[Extracts from the Island of Alderney list compiled for the Alderney Society by C E B Brett (the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society) in 1976.]
1943. On the summit of Mannez Garenne, some 120 feet above sea-level,
overlooking the island's principal stone quarry (terminus of the
light railway serving the Breakwater), the lighthouse, and the
northern forts, a very tall cylindrical concrete control tower
with three storeys of north-facing slitted embrasures; designed
to control the fire and operations of the numerous German batteries
and defensive works on the island. Gaunt and geometrical but still,
in its way, very impressive.
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Z: 1965; closing the south end of the square, an ugly pebbledashed grey box, prominently marked with notices saying (a little incongruously) 'AIRPORT' and 'LADIES'; flanked by two rather aimless little patches of grass. This eyesore could be much helped by intelligent planting: clematis would soon smother the outlines of the box and a tree at each side of it would help to restore the street-line.
An exceptionally good curving vernacular street, running From
Les Mouriaux to Nauteville, but unfortunately deteriorating somewhat
in the process. The carriageway retains its cobbles, but the pavements
have been cemented over; the wirescape is very obtrusive here.
All the houses are two-storey, many with traditional dormers,
For the most part Georgian-glazed (though St Martin's Lodge has
had lattice casements inserted). Most are exceptionally well-painted.
It is a pity that the rendering of No. 8 remains unpainted; also
that St Martin's Cottage has had unsuitable metal-frame windows
inserted - especially those upstairs.
The concrete yard next door to St Martin's Cottage, as also the
garage and waste ground at the top of the street opposite Les
Chevaliers, are regrettable, to put it mildly. The cleared area
is a riotous muddle of weeds, buddleias, abandoned cars, and vans;
with piles of rubble and sheets of corrugated iron; all surrounding
a tiny empty hut, imposingly marked "European Marketing Consultants"
- a bucket-shop that has leaked? Could not the yard be used for
a suitable piece of infill building to reinstate the street-line:
could not the waste ground be walled, planted and screened to
provide parking-space for the cars which at present spoil Royal
Connaught Square a mere 100 yards away?
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