- ~250,000 BC
La Cotte de St Brelade
Neanderthals hunted mammoth and woolly rhino from a sea cave on Jersey's south coast — one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in north-west Europe.
Jersey Heritage - ~4,000 BC
La Hougue Bie passage tomb
A Neolithic community built a 12-metre earth mound covering a stone passage tomb — older than the Pyramids and still standing today.
Visit La Hougue Bie - 933 AD
Joined to the Duchy of Normandy
Jersey became part of the Duchy of Normandy under William Longsword — explaining the island's deep Norman roots and the Norman-French dialect Jèrriais still spoken today.
- 1204
Loyalty to the English Crown
When King John lost mainland Normandy to France, the Channel Islands chose to stay loyal to the English Crown. Jersey has been a self-governing Crown Dependency ever since — never part of the United Kingdom.
- 13th century
Mont Orgueil rises above Gorey
A medieval fortress was built on Jersey's east coast to defend against the French — eight centuries on, it's still the island's most recognisable castle.
- 1590s–1620s
Elizabeth Castle on the tide
Sir Walter Raleigh, then Governor of Jersey, named the new island fortress in St Aubin's Bay after his queen, Elizabeth I.
- 1781
Battle of Jersey
French forces briefly invaded St Helier before being defeated by Major Peirson — a defining moment immortalised in Copley's famous painting now hanging in the Tate.
- 1840s
Victorian seaside boom
Steamships brought the first wave of British holidaymakers. Hotels, sea-bathing pools and the Jersey Eastern Railway opened the island to tourism.
- 1940–1945
German Occupation
Jersey was the only British soil occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Bunkers, sea-walls and the haunting Jersey War Tunnels remain as reminders of those five years.
Jersey War Tunnels - 9 May 1945
Liberation Day
British forces raised the Union Flag from the balcony of the Pomme d'Or Hotel in St Helier. Liberation Day is still Jersey's biggest public holiday.
- Today
Bailiwick of Jersey
Jersey is a self-governing Crown Dependency — its own parliament (the States Assembly), legal system, currency and tax rules. Population around 100,000. Friendly, prosperous and surprisingly cosmopolitan.
Government of Jersey
Jersey is a self-governing Crown Dependency — its own parliament, courts and tax rules.
English is everywhere, French is on every road sign, and Jèrriais — a Norman dialect — is still spoken by a few hundred islanders.
The Jersey Royal new potato is the island's most-exported food and has a protected status similar to Champagne.
Bred only on Jersey for 200+ years, the Jersey cow gives some of the world's richest milk — still a staple of the local dairy industry.
Tidal range here is among the largest in the world — up to 12 metres. The sea retreats over a kilometre at low tide on the east coast.
Liberation Day is Jersey's biggest public holiday — celebrated with a parade through St Helier each year on the anniversary of 1945.