User Reviews
St Aubin's Fort was developed on a rocky islet off the coast at the western end of St Aubin's Bay. It was finished in the 1540s. At that time St Aubin was the primary port on Jersey and the fort controlled the entrance. In the 17th century the Civil War the Parliamentarians turned it into a stronger fortress, by building a bulwark on it, and when the Royalists regained possession they replaced this with granite ramparts and added a storey to the tower. In the 18th century, and again in the 19th, the fort was rebuilt twice, but in peaceful Victorian times it was let as a summer residence. In the Second World War the Germans strengthened the fort with turret guns and concrete casemates.
A causeway extends from the road in front of the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club to the fort, and one can walk out at low tide. However, the fort itself is closed to the public. Jersey's Sea Scouts use the fort as a headquarters, storing their sails and other equipment in a German bunker built into the fort. They have also converted a room in the tower into a classroom.
References:The city walls of Avila were built in the 11th century to protect the citizens from the Moors. They have been well maintained throughout the centuries and are now a major tourist attraction as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can walk around about half of the length of the walls.
The layout of the city is an even quadrilateral with a perimeter of 2,516 m. Its walls, which consist in part of stones already used in earlier constructions, have an average thickness of 3 m. Access to the city is afforded by nine gates of different periods; twin 20 m high towers, linked by a semi-circular arch, flank the oldest ones, Puerta de San Vicente and Puerta del Alcázar.