The four corners of Jersey consist of hard rock the large bays on the
west and south coast are in the softer Brioverian shales which have eroded
and given Jersey its distinctive shape. The sea wall around the bay is being
undermined as in places it is built on a bed of peat which is exposed to
the Atlantic surf at low water. The bay area was a large forest 3,000 to
4,000 years ago; the peat bed was formed from this forest and contains animal
bone and Neolithic pottery, the peat was used as a fuel during 1944/45 when
fuel imports were impossible. The wall was built by forced labour, and is
therefore of low quality workmanship and requires constant attention to
maintain it effectiveness.
Behind the wall runs the five-mile
coastal road, which is backed by an area of sand dunes with the higher ground
to the east. There is an aquifer under the dunes; water extraction is carefully
monitored to prevent salinization. The aeolian sand is well sorted and rounded,
but samples varied according to location. Whilst the sand would provide good
building material it is not exploited, aggregate extraction is heavily taxed
on the island and large quantities are imported, this is one reason why houses
are expensive.
The dunes have had many uses during their history from occupation by Neolithic people, a P.O.W. camp during the Great War and recreational use in latter years. The ecology has been damaged by over use and native flora is actively encouraged, by removal of non-native species like the Holm Oak, and restriction of vehicle access.
If the dunes were inhabited by early man it is thought that they lived in the
valley below the airport, Iron Age pottery fragments and flint artefacts are
regularly found, mainly by the local rabbits. Several standing stones or menhirs
are found in the area all of which were excavated in the 1920's and at other
times since. The menhirs are of granite, which is not found in the bay area.
The ruins of a megalithic chamber known as "Ossuary" when excavated
in 1922 contained the skeletal remains of twenty different bodies. It is thought
that when Neolithic man began to settle he deposited the bones of his ancestors
in the east facing tomb rather than carrying them around with him.
The dunes display a varied flora, some
particular to Jersey like the Small Slipper Orchid among the ubiquitous Ranunculus
bulbosus. Stunted roses are prolific together with small brown fungi.
Moving on to the headland at L'Oeillere, with its panoramic vista over La Corbière Point, it is little wonder that early man decided to build a tomb here. When excavated in the 1920's this corbelled tomb or beehive hut called "La Sergenté" yielded only pottery without any bones. The passage grave, which dates between 4250 and 3250 bc, has a door that faces east possibly orientated to the sunrise.
Lawrie and Sylvia Bubb.