Jersey - La Hougue Bie
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La Hougue Bie is Jersey's most famous ancient site, and pilgrims from pre-Christian times onward have journeyed here to worship. Rediscovered in 1924, the 33 ft long Neolithic passage-grave, rising some 40 ft in height, is crowned with two medieval chapels and remains one of the finest of its kind to be excavated.
This impressive burial mound dates from about 3000 BC, and although its origins are clouded with uncertainty, a manuscript dating from 1734 provides a possible explanation for the name 'Hougue Bie'. Legend has it that Lord Hambye sailed from Normandy to slay a dragon that was threatening Jersey, in the process of which he was murdered by his servant, the latter seeking glory for himself as slayer of the dragon; his crime revealed, the servant was duly punished. Lady Hambye ordered that a large mound be built upon high ground as a memorial to her murdered husband, and the body interred therein. The mound was named La Hougue Hambye of which Hougue derives from the Old Norse Haugr meaning eminence or mound, and the Bie may well have become a shortened form of Hambye over the years.
That Lady Hambye had a burial mound erected in such a prominent position, enabling her to watch-over her husband's grave from the high keep of her Normandy castle at Hambye, is supposedly recorded in a chronicle of 1585. It is certainly true that a ruined castle does exist on the heights above the village of Hambye on the Normandy coast, facing seaward toward Jersey, and that it did once belong to the Hambye family. The author of the Chroniques de Jersey also adds that she built a stone chapel in his memory. Of the two chapels on the mound this is the larger and more westerly, referred to as Notre Dame de la Clarte. Archaeological traces and historical references both place this chapel's simple construction no later than the 12th or 13th century.
Jerusalem Chapel, the smaller of the two, was built by Dean Richard Mabon in about 1520, shortly after his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land commemorating the Passion; his crypt contains a representation of the Holy Sepulchre. Major-General James d'Auvergne bought La Hougue Bie in 1759 and erected a tower, La Tour d'Auvergne, over the two chapels; by 1924, it had become unsafe and was consequently demolished.
The ancient passage-grave divides conveniently into three sections. The distance from the angled entrance to the long passage, giving into the oval Great Chamber, marks out the first section. The second is the oval-shaped Great Chamber itself where five immense slabs, the largest weighing 25 tons, form the roof of the chamber. The third section comprises three side cells, the western one of which is unique, with no counterpart in any other megalithic structure. Unfortunately, the tomb had been pillaged prior to the 1924 excavation, but a number of new artefacts were discovered.
It must be said that La Hougue Bie is more than just an ancient site, there are several interesting museum displays, including the oldest rock in Jersey (700 million years), volcanic rock (6-700 million years), granites, and many cases displaying prehistoric weapons, pottery and bones. The Occupation Museum exhibits German armaments, field equipment and an original picture of Hitler, in addition to reconstructions of the Officers' Quarters and a soldier's bunker. A German watchtower was built atop the western end of the mound.