Retracing the steps of Romans
ALDERNEY’S Roman fort at Longis Bay was officially re-opened this weekend after several months of shutdown for a makeover into a formal tourist attraction.
The majority of visitors at the Nunnery Fort were from Guernsey, like Richard and Judy Pyle from Vale, who were on a ‘staycation’ at The Braye Beach Hotel.
AFM maintenance engineer Mr Pyle said they had not been to Alderney for many years and loved the peaceful nature of the island.
New safety features such as the railings introduced by the States Tourist Office mean the Roman walls are now accessible to visitors.
The barracks building has been converted into dormitory and hostel accommodation for Alderney Bird Observatory visitors and there are two residential flats which are leased out by the States.
A joint effort between VisitAlderney, The Alderney Society and Festung Guernsey, with advice from former Guernsey Museums director Jason Monaghan, has turned a dark storeroom in a German bunker into a bright exhibition and information room illustrating 2,000 years of history on the Nunnery site.
New signage and intensive work by Alderney States Works Department means that access to the Nunnery walls allows people to tread in the footsteps of the original Roman sentries for the first time in decades.
The fort was built in the fourth century.
Owned by The States of Alderney, the Nunnery has had a chequered history.
When Alderney was occupied by the Germans in 1940 the strategic position overlooking the beach at Longis Bay, which faces the English Channel, meant new gun positions were needed for defence and a huge anti-tank wall was built on the sand dunes.
One post-war tenant of the Napoleonic barrack house wanted quick access to the beach so he opened up the reinforced concrete bunker wall.
Tracey Wallis from Guernsey said the Heritage side of the building was a real surprise.
She said that Alderney was a hidden gem and the food at local restaurants had been ‘amazing’.
