other hand hint at longer term activities than flint knapping with a possible quernstone and several smoothed pebbles. The dolerite axe fragments found in both the 1993 and 2015 excavations raise interesting questions; were they broken during use in the immediate vicinity, or is there a possibility that they were deliberately broken? There is no tradition of broken axes being found in funerary contexts on the island, in contrast to Brittany where they are found in passage graves (Scarre 2011) so accidental breakage must not necessarily be assumed. Chronologically, stone axes were produced throughout the Neolithic and into the Early Bronze Age (Patton 1991, 38) and therefore cannot be tightly dated but can be fitted into the same period as the pottery and lithics. Radiocarbon Dating Results Six samples were collected for 14 C dating three from the dark sand layer, context 008, one from 013 and a further two from context 014 which contained the majority of the finds. Unfortunately, on testing two samples from 014, they were both found to be fragments of dark pottery; two further samples, from contexts 008 and 013 were successfully tested however. The dates obtained were revealing, more for the environmental sequence than for the archaeology. The 013 sample gave a date of Cal BC 400 to 360 at 95% probability (Beta ). This is a surprisingly late date considering that there was some associated flint and pottery in the layer and was thus assumed to be a Late Neolithic/ Early Bronze Age layer. The sample from context 008, the layer sealing the archaeological layers gave a date of Cal AD 985 to 1040 (Cal BP 965 to 910) and Cal AD 1110 to 1115 (Cal BP 840 to

123 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY ) at 95% probability (Beta ). The double date range is the result of a wiggle in the Intcal calibration curve at this point. This date therefore provides a terminus ante quem for the sand blow event. The 14 C dates also beg the question of the chronological associations between contexts 008 and 013, and between 013 and 014 (which the finds suggest dates to c BC) as there were no visible intermediate layers despite the large relative time gap between them. The reasons for this are likely to be a result of environmental factors which are discussed further in the Holocene Environment section. Soil Sample Results A soil sample was taken spanning contexts 007, 008 & 013 and was analysed by R Scaife from the University of Southampton. Pollen preservation was very poor as a result of the acidic soil and 90% were Lactucoideae (dandelion types) which are the last pollen to remain in poor preserving conditions. There are small numbers of grass and also Ribwort plantain all suggesting grassland. However, there were also a couple of probable cereal pollen grains lower in the profile. Although rather inconclusive as a result of the poor preservation the analysis does indicate that Rousse Headland was cleared and open grassland by the Iron Age and cereal crops may have been grown nearby. HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENT Pleistocene Deposits During the last glacial maximum (LGM) some 20,000 years ago, northwest France and the Channel Islands were located in a region of periglacial tundra; it was in this period that the area was covered in fine silt-grade aeolian deposits known as loess (Antoine et al. 2003, 309). On Guernsey, loess deposits reach up to five metres in depth in the southeast of the island, and decrease in thickness northwards and westwards (Campbell 2000, 10). At the RT15 site only thin patches (< 15 cm) of loess were visible together with angular rocks which are likely to be head deposits from the LGM. Rounded pebbles were also combined into this deposit suggesting that the upper limit of the MIS-5e beach reached up to this area which is eight metres above MSL (Guernsey datum). Holocene Deposits Overlying the Pleistocene deposits described above is context 014 (Appendix 1: Figure 7). This appears to be a palaeosol associated with the development of vegetation as the Arctic-alpine conditions with a predominantly treeless landscape during the Younger Dryas gave way to a wooded environment dominated by birch, pine and oak during Preboreal, with later, an increase deciduous woodland during the Boreal period (Ghesquière 2011, 17 & Jones 2004, 51). Campbell s programme of environmental research on various sites on Guernsey demonstrates evidence of woodland clearance by burning and animal grazing around the Early Neolithic (Campbell 2000, 306). No

