Ownership of Alderney site with WW2 bunkers stays in Bailiwick
A SEVEN-ACRE site in Alderney with Second World War bunkers and trenches has been sold to a Bailiwick resident.
Estate agent Bell & Co’s managing director Andrew Eggleston confirmed that the new owner wanted to continue the clearance work the previous owners had started and was adamant that they would leave the site open so people could explore
it, just as they do now.
He was not at liberty to say how much the site had sold for, but six tenders had been received, and the site had sold for more than the £40,000 guide price.
The land in the south-west of the island, overlooking Gannet Rock, known as Giffoine, includes several bunkers connected by open trenches, as well as two large gun emplacements.
Mr Eggleston said the sale had generated a huge amount of enquiries.
‘We had 54 expressions of interest, from as far afield as the US, Thailand, Hong Kong and the UK, as well as the Bailiwick, and the sale of the land featured in the Washington Post and the South China Morning Post, and a number of the UK national papers,’ he said.
‘The US interest included one American gentleman, who had rung about the bunkers and then enquired about buying the whole island, and another who emailed in, apparently thinking the bunker had been used by Hitler himself.’
Mr Eggleston, who has been an estate agent for 40 years, said the sale had been one of the most memorable of his career.
‘It’s been quite something, this sale has been a one-off,’ he said.
‘The previous owners had done a staggering amount of work. It’s a piece of living history, it looks like the Germans have only just left it.'
