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  • UNESCO

    • Paysage Patholes

    The Landscape Language project aimed to explore Jersey’s intangible heritage of Jèrriais - the Island’s traditional language. Through photography, this project highlighted some special parts of Island life.
    An image of an islet with the Jèrriais word for islet in large letters, projected onto L

    From historic building features, such as dry-stone walls and archways, to geological sites of special interest, such as L’Islet ~ îlet ~ and Les Hurets ~ Les Huthets ~ at Bouley Bay.

    A small, compact and portable projector, powered by rechargeable batteries, was used to project Jèrriais words at night onto the associated feature. This allowed us to capture and include more remote places within the Island’s landscape. The projections were documented using photography which was shared on social media platforms to raise awareness for the versatile applications of Jèrriais as a language and the Aspiring Jersey Island Geopark.

    This series of images by local photographer, Lucy Le Lievre, can be found by searching #landscapelanguage on Instagram.

    Find out more about Jèrriais here.

    An image of an outdoor wall at Fort Leicester with the Jèrriais word for fort in large letters, projected onto the wall.

    fort

    Fort, is also Fort in Jèrriais. Today, Fort Leicester is available to enjoy as a unique place to stay through Jersey Heritage, Aspiring Jersey Island Geopark Partner.
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    An image of an Les Hurets headland with the Jèrriais word for Les Hurets in large letters, projected onto the headland.

    Les Huthets

    Les Hurets is the headland on the north coast above Bouley Bay. This place's name in Jèrriais, Les Huthets, translates to 'high, rocky, stony and barren ground'. ~ in life there are downs and ups ~ dans la vie y'a des flias et des huthes ~
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    An image of a guardhouse with the Jèrriais word for guardhouse in large letters, projected onto the outdoor wall.

    corps dé garde

    Guardhouses, or corps dé garde in Jèrriais, were used by the local militia to keep a watchful eye over Jersey’s coastal waters. Historic corps dé garde can be found all over the Island.
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    An image of an islet with the Jèrriais word for islet in large letters, projected onto L

    îlet

    There are islets along the coast of Jersey. This remarkable green-headed rock's name in Jèrriais is îlet.
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    An image of an boat with the Jèrriais word for boat in large letters, projected onto the hull.

    baté

    A boat, or baté in Jèrriais, was an essential possession for lots of Islanders in order to make a living – catching fish to feed their families and navigating Jersey’s offshore reefs.
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    An image of a pier with the Jèrriais word for pier in large letters, projected onto the pier wall.

    caûchie

    Many bays around the Island feature a pier, or caûchie in Jèrriais. These extensions of the coast were mostly built in the 1800s to create protected pockets of water for seafarers. Today, our piers still prove popular for fishing, boating and more recently cold-water swimming.
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    An image of a large stack with the Jèrriais name for this place in large letters, projected onto the rock.

    L’Êtacq’sé

    To the northern end of St Ouen’s Bay you will find L’Etacq, or L’Êtacq’sé in Jèrriais. This place name, like others in Jersey, is old Norse for stack or large rock. It’s likely that Vikings chose a fitting name for a new place according to a distinctive feature.
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    An image of a slipway with the Jèrriais word for slipway in large letters, projected onto the slipway.

    montée

    This slipway, or montée in Jèrriais, is in the west of the Island. Slipways were built in every parish to allow access to the seashore to gather vraic (seaweed) or to launch a small boat.
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    An image of a rock with the Jèrriais word for rock, projected onto a boulder.

    rotchi

    You cannot go far in the Island without seeing a large rock, or rotchi in Jèrriais. The word for rock in Jèrriais varies depending on which side of the Island you find yourself in.
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    An image of gravel with the Jèrriais word for gravel in large letters, projected onto the gravel.

    gravyi

    You can find gravel, or gravyi in Jèrriais in lots of places in Jersey. In Jersey's seascape, we have even named the gravel banks, like 'Les Graviers du Petit Port'.
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