St. Peter Port (French: Saint-Pierre Port) is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958.

St. Peter Port is a small town (commonly referred to by locals as just "town") consisting mostly of steep narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes. It is known that a trading post/town existed here before Roman times with a pre-Christian name which has not survived.

The parish covers an area of 6.5 km. The postal code for addresses in the parish starts with GY1.

People from St. Peter Port were nicknamed "les Villais" (the townspeople) or "cllichards" in Guernésiais.

Geography

St. Peter Port is on the east coast of Guernsey overlooking Herm and tiny Jethou; a further channel separates Sark and surrounding islets such as Brecqhou; Normandy's long Cotentin Peninsula and, to the south-east, Jersey are visible in very clear conditions from some of the town's highest vantage points. The parish borders St. Sampson in the north, The Vale in the north-west, St. Andrew in the west and St. Martin in the south.

The name of the nearest channel is the Little Russel, in which sits the Bréhon Tower; that separating Sark is the Big Russel. Both in width are less than half of Guernsey's greatest length and dotted with coastal rocks and stacks quite near those islands, some of which are narrowly submerged.

Relief

The land in the north and by the harbour is low-lying but not marshy. In the south, the land gets higher (but not as high as St Martin's or the Forest). Grassy, gently terraced cliffs behind sea walls (including projections) topped by trees characterise the southern part of the coast here (by an underground military museum and historic battery at semi-wooded Havelet). In the north is the more built-up Admiral Park development. To the south of the town lies Havelet Bay and the coastal path which leads to the very pretty Fermain Bay after a walk of about 20–25 minutes.

Climate

St. Peter Port has an oceanic climate (Cfb) with mild summers and cool winters.

Subdivisions

Saint Peter Port is subdivided into four cantons:

1. Canton 1 or North Canton
2. Canton 2 or Canton of the North-West
3. Canton 3 or Canton of the South-West
4. Canton 4 or Canton of the South

In addition, the islands of Herm and Jethou belong to the parish, but are not part of any canton. They belong to Electoral district Saint Peter Port South.

Sport and leisure

St. Peter Port has an English Isthmian League club, Guernsey F.C. who play at Footes Lane. The Guernsey Rugby Football Club also play at Footes Lane and compete in National League 3 London & SE.

Media

St. Peter Port is covered by the local television news programmes: BBC Channel Islands News and ITV News Channel TV. Guernsey's two main radio stations: BBC Radio Guernsey and Island FM are based in the town. The local newspaper is the Guernsey Press.

Parks and gardens

Candie Gardens, an award-winning restored Victorian Garden, features statues of Victor Hugo and Queen Victoria. The Guernsey Museum at Candie and the Priaulx Library are both situated within the grounds of the garden respectively.

Cambridge Park is a recreational park that includes Winston Churchill Avenue, ‘a leafy tree-lined pedestrian avenue’, named after Winston Churchill, and a skate park. In 2014, the parish was a Gold & Category Winner in the RHS Britain in Bloom competition, followed in 2016 with another Gold medal.

Features

Main roads

The following main roads (listed from north-south) provide important links between St Peter Port and the other parishes:

• Les Banques (leads up the coast to St Sampson's and the north of the island)
• Rohais (leads to the parish of Castel)
• Mount Row (leads to St Andrew's and the west of the island)
• Ruette Brayes (leads to St Martin's and the south of the island)
• Fort Road (leads to St Martin's)

The following coastal roads (listed from north to south) are also very important as they provide access to the shops, carparks and the harbour:

• St George's Esplanade
• North Esplanade
• South Esplanade

Politics

Saint Peter Port comprises two administrative division, St Peter Port South and St Peter Port North.

In the 2016 Guernsey general election in:

• St Peter Port South there was a 2,068 or 63% turnout to elect five Deputies
• St Peter Port North there was a 2,639 or 65% turnout to elect six Deputies.

Notable people

• Margaret Ann Neve – Supercentenarian and the oldest woman in the world until her death in 1903
• Sir Isaac Brock – Major General, "Hero of Upper Canada", War of 1812
• Matt Le Tissier, footballer
• Linda Martel, (1956-1961) healer
• Alison Merrien MBE, World indoors bowls champion
• George Métivier, poet
• Heather Watson, tennis player, Team GB athlete and Wimbledon Champion
• Victor Hugo, French writer, In exile in St-Peter Port from 1855 to 1870.
• Cameron Chalmers, athlete

Numismatic History

Guernsey bank notes feature a number of parish buildings:

See also

• Maritime history of the Channel Islands