124 904 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 finds from this earlier period were found during the 1993 and 2015 excavations however. The predominance of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age artefacts including Jersey Bowl pottery in context 014 would imply that despite the lack of a 14 C date context 014 can be reasonably confidently dated to c BC. The presence of some flint and pottery artefacts in context 013 in association with a 14 C date of 400 to 360 BC could either suggest an Iron Age use of flint or post depositional disturbance in the area causing the mixing of the artefacts and charcoal. Either scenario is equally possible and Iron Age use of flint on the island has already been proposed at the Tranquesous site by Burns (1977). Post depositional events could also have caused the mixing; however, the chronological gap of 2,000 years between contexts 014 and 013, and the 1400 years between 013 and 008 is difficult to explain other than by substantial cycles of soil erosion which could also have led to mixing of layers. In contrast to soil erosion, the wind-blown sand event evident in contexts 007 and 006 appears to have taken place in two rapidly occurring and concurrent phases with the 14 C dates implying that the deposition occurred after AD The earliest event is represented by context 007 that lies atop the dark soil layer 008 and contains some darker lenses of probable organic material inferring that the buildup of this layer was gradual enough to allow some vegetation growth. A subsequent phase of sand ingression is indicated by context 006, this layer is up to 1.5 m thick and was virtually devoid of any organic material suggesting a more rapid deposition; neither context contained any finds. A comparison for these wind-blown sand deposits can be found 1km to the east at the Vale Priory site (De Jersey 2009, 388) where a very similar deposit of up to 1.2 m was noted, again devoid of any finds, suggesting a relatively brief deposition period. Normandy gritty ware found at the Vale Priory site in contexts overlying the wind-blown layer implies that the sand ingress here occurred prior to the early 13th century. At the medieval Albecq settlement on the west coast a midfifteenth century date is given for abandonment following which it was sealed by a thick layer of wind-blown sand (De Jersey & Sebire 2011). On Herm it is argued that sand-blow continued into the 17th century (Scarre & French 2013, 11). It is clear that although there were major accumulations of sand before and during the 13th century, sporadic accumulation continued for a further four centuries and the duration of the event at Rousse Headland cannot be dated with any certainty. The origin of the windblown sand would have been the adjacent beach areas and it is likely that the sand now on the headland originally formed part of a barrier dune that lay further seawards in the prehistoric era (Renouf 2014 pers. comm.). The existence of this dune explains the presence of the double cist RT14/A and the stone setting R14/B on what is now the beach and reached by the high tide, as this area would have been protected from ingress by the sea (Hawley & Waite 2015). Conclusion The finds of significant amounts of flint, pottery and fragments of stone axes from both the 1993 and 2015 excavations at Rousse Tower provide evidence for human

125 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 905 activity in the immediate area. The pottery consists of flat-based coarse ware and some finer Jersey Bowl fragments, both implying a date centred on the cusp of the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. The finding of two fragments of separate dolerite axes could be seen as a structured deposition event, the presence of broken axes in Brittany passage graves is pertinent; however, there is no evidence found of any funerary structure at Rousse Tower and the putative stone setting has been proved to be a natural distribution of boulders. In the absence of any further evidence, the nature of human activity at the site is difficult to discern, yet there were certainly episodes of beach pebble flint acquisition from the local beaches that were worked in the vicinity and then perhaps transported as finished tools to elsewhere on the island. On the other hand, a possible quernstone, cereal grains and some smoothed pebbles hint at longer term tasks taking place on the site. The excavation also revealed the fascinating environmental record of the area with cycles of soil erosion and wind-blown sand events that have occurred since the last glacial maximum. The extent of the sand deposition in the immediate area suggests that much more archaeology may yet be discovered on the headland. The remains of three sites of archaeological interest have now been examined on Rousse Headland; two burial monuments of likely Neolithic/Bronze Age origin (Hawley & Waite 2015) and now an occupation site that is also dated to the Neolithic/ Bronze Age horizon. It is appropriate to consider their landscape setting, relationship to each other, together with any possible chronological and material links between them. Given the close proximity of the RT15 tower site to the two sites on the adjacent north facing beach (a double cist and a stone setting RT14A & B) it is possible that they are linked in some way. The RT14B stone setting is probably earlier by a millennium, although later people frequenting the area should have been aware of it. The double cist however, is more or less contemporary with the traces of human activity at the RT15 tower site. This close proximity of a funerary monument site and one that is arguably of a more domestic nature is pertinent on an island where the monumental record tends to overshadow other more ephemeral forms of evidence. All text, illustrations, tables and photographs Clifton Antiquarian Club, unless otherwise stated. Acknowledgements Clifton Antiquarian Club is grateful for Guernsey States archaeologist Kit Hughes for his guidance and expertise as site supervisor. Thanks go to the excavation team: Alison, Wendy, Ellie, Pam, Sheila, Janet, Martine, Gary and Dave. We are indebted to States of Guernsey Archaeologists, Philip de Jersey and Tanya Walls, for all their help and logistical support. Radiocarbon Dating was carried out by Beta Analytic Inc., Miami, USA.

