Couperon Dolmen, Jersey, United Kingdom

Le Dolmen du Couperon is a Chalcolithic (3250 - 2250BC), 8m long capstoned chamber surrounded by a ring of 18 curb stones known as a 'peristalith'. Originally covered by a long mound what remains today is largely the work of restorers. When first excavated in 1868 the capstones had fallen into the chamber. These stones, including a porthole stone were lifted and placed as capstones. In 1919 the Société Jersiaise removed the porthole stone which had been incorrectly placed as a capstone and moved it to its current position at the eastern end of the chamber. Finds included a few flint flakes and pottery fragments.

The adjacent Le Couperon Guardhouse was built in 1689 of local stone, with brick lintels. It supported a battery on the headland above as a magazine and shelter for the members of the Jersey militia that served the battery. The battery commanded Rozel Bay and by 1812 consisted of two 24-pounder muzzle-loading guns that fired over a low wall, which has long disappeared.

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Prehistoric and archaeological sites in United Kingdom

User Reviews

Add Sheridan (14 months ago)
Great views. Very relaxing.

Michael Officer (16 months ago)
These shots are taken as near as makes no difference to the Couperon. This area has it all. Fiercely difficult to find and when you get there you are so rewarded. Do not attempt to get there in a Chelsea Tractor, V small vehicles, bicycles or foot will suit the typical Jersey highway to this place.

Piotr Tomaszewski (16 months ago)
You should visit this place not only for a neolithic history but for an amazing view too.

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The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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