126 906 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 References Antoine, P., Catt, J., Lautridou, J.-P. and Somme, J The loess and coversands of northern France and southern England. Journal of Quaternary Science, Bailff, I.K., French, C.A. & Scarre, C.J Application of luminescence dating and geomorphological analysis to the study of landscape evolution, settlement and climate change on the Channel Island of Herm, Journal of Archaeological Science, British Geological Survey. Guernsey, Channel Islands Sheet 1. 1:25,000. National Environment Research Council. Bukach, D A Petrological study of Prehistoric Pottery from, Guernsey Channel Islands. Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 25: Burns, R. B The Late Iron Age site at the Tranquesous, St Saviour s, Guernsey. Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 20, Burns, R.B Excavations at Jerbourg, Guernsey. Guernsey Museum Monograph No. 3 Guernsey: Guernsey museum. Burns, R.B Rousse Tower Excavation Diary. Unpublished Document. Campbell, J Holocene Paleoenvironments of Guernsey and Alderney, Channel Islands. University of Coventry: Unpublished PhD thesis. Cooper, A Pottery Specialist. Personnel communication on pottery assemblage by . De Jersey, P. & Sebire, H Excavation of a medieval settlement at Albecq, Unpublished Report. De Jersey, P Excavations at Vale Priory, Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 26: De Lotbiniere, S Gunflint Recognition. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration. 13: Ghesquière E Les Derniers Chasseurs Cueilleurs en Normandie. Cully: OREP.

127 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 907 Gibson, A, & Woods, A Prehistoric Pottery for the Archaeologist. (Second Edition) London: Leicester University Press. Hawkes, J The Archaeology of the Channel Islands Vol. II. Jersey: Société Jersiaise. Hawley, D. & Waite, L Lost and Found: Two Archaeological Investigations on Rousse Headland, Guernsey, Channel Islands. Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 27: Hawley, D PhD Thesis. Unpublished Document. Hill, M The Excavation on La Hougue Catelain, 1982 and Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 22: Jones, R.L., O Brien,C.E. and Cooper, G.R Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of theyounger Dryas in Jersey, UK, Channel Islands, based on plant and insect fossils. Proceedings of the Geologists Association 115, Keen, D.H The Distribution of Flint-working sites in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Lanchester Polytechnic Privately circulated paper. Kendrick, T.D. I928. The Archaeology of the Channel Islands. Vol. I: The Bailiwick of Guernsey. London: Methuen. Manning, K., Timpson, A., Colledge, S., Crema, E., Edinborough, K., Kerig, T. & Shennan, S The chronology of culture: a comparative assessment of European Neolithic dating approaches. Antiquity Patton, M Stone Axes of the Channel Islands: Neolithic exchange in an insular Context. Oxford Journal of Archaeology Patton, M Neolithic Communities of the Channel Islands. Oxford: BAR, 240. Pioffet, H Pottery Specialist. communication. Polles, R Les Vases à bord perforé du Néolithique Final Armoricain. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 82: Renouf, J Geologist. Personal Communication.

128 908 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 Rohling, E.J.; Grant, K.; Hemleben, C.; Siddall, M.; Hoogakker, B.A.A.; Bolshaw, M. & Kucera, M High Rates of Sea-Level Rise During the Last Interglacial Period. Nature Geoscience, Salanova. L La question du campaniforme en France et dans les îles anglonormandes. Paris : CTHS. Scarre, C Landscapes of Neolithic Brittany. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Scarre, C., & French, C The palaeogeography and Neolithic archaeology of Herm in the Channel Islands. Journal of Field Archaeology. 38 (1) Sebire, H Rousse Tower Excavation Summary. Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise Sebire, H.R., Excavation at the Royal Hotel Site. Report & Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise. 27: Appendix 1 Site Plans Figure 5. Plan of completed excavation (D Hawley & L Waite). Figure 6. Location of sections shown in Figure 12 (D Hawley & L Waite). Figure 7. RT15 sections (D Hawley & L Waite). Appendix 2 Artefacts Figure 8. Pottery sherds, decorated: 1 & 2, RT15; 3-9, RT93 (D Hawley). Figure 9. Pottery sherds, rims and bases: all RT93 except 3, RT15 (D Hawley). Figure 10. Retouched flints: 1, 2, 3& 5 RT15; 4, 6 & 8 RT93 (D Hawley). Figure 11. Cores: 1-4 RT15; 5-9, RT93 (D Hawley). Figure 12. Stone artefacts: 1-3, RT15; 4, RT93 (D Hawley).

129 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 909 Figure 5. Plan of completed excavation (D Hawley & L Waite)

130 910 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 Figure 6. Location of sections shown in Figure 12 (D Hawley & L Waite).

131 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 911 Figure 7. RT15 sections (D Hawley & L Waite).

132 912 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 Figure 8. Pottery sherds, decorated: 1 & 2, RT15; 3-9, RT93 (D Hawley).

133 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 913 Figure 9. Pottery sherds, rims and bases: all RT93 except 3, RT15 (D Hawley).

134 914 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 Figure 10. Retouched flints: 1, 2, 3& 5 RT15; 4, 6 & 8 RT93 (D Hawley).

135 2015 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 915 Figure 11. Cores: 1-4 RT15; 5-9, RT93 (D Hawley).

136 916 ROUSSE TOWER PERIPHERY 2015 Figure 12. Stone artefacts: 1-3, RT15; 4, RT93 (D Hawley).